The United States developed several quite successful aircraft during WWII. Probably the top three wartime USAAF efforts were the P-38, P-51, and the P-47. The P-47 differed from the other two in several ways. One is that it was huge by comparison to other single engine fighters. This was as much due to the size of engine as anything else. Another was that it was air cooled. While radial engines were the norm with the Navy, the Air Force preferred liquid cooled engines for its fighters. This was undoubtedly due to aerodynamics as anything else. Another difference was the way it was turbo supercharged. This was needed to allow the airplane to operate at altitude so it could protect bombers.

The P-47 was the end of a natural evolution of Seversky/Republic fighters starting with the P-35 and moving to the P-41, and P-43 before terminating in the P-47. Even from there, several follow-on types were developed from the standard P-47, though none of them entered production. This was as much due to the shifted interest to turbojet power as it was anything else, a situation that affected the entire military aviation community.

Initial P-47s were not combat ready and were used for training. It was the P-47C that first entered combat. It was hampered by short range and a lethargic climb. As with many things in wartime, deficiencies were overcome and in later versions, the addition of external fuel tanks dealt with much of the range issue while larger props and more powerful engines took care of other performance aspects. Still, by the end of the war, the majority of P-47 units were not escorting bombers, the P-51 proved superior in that realm, but as a ground attack aircraft, a role in which the P-47s rugged construction and air cooled engine excelled.

This edition follows a familiar format with a background history, a look at the different variants, the camouflage schemes worn by the aircraft (which includes a lot of full color profiles), and a set of detail drawings of each different variation on the scheme. There is also a large colors and markings section thanks to the variety of schemes these planes carried. Foreign operators are also covered.

 In addition to this, you have a fairly complete modelers section. There are several pages of kit reviews that is limited to what has been released in the last 10 years so you may well not find your favorites in this section. As usual, we have build articles including the Tamiya 1/72 P-47D, the Academy 1/72 P-47D, Dora Wings 1/48 P-47C, MiniArt 1/48 P-47D, and Trumpeter 1/32 P-47D. As usual, the 1/72 build has been enhanced with aftermarket while the 1/48 builds are mostly out of the box. In addition the usual set of drawings showing the changes in the aircraft as time went on. Then there is a detail section which uses both images from extant airframes as well as a plethora of period photos and drawings from the technical manuals as well as some from extant airframes. Next are listings for all the different kits along with decals, accessory sets, and books, making for a fairly extensive listing. The last pages of the book are 1/48 plans for several versions in a huge multi-page fold-out. 

Overall, this makes this what is probably the best book for both the enthusiast and modeler to have on the subject. It is a book I'm very glad was released and one that will get a lot of use as the P-47 is a popular subject. I would dare say that if you have no other reference on the Thunderbolt, this is the one to get.  It is a book which I can easily provide my highest recommendation.

June 2025

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