German Pilot Tested Captured American P-47 Thunderbolt - What he Discovered Changed Everything
November 10, 1943, Rechlin test facility. Hauptmann Hans-Werner Lerche climbed into the cockpit of a captured P-47 Thunderbolt nicknamed "Beetle." Intelligence briefings had told him American fighters were crude, mass-produced machines built by a nation better at making refrigerators than aircraft.
After ninety minutes of flying, Lerche would write something dangerous: "The Americans haven't built a crude aircraft. They've built a practical one." What Lerche discovered would contradict everything German ideology claimed about German engineering superiority. The P-47's "primitive" design was actually sophisticated operational engineering. The huge cockpit wasn't a flaw—it allowed eight-hour escort missions. The color-coded instruments weren't simplistic—they allowed pilots who barely spoke English to fly safely. The robust construction wasn't inefficient—it meant aircraft returned home after absorbing damage that would destroy German fighters.
Lerche's conclusion was stark:
"Germany builds fighters for aces. America builds fighters for armies. And in total war, that difference is decisive."
His report was filed and ignored. By 1944, P-47s darkened the skies over Germany while Luftwaffe fighters sat grounded for lack of fuel and parts. America produced over 15,600 Thunderbolts. Germany produced 36,000 fighters total—across all types.
The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt (nicknamed the "Jug") is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. One of the main United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) fighters, it found success in the European and Pacific theaters as an escort fighter well-suited to high-altitude air-to-air combat. It also served as the foremost American fighter-bomber in the ground-attack role.
The P-47 was noted for its firepower: its primary armament was eight .50-caliber machine guns, and it could carry 5-inch rockets or a bomb load of 2,500 lb (1,100 kg). When fully loaded, the aircraft weighed up to 8 tons, making it one of the heaviest fighters of the war. It was also noted for its ability to remain airworthy with battle damage.
The P-47 was designed around the powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp 18-cylinder radial engine, which also powered the U.S. Navy/U.S. Marine Corps Grumman F6F Hellcat and Vought F4U Corsair. An advanced turbosupercharger ensured the aircraft's eventual dominance at high altitudes, while also influencing its size and design. The armored cockpit was relatively roomy and comfortable and the sliding bubble canopy introduced on the D variant offered good visibility.
The P-47 also served with the air forces of France, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, and with Allied Mexican and Brazilian squadrons. It is the namesake of a later U.S. ground-attack aircraft, the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II.
By the end of 1942, P-47Cs were sent to England for combat operations. The initial Thunderbolt flyers, 56th Fighter Group, were sent overseas to join the 8th Air Force. As the P-47 worked up to operational status, it gained a nickname: "Jug" (because its profile was similar to that of a common milk jug of the time). Two fighter groups already stationed in England began introducing the Jugs in January 1943 - the Spitfire-flying 4th Fighter Group, a unit built around a core of experienced American pilots who had flown in the RAF Eagle Squadrons prior to the US entry in the war; and the 78th Fighter Group, formerly flying P-38 Lightnings.
Beginning in January 1943, Thunderbolt fighters were sent to the joint Army Air Forces – civilian Millville Airport in Millville, New Jersey, to train civilian and military pilots.
The first P-47 combat mission took place 10 March 1943 when the 4th FG took their aircraft on a fighter sweep over France. The mission was a failure due to radio malfunctions. All P-47s were refitted with British radios, and missions resumed 8 April. The first P-47 air combat took place 15 April with Major Don Blakeslee of the 4th FG scoring the Thunderbolt's first air victory (against a Focke-Wulf Fw 190).
By mid-1943, the Jug was also in service with the 12th Air Force in Italy and against the Japanese in the Pacific, with the 348th Fighter Group flying missions out of Port Moresby, New Guinea. By 1944, the Thunderbolt was in combat with the USAAF in all its operational theaters except Alaska.
Luftwaffe ace Heinz Bär said that the P-47 "could absorb an astounding amount of lead [from shooting at it] and had to be handled very carefully". 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 an aerial kill ratio of 4.6:1 in over 746,000 sorties of all types, at the cost of 3,499 P-47s to all causes in combat. 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 677-1/2 air victories and 311 ground kills, at the cost of 128 aircraft. Lieutenant Colonel Francis S. Gabreski scored 28 victories, Captain Robert S. Johnson scored 27 aerial victories (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 significant damage and still return home.
The P-47 gradually became the USAAF's primary fighter-bomber; by late 1943, early versions of the P-47D carried 500 lb (230 kg) bombs underneath their bellies, midproduction versions of the P-47D could carry 1,000 lb (450 kg) bombs and M8 4.5 in (115 mm) rockets under their wings or from the last version of the P-47D in 1944, 5 in (130 mm) High Velocity Aircraft Rockets (HVARs, also known as "Holy Moses"). From D-Day until VE day, Thunderbolt pilots claimed to have destroyed 86,000 railroad cars, 9,000 locomotives, 6,000 armored fighting vehicles, and 68,000 trucks. During Operation Cobra, in the vicinity of Roncey, on 29 July, early in the US break out, the 405th Fighter Group hit a German column trapped between Roncey and St-Denis-le-Vetu by elements of the US 2nd and 3rd Armoured Divisions. The group attacked this column from 3:10pm to 9:40pm. Ground investigations found 66 tanks, 204 vehicles and 11 guns destroyed in this attack.
Top Photo: P-47 Thunderbolt 42-25068 at Duxford Air Show, 2012 By John5199
Sources: YouTube; Wikipedia
