Thunderbolt Mk I FL848 was flown by F/O Edgar Wilson (RNZAF) of No 146 Squadron in India in September 1944.

Thunderbolt Mk I HD144 was assigned to No 73 Operational Training Unit based at Fayid in Egypt in the Autumn of 1944.

Finally, Thunderbolt Mk I HD133 of No 258 Squadron was flown by P/O Peter Stead from Arkonam, India, during the Autumn of 1944.

It is with great pride and honour that I would like to introduce my partnership with maxFlite. The concept behind maxFlite’s product is quite simple: we all have fond childhood memories of playing with small foam gliders with propellers. In most cases, these gliders were as much fun as they were flimsy and unrealistic. MaxFlite offers the same type of fun glider – only much more durable and better-looking.

We have worked together to create 14 different glider types, all finely detailed. Fellow illustrator Chris Sandham-Bailey also contributed with an A6M Zero. The types range from major World War II fighters to modern turboprop trainers:

• Col. John Lander’s P-51 Mustang “Big Beautiful Doll”, one of the most colourful Mustangs in the ETO.
• British ace-of-aces Johnnie Johnson’s Spitfire Mk XIV
• Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s Hurricane Mk II, carrying the colours of Squadron Leader Arthur ‘Darkie’ Clowes’ machine during the Battle of Britain.
• Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6 “Christl” as flown by Major Gerhard Barkhorn, who, with 301 aerial victories, was the second most successful fighter ace of all time.
• Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-8 “Red 19” as flown by Unteroffizier Ernst Schröder, which has the motto of the famous Cologne carnival, “Kölle Alaaf”, painted on the left side, and “Edelgard” on the other—the name of the pilot’s first love.
• Republic P-47 Thunderbolt “No Guts No Glory” as flown  by Captain Benjamin Mayo in 1944.
• Mitsubishi A6M2 Model 21 Zero, JJ170 of the Konoike Kokutai (fighter wing), stationed in the Ibaraki Prefecture in 1944.
• The Curtiss P-40M Warhawk “Jacky C II” warbird. You can admire the original in the American Airpower Museum in New York.
• The Yakovlev Yak-3 of Wing Commander Louis Delfino of the French Fighter Group Normandie-Niémen, which served on the Eastern Front.
• Italian fighter ace Luigi Gorrini’s Macchi MC.205 Veltro.
• An Embraer 312 Tucano the Brazilian Air Force’s air demonstration squadron, popularly known as the ‘Smoke Squadron’ (Portuguese: Esquadrilha da Fumaça).
• Pilatus PC-21 No. 101, HB-HZC, the prototype of the PC-21.
• A Pilatus PC-7 bearing the former orange & black markings of the PC-7 Team.
• French ace of aces Pierre Clostermann’s Hawker Tempest Mk V “Le Grand Charles”.
• Dewoitine D.520 No. 266, flown by Sous-Lieutenant René Pomier-Layrargues, Groupe de Chasse (Fighter Wing) II/7, 5 June 1940, Beauvais. Pilot René Pomier-Layrargues scored two aerial victories over Me 109s on 5 June 1940, one of which was flown by fighter ace Werner Mölders.

If you’re looking for a great Christmas present for kids (or adults ! ) at an affordable price, you’ll find that maxFlite’s gliders are a great combination of fun, art and historical accuracy and detail. The aircraft are roughly 40 cm in length and wingspan. Some people have already adapted the gliders with electric motors and control surfaces to use them as RC models. I’ll be posting more on this later, but I must say that it’s great fun to imagine my illustrations buzzing around the skies !

You can purchase the models directly from the secure maxFlite online shop.

AirCorps Aviation of Bemidji, MN is honored to assist in the relay of the poignant life story and service of 1st Lt Loren Hintz who was killed in action flying a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter over Italy on April 21, 1945.
Follow AirCorps Aviation for daily updates as this 12 year quest culminates with the excavation on July 23, 2016.

Read the full story on Aircorps Aviation’s website.

I’ve had the privilege and pleasure of working with the great team at Aircorps Aviation and here is the result: a P-47D-16-RE of the 79th Fighter Group in Italy in April 1945. The profile is very hypothetical, except for the tactical code and serial number. There are very few available photos of 79th FG razorback Thunderbolts, although the colours of 79th FG bubbletops are better known.

If you have any information regarding the markings of Thunderbolts in the 79th FG, or even better about Lt Loren Hintz’s aircraft, please contact me and I’ll update the profile and forward the info to AC.

A personal favourite of mine! This P-47D-30-RA (s/n 44-32773) was flown by Maj. Howard Park, 513th Fighter Squadron, 406th Fighter Group, 1945.

Enregistrer

Enregistrer

1. Colonel Hubert “Hub” Zemke’s P-47C-5-RE, named “Moy Tovarich” (Russian for my comrade). Zemke taught Soviet pilots how to fly the Lend-Lease P-40 Tomahawk in 1941, before being assigned as CO of the 56th FG – the first group to fly the P-47. Zemke scored his first three kills in this aircraft.

2. This is Walker “Bud” Mahurin’s P-47D-5-RE, named “Spirit of Atlantic City, NJ”. This was a War Bond presentation aircraft in which Mahurin scored most of his 20.75 victories in World War II and in which he was shot down on 27 March 1944. It is interesting to note that the aircraft was modified with a different type of rearview mirror above the cockpit, as well as another one mounted on the fuselage side, just below the windscreen.

3. P-47C-5-RE assigned to flight commander Walter Cook in March 1943, who would end the war with 6 victories. With this aircraft, Cook shot down the first e/a credited (a Fw 190) to the 56th FG on 12 June 1943. Major David Schilling (Deputy CO of the 56th FG) also claimed his first two victories with this aircraft on 2 October 1943. This aircraft later received the name “The Sad Sack” and corresponding nose art on the port side. On 20 October 1943, Capt. Cook ground-looped the aircraft at Halesworth, and it was subsequently transferred out of the group.

4. This P-47D-16-RE was assigned to Capt. Charles Mohrle of the 510th FS, 405th FG, who adorned his mount a superb example of nose art.

]]> https://www.gaetanmarie.com/republic-p-47-thunderbolt-2/feed/ 5