This series is dedicated to the gallant service performed by the brave airmen of World War 2 who risked all so that we may enjoy our American way of life. The phrase “Big Brother, Little Brother” refers to the way the heavy bomber and fighter escort aircraft pilots called each other on the radio chatter.
On a personal note, my father “John” served as a flight engineer on a B-25 Mitchell out of Italy in 1944 and 1945. He made it back alive, as did my father-in-law “Danny” who served as a belly gunner on a B-24 Liberator out of Libya. “Danny” was one of the few airmen who flew in both Ploesti oil field raids to Romania (June 1942 and August 1943) and did so without so much as a scratch. He flew his 25 missions and returned to the US as a gunnery instructor (Lead, Dammit, Lead!).
Finding all the caches will display a GeoArt form of the Big Brother, Little Brother relationship on your map. The caches were not meant to be difficult to find. If you can’t find a cache, it’s probably missing. Send me a picture of the location by email, I’ll accept the find and replace the cache.
P-47 Thunderbolt
The P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine.. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. .When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to eight tons, and in the fighter-bomber ground attack roles could carry five inch rockets and or a significant bomb load of 2,500 pounds—over half the weight the famous B-17 bomber could carry on long-range missions. .The P-47, based on the powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine, was to be very effective as a short-to-medium range escort fighter in high-altitude air-to-air combat and when unleashed as a fighter-bomber, proved especially adept at ground attack in both the WW-II European and Pacific Theaters.
The P-47 was one of the main United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) fighters of World War II, and served with other Allied air forces such as France, the UK and the USSR.
Mexican and Brazilian squadrons fighting alongside the U.S. were equipped with the P-47.
Although the North American P-51 Mustang replaced the P-47 in the long-range escort role in Europe, the Thunderbolt still ended the war with 3,752 air-to-air kills claimed in over 746,000 sorties of all types, at the cost of 3,499 P-47s to all causes in combat. In Europe during the critical first three months of 1944 when the German aircraft industry and Berlin were heavily attacked, the P-47 shot down more German fighters than did the P-51 (570 out of 873), and shot down approximately 900 of the 1,983 claimed during the first six months of 1944.
In Europe, Thunderbolts flew more sorties (423,435) than P-51s, P-38s and P-40s combined. Indeed, it was the P-47 which broke the back of the Luftwaffe in the critical period of January–May 1944.
By the end of the war, the 56th FG was the only 8th Air Force unit still flying the P-47, by preference, instead of the P-51. The unit claimed 677.5 air victories and 311 ground kills, at the cost of 128 aircraft. Lieutenant Colonel Francis S. Gabreski scored 31 victories, including three ground kills, Captain Bob Johnson scored 27 (with one unconfirmed probable kill leading to some giving his tally as 28), and 56th FG Commanding Officer Colonel Hubert Zemke scored 17.75 kills. Despite being the sole remaining P-47 group in the 8th Air Force, the 56th FG remained its top-scoring group in aerial victories throughout the war.
With increases in fuel capacity as the type was refined, the range of escort missions over Europe steadily increased until the P-47 was able to accompany bombers in raids all the way into Germany. On the way back from the raids, pilots shot up ground targets of opportunity, and also used belly shackles to carry bombs on short-range missions, which led to the realization that the P-47 could perform a dual-function on escort missions as a fighter-bomber.
Even with its complicated turbosupercharger system, its sturdy airframe and tough radial engine could absorb a lot of damage and still return home. Some pilots readily chose to belly-land their burning Thunderbolts rather than risk bailing out. There are instances of P-47s crash-landing after being shot down, hitting trees and causing impacts severe enough to snap off wings, tail, and engine, while the pilot escaped with few or no injuries.
The P-47 gradually became the USAAF's best fighter-bomber, normally carrying 500 lb bombs, M8 4.5 in or 5 in High velocity aircraft rockets (HVARs, or Holy Moses). From the invasion of Europe on 6 June 1944 to VE day on 7 May 1945, the Thunderbolt units claimed destroyed: 86,000 railroad cars, 9,000 locomotives, 6,000 armoured fighting vehicles, and 68,000 trucks.
