Jon M. Stafford
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2/18/2019 2 Comments

Lockheed P-38, and the Republic Corporation’s P-47

These books feature American weaponry in World War II from small arms like the BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle), to our tanks, planes and ships.
Two of most interesting of these were two fighter planes, the Lockheed P-38, and the Republic Corporation’s P-47. The P-38 is described in detail in the first book, Reluctant Warriors, in the stories of Jimmy DeValery, and the P-47 in the third of the series, Chances and 312 stories.
Both were weird or ungainly looking, or both. The p-38 had two parallel fuselages (each with a 1,710-horse motor) connected by a nacelle wing holding the cockpit. This gave the plane a tremendous 52’ wingspan which was half that of the B-17 heavy bomber. It also afforded rather great capacity for internal fuel tanks, and produced terrific ranges of 2,000 miles or more; a nice feature in the vast distances of the Pacific where it became the principle Army Air Corp fighter, a monster compared to the tiny Japanese Zero.
The Republic plane also attained great size due to the installation of a large super-charging system for high attitude work. It’s loaded weight topped out at some 20,500lbs (a Zero’s was a little over 5,000lbs.) which in turn demanded a giant engine with an emergency war-rating of almost 2,800hp. It was fitted with a four-bladed 16’ Hamilton-Standard solid steel propeller. While not as speedy or maneuverable as a P-51, it could absorb much more punishment and dive almost at the speed of sound. Some 15,329 were produced.
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Jon Stafford
2 Comments
Garwood Wells
5/19/2019 12:49:02 pm

The information about the P47 is new to me and interesting. Did the Japanese or Germans get a plane to equal the P47 during the war?

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Jon Stafford
7/2/2019 10:14:16 am

"The Germans certainly had competitive planes to our P-51 and P-47, the Focke-Wulf 190 and the Messerschmitt 190. Both were very fast, but had a tendency to catch on fire if hit. American planes had self-sealing gas tanks, which made them much harder to catch on fire, even if hit many times.
The Japanese were low-tech compared to what was used in Europe. They began the war with the advanced Zero fighter but never found to replacement. We called their planes by code-names and their Frank, Tony, and George all suffered from engine troubles."

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    Author Jon Stafford

    Jon Stafford was born in Michigan, the third of four children, and grew up outside of Chicago, attending college close to home. He ventured south to Alabama for his master’s degree in Civil War history and worked toward his PhD at the University of South Carolina. Jon now lives in Columbia, South Carolina, and, after retiring from a thirty-year career teaching history to high schoolers, now spends his time as a residential building contractor, rehabbing houses. When not writing, Jon can be found spending time with his two daughters and grandchild, reading history tomes, and watching classic movies. Nostalgic for a time now gone, Jon is always rooting for the good guy: The good guys always win!

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