The Evolution of the Thunderbolt Aircraft: From Jug to Warthog

During the Iraq War the ground attack aircraft A-10 has proved that it was named Thunderbolt II for a reason. The number two added to the name of this plane clearly points out the existence of another Thunderbolt. The predecessor of the A-10 was the World War II fighter aircraft P-47 Thunderbolt manufactured by Republic Aviation Corporation. Republic Aviation was acquired by Fairchild Hiller and became the Republic Aviation Division of this company. That is why the modern A-10 Thunderbolt II carries names of both companies – Fairchild-Republic.

A domination of armored fighting vehicles on the battlefields of World War II created a need for a new type of military aircraft- close air support and ground attack aircraft. Even though the P-47 Thunderbolt was not originally created to answer this call, it eventually became not only a fighter-bomber, but also a successful ground attack aircraft. But let’s start the story of two Thunderbolts from the very beginning.

The original Thunderbolt (a.k.a. Jug) was designed by immigrants from two different parts of former Russian Empire. Alexander P. de Seversky from Russia and Alexander Kartveli from Georgia were part of a wave of immigrants escaping the Bolsheviks rule. They became creators of the most famous World War II Republic Aviation’s fighter aircraft P-47 Thunderbolt. It was armed with eight12.7 mm caliber machine guns (four per wing). Usage of armor-piercing incendiaries made the P-47 successful against lightly armored fighting vehicles. Even though 12.7 mm projectiles could not penetrate the armor of German tanks, they sometimes were able to penetrate the engine grilles and exhaust system of the German medium tank Panther, disabling the vehicle.

Unfortunately the Thunderbolt machine guns were useless against German heavy tanks Tiger. For this occasion the P-47 Thunderbolt carried two 500 lb (227 kg) bombs. Those bombs were not precise. Still an explosion from a bomb’s near miss could be powerful enough to blow off a tank’s turret or even knock a tank on its side. The overall statistics of the P-47 usage as the ground attack aircraft is quite impressive: from the invasion of Europe on June 6, 1944 to the Victory on Europe day on May 8, 1945, the P-47 Thunderbolt aircrafts claimed to destroy: 86,000 railroad cars, 9,000 locomotives, 6,000 armored fighting vehicles, and 68,000 trucks.

Even though it sounds impossible to compare the modern jet A-10 equipped with two turbo-fan engines with the old fashioned P-47 that had only one radial engine and a propeller, they have much more in common than just the same manufacturer and the same purpose. The modern aircraft A-10 inherited one very important quality from its proud ancestor – survivability. The robust airframe design and durable engine were able to take in significant damage and still return the plane home. In many instances after being shot down pilots were choosing the risk of crash-landing as opposed to the risk of jumping out. A burning Thunderbolt would be cutting off tops of the trees, losing its wings, and even tail, but still it could save a pilot’s life, leaving him with a few or no injuries at all.

As for the A-10 Thunderbolt II the most famous example of its survivability was presented by then Captain Kim Campbell during the Iraq War. On April 7, 2003 her A-10 attacked ground targets near the North Baghdad Bridge through the Tigris River and was damaged by returned fire. One of the engines was damaged. Hydraulic powered flight controls, landing gears and brakes stopped working. Campbell followed all recommended emergency procedures without any luck. Then she disabled the non-working hydraulics and set her A-10 into manual reversion. The aircraft responded. Now she could try to operate it in the manual mode. During 1991 Gulf War other pilots tried to do that three times, and only once it was successful.

Kim Campbell had a choice. She could eject herself from the jet and abandoned the A-10. Instead Campbell decided to follow the example of the World War II pilots of P-47s. She turned her plane home. One hour later she was near the air base. Landing was another tough choice. No brakes, no steering. But Campbell was willing to do that. And despite all the problems she did the trick. She safely landed her A-10 Thunderbolt II.

For the exceptional action in aerial combat Captain Kim Campbell received the Distinguished Flying Cross. And the A-10 Thunderbolt II once again has demonstrated that its survivability is as reliable as that of its predecessor P-47 Thunderbolt.

Sources:

1. Captain Kim Campbell. DFC Series from VPcollectibles.com 2. Wikipedia: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. 3. Wikipedia: Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II. 4. US Air Force web-site: A-10 Thunderbolt II. 5. US Air Force web-site: Operation Iraqi Freedom Hero Shares Her Story.


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