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P-47N was ‘ultimate’ version of World War II Thunderbolt

Expecting an Allied invasion of Japan, U.S. air experts decided in 1944 to improve the famous World War II fighter, the P-47 Thunderbolt. The plane they created, the P-47N, was the “ultimate” Thunderbolt, according to retired Col. Ralph D. Gibson, who flew the “N model” stateside in 1945.

Pilots called the Thunderbolt the “Jug” for its portly shape, yet it was fast, maneuverable and, above all, survivable: A pilot knew that if his aircraft were hit by gunfire, he had an excellent chance of getting home.

Like all Thunderbolts, the 1,816 P-17Ns built between 1944 and 1945 each had a corpulent Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine driving a massive 12-foot four-bladed propeller. But the new model introduced a longer-span wing and clipped wingtips.

The P-47N was produced expressly for the Pacific theater, where range was a concern. Its “wet” wings permitted a fuel capacity of 1,266 U.S. gallons, giving the fighter a remarkable range of 2,350 miles. The P-47N was one of the first fighters to have an automatic pilot for long-distance flying.

Gibson remembered that all Thunderbolts had a spacious, comfortable cockpit. Only the P-47N, however, had rudder pedals that folded down and transformed into leg rests for long-range flying.

And by relocating an air vent, the designers of the P-47N enabled Gibson to enjoy a soda on those long flights: “If I set a Coke bottle on the floor beside the air vent at 38,000 feet, it would get really, really cold,” he remembered.

The first P-47N made its maiden flight in July 1944. The N model was too late for the war in Europe, but by August 1945 several P-47N fighter groups were carrying out long-range raids against the Japanese homeland.

Former Capt. Francis W. Johnson flew P-47N missions to Japan with the 414th Fighter Group. Sometimes the challenge was airmanship as much as the enemy. Johnson recalled an Aug. 1, 1945, mission:

“We had orders for airfield strafing with the first target being Okazaki. We carried two 165-gallon external fuel tanks and flew with rpm and throttle back to conserve fuel,” he said.

“My wingman was a fine young lieutenant, Scott Coley. He couldn’t stay with me when we entered thick clouds and went on instruments. When I finally got out of the clouds, he was nowhere to be seen. In fact, he was never seen again.”

Republic built the last Thunderbolt in November 1945. Five years later, when Americans needed a prop-driven fighter for nasty air-to-ground work in Korea, the Pentagon tried to find enough P-47Ns (officially called F-47Ns after 1948), but Thunderbolts were almost out of inventory. The brass had no choice but to give the job to the less survivable Mustang.

Robert F. Dorr, an Air Force veteran, lives in Oakton, Va. His e-mail address is robert.f.dorr@cox.net. Fred L. Borch is the regimental historian for the Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps. His e-mail address is borchfj@aol.com.