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P-47M-1-RE, 44-21225, "Fire Ball"
56 Fighter Group, Europ 1945
Flown by Lt. Philip G. Kuhn
14/2003
Republic P-47M „Thunderbolt”
Likely, this overly bright paint scheme was selected to indicate its test status in order to
prevent over-zealous P-47 and F6F pilots from making mock attacks, as was the
standard rule of the day over wartime Long Island. Right out of the starting gate, the
XP-47M the horse to beat in terms of speed. The XP-47M proved to be nearly as fast as
the XP-47J. 488 mph was obtained on at least one flight. The official maximum speed
is 470 mph. However, over-boosting the engine could tweek another 15 to 20 mph out
of the big fighter. There is adequate evidence to indicate that some of the more
resourceful crew chiefs in the 56th Fighter Group, managed to hotrod the P-47M to the
point that some reliable pilots were reporting 500 mph at altitude in level flight. Some
may find this next tidbit hard to swallow, however, the test documents still exist.
During durability testing of the C series R-2800 by Republic, it was decided to find out
at what manifold pressure and carburetor temperature detonation could be induced.
They ran the engine at extreme boost pressures that produced 3,600 hp! But wait, it
gets even more amazing. They ran it at 3,600 hp for 250 hours, without any failure!
This, with common 100/130 avgas. No special fuels were used. Granted, the engines
were completely worn out, but survived without a single component failure. Try that
with Rolls Royce Merlin or Allison V-1710. As the summer of 1944 arrived, so did the
first of Germany’s vengeance weapons. The sudden appearance of the V-1 flying
bomb caused a serious uproar in Britain. Flying at speeds right around 400 mph., the
V-1 was not easy to intercept prior to flying over populated areas where knocking it
down could have a worse effect than leaving it alone. Many of the RAF’s latest
fighters were thrown into intercepting the "Buzz Bombs", preferably over the English
Channel. Tempests, Spitfires and even the jet powered (but not very fast) Meteors
were put to work intercepting the deadly missiles. Naturally the British government
called upon its allies to aid in this duty. Upon being informed of the XP-47M, three
YP-47M development aircraft were ordered. These were built using P-47D-27-RE
fighters straight off the production line.
Having already logged hundreds of flights with the XP-47M, beginning in mid
1943, Republic had a big leg up in terms of development time. This was to be very
valuable. The accelerated production of the long ranging P-51D threatened to kill
further P-47 production. The AAF was beginning to indicate that since the Mustang
could provide for most of their fighter needs, especially in role of escort, the P-47, with
it’s limited range had but a short future. The production P-47M fighters did not reach
operational status until after most of the V-1 launch sites were over-run by Allied
ground forces. Deployed to 3 squadrons of the 56th Fighter Group, the new fighter
likely did not chase any flying bombs. Inasmuch as most aviation historians claim that
the P-47M was designed specifically to intercept the V-1, it will come as a surprise to
them to learn that the prototype existed more than a year before the first V-1 was
launched at Britain. Moreover, the P-47D, deployed in large numbers, was certainly
fast enough to overtake the V-1. It was only coincidence that the XP-47M and the R-
2800 C series engines were available when the V-1’s began falling on London
Thee P-47M was, essentially, developed collaterally with the XP-47J. The "J"
was fitted with a high output version of the P&W R-2800. Specifically, the R-2800-57.
This engine made 2,800 hp @ 2,800 rpm at 35,000 feet. This is in War Emergency
Power. The aircraft actually attained 507 mph at an altitude of 34,300 feet. 2,800 hp is
133% of rated power. At military power (100%), the XP-47J could sustain 470 mph.
435 mph was attained at 81% of its rated power (1,700 hp). All performance figures
were obtained at 34,300 feet. The "J" model was an especially good climbing fighter
too. It had a climb rate at sea level of 4,900 fpm. At 20,000 feet, it was still rocketing up
at 4,400 fpm, and got there in 4 minutes, 15 seconds. Time to 30,000 feet was only 6
minutes, 45 seconds. Now that's an interceptor! Yet it had a usable range of 1,075 miles.
Rather impressive, don't you think? No, this was not a stripped down hotrod. It was
fully armed and carried ballast in the wings equal to 267 rds per gun. The aircraft was
flown to a height of 46,500 feet and was capable of a bit more.
Originally designed to defeat the FW-190 series fighters, the XP-47J certainly
would have exceeded this requirement. In point of fact, with it's critical Mach of .83, it
had the potential to chase down Me-262's by utilizing a shallow dive, taking advantage
of it’s superior service ceiling. Despite this incredible performance, the XP-47J was
really nothing more than a technology demonstrator. Meanwhile, the R-2800 C series
was installed in another, more ordinary Thunderbolt P-47C. The purpose was to trade a
little performance for simplicity of manufacture. The idea being that a minimum of
changes were required to the current aircraft for the C series engine.
The aircraft that resulted was designated the XP-47M. Not "officially
sanctioned", the XP-47M was an "in-house" development program. The "M" was
painted in chromate yellow to distinguish it from the run of the mill C and D models.
powerplant: Pratt & Whitney R-2800-57(C) 2800hp /w water injection
wingspan: 12,43 m (40' 9")
length: 11,02 m (36' 1")
height: 4,17 m (14' 7")
max speed: 690 km/h 470 mph
rate of climb: 3500 ft per minute at 5000 ft and 2650 ft per minute
at 20,000 ft
weight, empty: 10,432 lbs
weight, max: 15,500 lbs
range: (clean) 949 km (560 miles at 10,000 ft)
armament: Six or M2 Browning 0.50-in (12.7mm) mgs; 267 or 425 rpg
built: 130
31+31A
32
13
14
8
6
6A
29B
29
29A
24A
1 2
3
11
4
7
5
A
B
C
D
E
F
25a
23
5b
30+30a
24
1a
33b
4a
4b
5a
5c
22d
22(abc)
WIRE
12
26
25
25A
19
11
33a
18
20+21
16
9
13
9A
7
14
1a
26
10
17
25A
29
28
27
4b
6
5a+5b
15
5c
2
3
4
4a
L
R
22e
5
5c
5a
1
5b
4a
12
14
8
11
25A
1a
26
13
6A
25a
24A
7
27
33
b
28
25
24
a
a
b
6
9
9A
9
10
29A
29B
31A
29
30
30a
31
23
32
WIRE 0,5 mm x1
a
22
c
b
b
c
20
21
1
18
19
18
15
21A
21A
L
21A
21A
16
R
21A
21A
L
16
15
R
a
b
c
17
d
a
b
15C
c
d
15C
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