Word: p47
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...P47 Thunderbolts, escorting bombers over Germany, found the release mechanisms of their auxiliary wing fuel tanks jammed. Unless the empty tanks could be jettisoned at once, the fighters would have to break for home, their mission incomplete. Their wing pilots came to the rescue. At 300 m.p.h., one mile above ground, the wing men flew formation to within 18 inches of the lead ships, then batted the tanks off with their wingtips...
Since Johnson flies a P47 Thunderbolt, Army airmen can continue their argument about the relative merits of P-38s and P-475. Johnson flies against the Germans and Bong against the Japs; most airmen lately have been willing to concede that the Germans provide tougher opposition...
Flat-Tired Take-Off. Major Gilbert Wymond, a Thunderbolt pilot from Kentucky, tried the unheard-of stunt of loading his P47 with two 1,000-lb, bombs. The load squashed his fully inflated tires nearly flat on the takeoff, but he staggered into the air. Since then P47 pilots have lugged two 1,000-pounders as a matter of routine...
Four in Hand. A P47 Thunderbolt pilot in Italy fired a long burst at a Messerschmitt 109 over Verona. The enemy's right wing flew off, hit another German plane. Both ships exploded. No one was more surprised than the U.S. pilot when his ship's automatic motion-picture films were run off. Reason: some of his fire had hit two other German aircraft, destroyed them...
Fighters escorted the bombers all the way in and back. The escort operated in waves: first, P-38 Lightnings, then P47 Thunderbolts. Finally, long-range P-51B Mustangs (see p. 61) came in for the final approach and run over the targets...