From Corsica, the group's P-47s also supported the major landing operations to conquer southern France. From the Alto base, the pilots flew daily combat missions, which were to lead them, following the course of the front, mainly to central and northern Italy. Afterwards, the 65th FS was transferred to Corsica. Until then the units flew P-40s, but from 1944 they were converted to P-47 Thunderbolts. There the squadron participated intensively in the battles in North Africa and over the Mediterranean, and was also involved in the battles around El Alamein and in the Allied landing on Sicily. This is also shown quite well in the history of the unit to which the prototype of my model belonged.įounded in 1941, the 57th FG and its squadrons, which included the 65th FS "Fighting Cocks", moved to Africa in July 1942. In the second half of the war, as the front lines moved ever closer to Nazi Germany from all directions, the P-47 was preferred in this role. The ability to carry up to a ton of weapons to the enemy, in addition to an impressive armament of eight 12.7mm calibre machine guns, gave the aircraft a new role as a ground attack aircraft. Roll rate and manoeuvrability, on the other hand, were not its strong points here, opponents such as the Bf 109 or Fw 190 proved superior. Instead, practice revealed another "talent".Īs a fighter, the Thunderbolt was successful wherever it could exploit its high speed. However, the experience of the first months of operation in Europe showed that the P-47 lacked the range for missions deep into the continent. The exhaust gas turbo gave the Thunderbolt excellent performance at high altitudes and would have predestined it for escort missions. While the D-version in its numerous sub-variants already reached speeds of 690 km/h, the later M- and N-variants even reached speeds of over 750 km/h, each measured at an altitude of over 9000 metres. The flight performance is correspondingly impressive. With its distinctive appearance, the P-47 ThunderboltĪn exhaust-driven turbocharger installed underneath the wing spars supplied the enormous R-2800 with sufficient boost pressure even at high altitudes the hot exhaust gases ejected at the rear lower fuselage section also turned the Thunderbolt into half a jet.
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