A SPAD. Wait, wrong war.It might be significant to know what the highest scoring American aces in the ETO flew.
A SPAD. Wait, wrong war.It might be significant to know what the highest scoring American aces in the ETO flew.
Francis "Gabby" Gabreski 28.0 P-47It might be significant to know what the highest scoring American aces in the ETO flew.
It might be significant to know what the highest scoring American aces in the ETO flew.
Do they talk about maneuverability at specific altitudes. In Fire in the Sky, Bergerud claims the P-47 was quite nimble at high altitudes (like 25,000 feet) due to the raw power in the engine.
In terms of close air support in Korea the Air Force would of been better sreved with either the F4-U or the AD-1 Spad in terms of prop a/c.
I am wondering what if the USAF turned the P-47 into it's version of the AD-1 Skyraider? Think about it for a minute. The USN kept the Skyraider in frontline service into Vietnam and then the Air Force bought them and used them some as well. The F4-U debuted before the Hellcat and it outlived the Hellcat and it's postwar replacement the Bearcat.
My proposal is this: what if the Air Force decided it wanted to keep the P-47 as THE dedicated fighter-bomber after WWII. In keeping with the NIH (not invented here) / inter service rivalry attitude the USAF simply does not buy the Douglas aircraft but instead upgrades the Thunderbolt to carry more bombs/rockets. Or Republic makes it's version of the Skyraider. The F-51 gets phased out and the Thunderbolt hangs around after Korea. To justify its continued life the Air Force says the Thunderbolt is for forward deployment use from dirt airfields. Maybe they keep a squadron in South Korea in case the Reds come south again. It could also be stationed in Alaska. It can fly long and low patrols in the Aleutians. You could have the last Thunderbolts in Vietnam in the early days of the war serving with the Air Commandos.