P47 Thunderbolt - Palm Springs
Palm Springs Air Museum visit November, 2008

Republic P47D Thunderbolt Squirt VIII

The P-47 Thunderbolt was a WWII era pursuit fighter bomber and the primary manufacturer was Republic Aviation Company, Farmingdale, New York and Evansville, Indiana. Under license, Curtiss Aircraft produced a P-47G model, which began delivery in March 1942. Aircraft from the three plants were designated as follows: Farmingdale – RE, Evansville – RA, and Curtiss - CU (such as P-47G-CU). Final delivery was made in September 1945 and a total of 15,660 aircraft were built.

P-47 is read as follows: "P" designates a pursuit aircraft and the "47" designates the 47th new pursuit pursuit fighter aircraft designed and built for the USAAF. This single engine aircraft is powered by one 2300 hp Pratt & Whitney R- 2800 [Double Wasp] (18) cylinder air cooled radial engine, has a wing span of 40 feet 9 inches, and weighs 19,400 pounds loaded. Its armaments included (8) .50 inch machine guns in the wings and a maximum of 2500 pounds of bombs or rockets.

According to the text on the museum sign written by Jessee Brain, "located in Britain, the P-47 performed missions of 4 to 5 hours escorting B-17 and B-24 bombers directly to the target over Germany. Stationed in Italy with the Twelfth Air Force, they flew over the Apennine Mountains to assist the American Fifth Army. Thunderbolt pilots spotted enemy gun positions, German tanks, strafed and bombed German troop concentrations and artillery installations. They played an important role in the isolation of Germans on the battlefield by cutting off their lines of communications such as bridges, railroads and highways.

"P-47s were considered the most successful of the fighter-bombers to accompany ground forces. On D-Day, the P-47 was the predominant fighter chosen for this difficult and critical operation. P-47s also served in the Pacific Theater and were very successful in the destruction of Japanese forces and installations." This Thunderbolt is from the Robert J. Pond collection and has been restored to flying condition. It displays the nose art "Squirt VIII".

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