Length: 12"
Code: NC10196

The P-47 Thunderbolt was the product of Russian immigrant Alexander P. de Seversky and Georgian immigrant Alexander Kartveli, who had left their homelands to escape the Bolsheviks.

The XP-47B gave the newly reorganized United States Army Air Forces cause for both optimism and apprehension. While possessing good performance and firepower, the XP-47B had its share of teething problems:

    * Its sheer size and limited ground-propeller clearance made for challenging takeoffs which required long runways—the pilot had to hold the tail low until considerable speed was attained on the initial run.
    * The sideways-opening canopy covers had a tendency to jam.
    * The multiple-gun installation, with its tight fit and cramped ammunition belt tracks, experienced jamming problems, especially during and after hard maneuvering.
    * Maneuverability was less than desired when compared to the Supermarine Spitfire and Bf-109.
    * The ignition system arced at high altitude.
    * Access to the rear engine accessory pad was difficult due to the short engine mount used.
    * At high altitude the ailerons "snatched and froze".
    * At high speeds the control loads were deemed excessive.

Republic addressed the problems with a sliding canopy that could be jettisoned in an emergency, a pressurized ignition system, and new all-metal control surfaces (improved engine-accessory access had to wait until the P-47C introduced a new engine mount). While the engineers worked frantically to get their "dinosaur" to fly right, the USAAF ordered 171 P-47Bs. An engineering prototype P-47B was delivered in December 1941, with a production prototype following in March 1942, and the first production model provided in May. Republic continued to improve the design as P-47Bs were produced, and although all P-47Bs had the sliding canopy and the new General Electric turbosupercharger regulator for the R-2800-21 engine, features such as all-metal control surfaces were not standard at first. A modification unique to the P-47B was the radio mast behind the cockpit that was slanted forward to maintain the originally designed antenna wire length in spite of the new sliding canopy.

The P-47B not only led to the P-47C but to a few other "one off" variants. A single reconnaissance variant designated RP-47B was built. In September 1942, the 171st and last P-47B (41-6065) was also used as a test platform under the designation XP-47E to evaluate the R-2800-59 engine, a pressurized cockpit with a hinged canopy and, eventually, a new Hamilton Standard propeller. The plans for production were cancelled after increased emphasis on low-level operations over Europe. Another P-47B was later fitted with a new laminar flow wing in search of higher performance and redesignated XP-47F.