The Fighter Germans Called 'A Flying Barrel' - Until It Shot Down 3,572 Luftwaffe Planes скачать в хорошем качестве

The Fighter Germans Called 'A Flying Barrel' - Until It Shot Down 3,572 Luftwaffe Planes

In the spring of 1943, German fighter pilots watched an enormous new American aircraft emerge over occupied France and laughed at what they called a flying barrel. Within two years, that same aircraft would destroy over 3,500 Luftwaffe planes and change the course of World War Two. This is the remarkable true story of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, designed by Georgian immigrant Alexander Kartveli, who built the largest single-engine fighter ever created around a revolutionary turbo supercharger system. American pilots nicknamed it the Jug for its milk bottle shape, but they soon discovered its greatest strength was surviving damage that would destroy any other fighter. When pilot Robert S. Johnson took 21 cannon shells and over 200 machine gun hits in a single mission and still flew home, both sides realized the Thunderbolt was something extraordinary. This documentary follows legendary aces like Francis Gabreski, who scored 28 victories to become the top American ace in Europe, and Colonel Neel Kearby, who earned the Medal of Honor after downing six enemy aircraft in fifteen minutes over New Guinea. From the early struggles of 1943 to the devastating ground attacks during D-Day and the Falaise Pocket, witness how the P-47 evolved from a struggling newcomer into the dominant fighter-bomber of the European Theater. With 15,683 aircraft built by Republic Aviation factories and a combat record of 3,752 aerial victories worldwide, the Thunderbolt proved that rugged engineering and overwhelming firepower could defeat elegant design. Featuring verified accounts from combat veterans, actual statistics from military archives, and the incredible stories of the men who flew these legendary warbirds into history. SOURCES & REFERENCES Official Museums & Archives: National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution - Republic P-47D Thunderbolt https://www.si.edu/object/republic-p-... National Museum of the United States Air Force - P-47 Thunderbolt https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Vis... American Air Museum in Britain - Francis Stanley Gabreski https://www.americanairmuseum.com/arc... Cradle of Aviation Museum - P-47 Thunderbolt Aviation Darwinism https://www.cradleofaviation.org/hist... Historical Publications: HistoryNet - Interview with Robert S. Johnson, World War II Ace https://www.historynet.com/world-war-... HistoryNet - Gabby Gabreski: America's Top Gun in Europe https://www.historynet.com/gabby-gabr... HistoryNet - The P-47 Jug Hit the Germans Hard https://www.historynet.com/p47-thunde... Air and Space Forces Magazine - P-47 Thunderbolt History https://www.airandspaceforces.com/art... Warfare History Network - P-47 Thunderbolts at the Battle of the Bulge https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/art... Reference Encyclopedias: Britannica - P-47 WWII Fighter Plane Design and Performance https://www.britannica.com/technology... World War II Database - P-47 Thunderbolt Fighter https://ww2db.com/aircraft_spec.php?a... World War II Database - Robert Johnson Biography https://ww2db.com/person_bio.php?pers... Military History Resources: This Day in Aviation - Francis Stanley Gabreski https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/28-... Gathering of Eagles Foundation - Francis S. Gabreski https://goefoundation.org/eagles/gabr... Osprey Publishing - Machine of the Month: P-47 Thunderbolt https://www.ospreypublishing.com/us/o...