Engineered by Russian-American aviation pioneers Alexander De Seversky and Alexander Kartveli, the P-47 Thunderbolt , affectionately nicknamed The Jug , was th...More

Engineered by Russian-American aviation pioneers Alexander De Seversky and Alexander Kartveli, the P-47 Thunderbolt , affectionately nicknamed The Jug , was the largest and most expensive single engine fighter aircraft in history, weighing in at nearly 8 tons when fully armed and loaded with ordnance. It was the primary fighter of WWII USAAF, adept in both air and ground attack roles. Equipped with an array of .50 cal machine guns and carrying a deadly payload of bombs and rockets, Republic Aviation s P-47 was a powerful, transitional platform from which was launched the era of modern, heavy jet fighters.Less