Nicknamed “The Jug,” America’s 17,000-pound P-47 Thunderbolt was twice as heavy as Germany’s 7,000-pound Bf 109—so big pilots joked you could dodge bullets by running around the cockpit.
From its giant high-altitude turbocharger above 25,000 feet to an air-cooled radial tough enough to survive 20+ cannon shells and finish WWII with a 4.6-to-1 kill ratio, here is why that bulk was built to come home alive.
#P47Thunderbolt #Bf109 #P47 #WWII #aviation #aerospace #engineering #warbirds #USAAF #military #howitworks #shorts
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Sources · Further Reading
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■ 1. How much they weighed
Wikipedia — Messerschmitt Bf 109
Bf 109 G-6: empty weight 4,954 lb, gross weight 6,940 lb, max takeoff weight 7,496 lb. Powered by a 1,455 hp Daimler-Benz DB 605A inverted V-12, liquid-cooled
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_Bf_109
Wikipedia — Republic P-47 Thunderbolt
P-47D-40: empty weight 10,000 lb, gross weight 13,230 lb, max takeoff weight 17,500 lb. Fully loaded, it weighed up to eight tons. Powered by an 18-cylinder air-cooled Pratt & Whitney R-2800 radial
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_P-47_Thunderbolt
■ 2. The Jug and the cockpit joke
Wikipedia — P-47 Thunderbolt (same page as #1)
British pilots joked that a Thunderbolt pilot could defend himself from a Luftwaffe fighter by running around and hiding in the fuselage. The cockpit was relatively roomy and comfortable. The nickname "Jug" came from its milk-jug profile; some historians say it was short for "Juggernaut"
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum — Republic P-47D-30-RA Thunderbolt
The fighter was nicknamed "Juggernaut," soon shortened to "the Jug"
https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/republic-p-47d-30-ra-thunderbolt/nasm_A19600306000
■ 3. The Bf 109's design rule and cramped cockpit
Britannica — Bf 109
In essence, the smallest airframe that could carry useful armament, built around the most powerful in-line engine available
https://www.britannica.com/technology/Bf-109
RAE (Royal Aircraft Establishment) — Bf 109E flight test report
Results from trials of a Bf 109E captured in 1940, presented to the Royal Aeronautical Society in 1944. Listed among its bad points: "Cockpit too cramped for comfort"
https://pilotfriend.com/flight_reports/reports/33.htm
■ 4. The propeller-hub cannon and low-altitude performance
Wikipedia — Bf 109 (same page as #1)
From the F-series on, a 20 mm cannon fired through the propeller shaft (the Motorkanone); the G carried a centerline MG 151/20. Its climb rate was outstanding, and leading-edge slats greatly improved its turning ability
Luftwaffe Resource Center — Bf 109 F variants
The F carried a Motorkanone firing through the propeller hub. Coolant radiators sat in each wing
https://warbirdsresourcegroup.org/LRG/bf109_variants_F.html
■ 5. High altitude and the P-47's turbocharger
Wikipedia — P-47 Thunderbolt (same page as #1)
The turbine sat at the bottom of the fuselage, about halfway between the cockpit and the tail, fed by exhaust pipes running along each side of the cockpit. Air entered through an intake under the engine, traveled back to the turbosupercharger behind the pilot, and returned to the engine compressed. The system took up roughly half of the fuselage's internal volume
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (same page as #2)
Designer Alexander Kartveli fit the turbosupercharger system inside the aft fuselage, a particularly complex design challenge
Wikipedia — 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41
US daylight raids generally flew at 21,000–24,900 ft
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8.8_cm_Flak_18/36/37/41
■ 6. The dive and the Bf 109's stiffening controls
Wikipedia — P-47 Thunderbolt (same page as #1)
P-47s were able to out-dive enemy fighters
RAE — Bf 109E flight test report (same as #3)
Above 250 mph the elevator became too heavy. At 300–400 mph test pilots described the ailerons as "solid," and at 400 mph a pilot pushing with full strength could apply only one-fifth aileron
■ 7. Eight .50-caliber guns
Wikipedia — P-47 Thunderbolt (same page as #1)
The primary armament was eight .50-caliber machine guns, with a combined rate of fire of around 100 rounds per second
■ 8. Toughness: liquid-cooled vs air-cooled
Wikipedia — Bf 109 (same page as #1)
Fighters with liquid-cooled engines were vulnerable to hits in the cooling system. The F, G and K had two radiators with a cut-off system, so the pilot could fly on one if the other was lost, or for at least five minutes with both closed
Wikipedia — P-47 Thunderbolt (same page as #1)
Its radial engine had a high tolerance for damage compared with liquid-cooled engines
■ 9. Robert Johnson, June 26, 1943
Wikipedia — Robert S. Johnson
A pilot with the 61st Fighter Squadron, 56th Fighter Group, flying a P-47C. An Fw 190 put twenty-one 20 mm cannon shells into his fuselage, rupturing the hydraulic system and shattering the canopy, and hydraulic fluid left him partly blinded. A single Fw 190 that followed ran out of ammunition, rocked its wings in salute, and turned back. Johnson landed at RAF Manston with more than 200 bullet holes. He finished the war with 27 victories
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_S._Johnson
■ 10. The 4.6-to-1 kill ratio
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (same page as #2)
Jug pilots achieved an aerial kill ratio of 4.6:1. In Europe they destroyed more than 7,000 enemy aircraft, more than half in air-to-air combat, over more than half a million missions, with a loss rate of 0.7 percent per mission
Wikipedia — P-47 Thunderbolt (same page as #1)
The Thunderbolt ended the war with an aerial kill ratio of 4.6:1
■ 11. Simplifications in the script
· "7,000-pound" and "17,000-pound" come from the Bf 109 G-6's gross weight (6,940 lb) and the P-47D's max takeoff weight (17,500 lb). Like for like, gross weights are 6,940 vs 13,230 lb and max takeoff weights 7,496 vs 17,500 lb.