Republic P-47D Thunderbolt Technicals
General characteristics-
Crew: 1
Length: 36 ft 1 in
Wingspan: 40 ft 9 in
Height: 14 ft 8 in
Wing area: 300 ft²
Empty weight: 10,000 lb
Loaded weight: 17,500 lb
Max. takeoff weight: 17,500 lb
Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney R-2800-59 twin-row radial engine, 2,535 hp
Performance-
Maximum speed: 433 mph at 30,000 ft
Range: 800 mi combat, 1,800 mi ferry
Service ceiling: 43,000 ft
Rate of climb: 3,120 ft/min
Wing loading: 58.3 lb/ft²
Power/mass: 0.14 hp/lb
Armament-
8 × .50 in M2 Browning machine guns (3400 rounds)
Up to 2,500 lb of bombs
10 × 5 in unguided rockets
Survivors
Airworthy-
P-47D Thunderbolt, s/n 42-8205 by the Museum of Flight in Seattle, WA.
P-47G Thunderbolt, s/n 42-25234 by the Planes of Fame in Chino, CA.
YP-47M Thunderbolt, s/n 42-27385 owned by the Yanks Air Museum in Chino, CA.
P-47D Thunderbolt, s/n 44-32817 owned by Lewis Vintage Collection LCC in San Antonio, TX.
P-47D Thunderbolt, s/n 44-90368 owned by the Lone Star Flight Museum in Galveston, TX.
P-47D Thunderbolt, s/n 44-90438 owned by Aviation Management Resources in Wilmington, DE.
P-47N Thunderbolt, s/n 44-90447 owned by PT-17 Inc. in Dover, DE.
P-47D Thunderbolt, s/n 44-90460 owned by Neal Melton of Luttrell, TN.
P-47D Thunderbolt, s/n 44-90471 owned by Tillamook Air Museum in Tillamook, OR.
P-47D Thunderbolt, s/n 45-49181 owned by Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum in Kalamazoo, MI.
P-47D Thunderbolt, s/n 45-49192 owned by Claire Aviation Inc in Wilmington, DE.
P-47D Thunderbolt, s/n 45-49205 owned by Palm Springs Air Museum in Palm Springs, CA.
P-47D Thunderbolt, s/n 45-49346 owned by the Yanks Air Museum in Chino, CA.
P-47D Thunderbolt, s/n 45-49385 owned by Alan Wojciak in Colorado Springs, CO.
P-47D Thunderbolt, s/n 45-49406 owned by Vulcan Warbirds Inc. of Seattle, WA.
P-47N Thunderbolt, s/n 45-53436 owned by the Commemorative Air Force in Midland, TX. It is based at the Cavanaugh Flight Museum in Addison, Texas.
On display-
P-47D Thunderbolt, s/n 42-23278 at the National Museum of the USAF in Dayton, OH.
P-47D Thunderbolt, s/n 44-32691 at the National Air & Space Museum in Washington DC.
P-47N Thunderbolt, s/n 44-89320 at the Air Force Armament Museum at Eglin AFB, FL.
P-47N Thunderbolt, s/n 44-89348 at Lackland AFB, TX.
P-47N Thunderbolt, s/n 44-89444 at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, NY.
P-47D Thunderbolt, s/n 45-49167 at the National Museum of the USAF in Dayton, OH.
P-47D Thunderbolt, s/n 45-49458 at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, CT.
Under restoration-
P-47B Thunderbolt, s/n 41-5920 by Randy Ferris of Bensenville, IL.
P-47D Thunderbolt, s/n 42-26766 by Bill Destefani of Shafter, CA.
P-47D Thunderbolt, s/n 44-32798 by Hill Aerospace Museum in UT.
P-47D Thunderbolt, s/n 44-32814 by Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, FL.
P-47N Thunderbolt, s/n 44-89425 by Peterson Air and Space Museum in Peterson AFB, CO.
P-47D Thunderbolt, s/n 45-49130 to flightworthiness by Neal Melton of Luttrell, TN.