Blood Red Skies: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt Squadron

The P-47 Thunderbolt was a versatile US fighter aircraft produced between 1941 and 1945 operating in both the Mediterranean and Pacific theatres. In addition to eight wing-mounted .50-caliber machine guns, it was capable of carrying five-inch rockets or a bomb load of up to 2500 pounds. When fully-loaded up in this manner, the fighter was one of the heaviest of the entire war. However, this meant it could fulfil a number of roles - performing well as a short to medium range escort fighter as well as in a ground attack role.

The P-47 earned praise form its pilots for its roll-rate and dive speed, and its general performance at high altitude. This performance would suffer at lower altitudes, however, as the climbing and turning rate would become far from optimal. The P-47 was viewed as a very large lumbering aircraft, and German pilots soon learned to climb, rather than dive, when the silhouette of a Thunderbolt loomed from behind. The P-47 was also fairly rugged, capable of s