· "Twice as heavy" ranges from about 1.9 to 2.3 times, depending on which weights are compared.
· In the source, the joke belongs to British pilots, who said a Thunderbolt pilot could run around and hide in the fuselage.
· "The biggest engine in the smallest airframe" condenses Britannica's "most powerful in-line engine available."
· The pilot's shoulders touching the canopy is an image for the cramped cockpit. The test report says only that it was "too cramped for comfort," and the aircraft tested was a 1940 E model.
· "Above 25,000 feet, where the bombers flew" is a round figure. Actual daylight bombing altitudes were mostly 21,000–25,000 ft.
· "The 109 gasped in the thin air" describes relative performance. By Wikipedia's figures, the G-6 topped out at 399 mph at 20,700 ft and 386 mph at 26,200 ft, while the P-47's turbocharger kept its power higher up.
· "Behind its cockpit" refers to the turbocharger's place in the fuselage; it sat low, about halfway between the cockpit and the tail.
· The stiffening stick is based on tests of a captured E model. The G is also described as heavy at high speed, but no equivalent G-model figures were confirmed.
· One bullet stopping the engine within minutes sums up a typical cooling-system hit. From the F on, a damaged radiator could be shut off.
· The twenty-one cannon shells came from the first Fw 190 to attack Johnson; the pilot who ran out of ammunition and rocked his wings was a single Fw 190 that followed. Some accounts name him as German ace Egon Mayer, but this is unverified.
· What covered the windshield was hydraulic fluid, according to the record.
· "Johnson made it home" means he got back to England alive. He landed at RAF Manston on the English coast, not at his own base.
· The 4.6:1 ratio covers air combat against all German fighters. No ratio counting Bf 109s alone was confirmed.
· The narration uses pounds and feet, while the on-screen graphics show metric units (≈3 t, UP TO 8 t, 8,000 m+, 8 × 12.7 mm).
· Scenes in the video are reconstructions based on real photos and drawings, not archival footage.
Plenty of Germans said the Thunderbolt was too heavy for maneuvers, even Colonel Olds ace on Mustang sustained this.
American fighter aircraft were built with safety in mind.
Як 3 лучший. А много пить виски и брехать вредно.
AI slop garbage
Советский пилот пошёл бы на таран.
Вот так вот.
Dois ótimos caças mas o P-47 aguentava mais estrago o ME-109 era mais manobravel mas a blindagem menor duas Garças ótimas
and after that was the mustang
米軍の撃墜報告はだいたい実数の十倍とみてよいようだ。これは、ラバウル航空戦を戦後調査した結果からも言える。
все хорошо, только Германцы не всегда воевали на высоких высоьах на БФ 109 (кроме модели К (Купаюст)) с ними воевали Фотки 190…
I hate wars ! But, what the hell! How could we have had such cool machines and stories to tell, and memories, heroes, etc. without it ! 🤔 🇺🇸
А почему в авиасимуляторе P – 47 уступает Bf.109 ?
20 canonshells….. sure, in your dreams.
Bob Stevens, USAF cartoonist, half-joked that a 47 could get a kill by staying in front of the enemy until the enemy wasted all his ammo trying to shoot through the cockpit's armored backplate, then drop behind and finish him off.
The Jug's stick froze in a high-speed dive, too.
1 hole in the Radiator. The Bf 109 Pilot hit the kill switch to the side which was hit, and opens the remaing radiator on the other side all the way and keeps on fighting.
It is a Bf 109 not s Spitfire or Mustang.
Of the 10.000 P47 shipped overseas 5500 were lost.
The P47 claimed 3800 aircraft in the ETO.
How the americans count their kill to loss ratio, every fighter must have a positive kill to loss Ratio. Thats pointless propaganda.
I love that bird!
Без футов говорите, килограммами или тоннами
エース乗務員の命をどれだけ大切にしたかだね
Ты это разрабам Ван тендера скажи как кувшин сбивает 4 месера и раненый летит до базы😂
ME had guns too dummy
also was a supreme ground attack plane, strafing targets, versatile aircraft high and low altitude
Тот факт что "Тандерболт" выдержал 20 попаданий из 20 мм авиационной пушки Bf-109 говорит о большой живучести этой американской машины .
Скорее всего установка на более поздних моделях Вf -109 большего числа пушек (до 3 х 20мм) или замена центральной пушки стреляющей через полый вал винта с 20мм на 30ми , как раз и была вызвана тем фактом ,что для сбития таких самолётов как Р-47 или В-17 у немецких истребителей не всегда хватало бортовой огневой мощи.
This is the grandfather of the A 10
"Тандерболт" сражался в большинстве своем над Тихим океаном ,потому число его побед над Ме(Bf)-109 не так велико,как могло бы быть .
К тому же счёт "Тандерболта" 1 к 4 к сбитым немецким пилотам явно надуманный, скорее всего он был близок 1 к 1 .
Бро сравни пж a6m2 японский и як9к
Moniker Thunderbolt transferred to the A10
Grandpa said they were flying tanks definitely made for air battles
Avec l’IA c’est franchement…..enfin pas bon du tout.
Р-47forever
My first flight instructor was a P-47 pilot with three or four confirm aerial kills and six train locomotives.
у нас он не пошел.. Испытатель Громов назвал его Трамваем
Yea the P47 also had an armored cockpit, it was the most survivable fighter of the war!! Most people wanted to fly the Mustang, not me, I would have wanted to survive the war in a P47!!