P47 Thunderbolt Combat Footage

[woolyvarmit1]

I think its soo groovy...

[naggegullet]

Very cool and interesting video footage! Awesome!

[HistoryHmoobGuy]

The P-47 ThunderBolt is the biggest single seated fighter. It was also very heavy and equipped with a huge powerful engine that loves to chug gas as much as a college whore love to chug liqueur - which made it good for dive attack scenarios and hit-and-run tatics but on a one on one dogfight ? - the American pilots know better then to tangle with a Zero, Raiden or say a ME109....That being said !, the P-51 Mustang is a more complete fighter and all-around better performer

its truth !!!

[jjohnston94]

At 0:48 really cool - the bullets that miss the target plane hit the ground and kick up dirt.

[Edubbplate]

My grandpa flew one of these out of Burma against the Japanese. He was a highly decorated Lt. Colonel in the US Army Air Corp. (there wasn't an airforce yet)

[iamstarstuff001]

I like THE JUG, but would rather fly THE MUSTANG.

[DeltaGolf72]

Beautiful machine!!!! Together with the Japanese Zero, my two most beloved airplanes.

[DeltaGolf72]

Beautiful machine!!! Together with the Japanese Zero, two of my most beloved airplanes!

[danmunro01]

I love the P-47. Yet to see one fly here in NZ. In my opinion P51-D was the better fighter aircraft of the two. But the P-47 had a dam impressive success rate. 546000 combat sorties flown and over 11000 enemy aircraft destroyed with less than 1% of all P-47s sent into action being lost to enemy aircraft. Not to mention over 100000 ground targets destroyed. No other fighter has anything like this to its name. My favourite fighter of WW2 is the Corsair. Frontline fighter of RNZAF in WW2

[Bladespeedy]

wow...3:11....big boom.

[ACDC20895]

The music could be better but other than that this is an amazing video! How'd you get it?

[flyingeagle357]

nice video and the soundtrack is well choosen for the video ;)

[dgrayzona]

perfect  tune to an awesome plane--------thanks--- D

[fthumper]

The song is Lullaby by the Cure. Not Plainsong. Like the video. Went to purchase the song on iTunes and purchased the wrong song.

[therealetorin]

i thought it was funny how almost in sync everytime it showed overview of a p-47 a plane would fly over head and i could hear jet engines while they were pulling maneuvers and formations

[Miker3797]

Need to do without the music.

[fenderfish]

audio works, good choice.

[mastersduhgree]

An old pilot said when the .50cal rounds would hit the ground under a horse they would ricoshet up and lift the horse right off the ground and throw it to the side of the road.

[flaybayware]

liked, but I'd rather hear the original son of vídeo.jvg.Brazil

[moto1p1]

Nice Jugs!

p.s I can't stand it when people think that nickname was derived from the word juggernaut It came from the it's fuselage resembling old school milk jugs! Even those dip-s**** on the history channel couldn't get right.

[lufwaffeaircraft]

awsome vid

[lredmon]

...I turned the silly music off.

[Spook049]

Legend has it that sometime in 1943, a Luftwaffe general approached Willy Messerschmidt to ask on how the Me-109 fighter could further improve in range and firepower. Messerchmidt's retort was "Do you want a fighter or a barn door?" Within a year, these two met again at some airfield in west Germany, which soon afterwards was strafed by P-47's. After diving for cover, the officer snided to Willy: "There are your barn doors!"

Hated or loved, but definitely a successful "barn door."

[rileschmi]

those glimpses of the whole battle field were epic

[valkyrie321]

Amazing video. Thank you for sharing it.

[thepharaoh32]

Not to belittle the combat airmen of today, but in my mind, this was the age of the true pilot. No onboard computers, just you and your bird.

[1959fordguy]

@ 0:51 was that a Nazi Jet?

[dmcfarli]

Gunther Rall has stated (he actually flew all Allied fighter aircraft of WWII during WWII) that the

P-47D model was superior to any variant of the FW-190 except the D model and the TA-152 neither of which were manufactured in great quantities.

The P-47D could outdive any contemporary fighter which is a huge asset in a dog fight; the ability to disengage at will. The Germans could not do that.

[BaFUD]

Nice footage, but germans had the best. ^^

[pitbull73]

The Unbreakable!!!

[g36c1]

hartmann sent to the hell 5 yanks p 51

in ploesti!!

[Drpepper687]

Oh my god, what did they blow up at 3:09?!?! Looked like a small nuke!!

[grodspc]

hold on the Jug wasnt in the Pacific was it?

that one guncam was a IJ plane being shot down , i dont think that was a P-47 but it a P-51 guncam hmmm

[PolskaUrban]

fucking nazis...were fucked up

[the82spartans]

Not a pretty looking plane but looks tough as nails and had quite a kick to it.

[Stefan0212]

great video man

[murcielago08na]

such a different world from the air to air engagements of today.

[neilthefish]

La musica no va con el combate

[ProfessorK100]

I agree the music does not go with the video at all, but it is still really good footage.

[icantbelieveitshuman]

P-47 The Unstoppable Juggernaut

[parice]

good color film. Man those P-47's can take a beating. they were kind of the underdog during WW2. Just like is the A-10 Thunderbolt 2 it was a flying tank.

[UtahMike41]

Gun camera footage is fascinating to me to see what the pilot sees and to watch those bullets streak to their targets. The poor bastards on the ground getting punished by multiple .50 caliber impacts has to be disheartening.

[nwannal]

Song: Lullaby, by the Cure.

Dogfights the legend of Y-29 (Youtube) shows the P47 and P51s going after the hundreds of German aircraft. This is a powerful, tough bird. Thanks for posting good job!

[grodspc]

not bad look at those 8 50 cals go to work

cool and great flying

[Frontkeks]

thats plane (P-47) is not my favorit, i like the german planes more, an i think all germans planes are better

but i like all planes

and nice music :)

[WaffenSS62]

agreed, the Me262 and the FW190 could very easily outrun all allied fighters

[Eversman1]

two P-47's can take out a Nazi flight and a fighter escort this plane was designed to take severe hits

[greenthousands]

The editing of the song in this video sucks. It's also a bad choice for P-47 war time footage.

[chaui71]

That's the only reason I come back to this video. Both of them together is surreal.

[aimhelix]

Haha, I respect your opinion - but I chose this song because it's creepy and the theme fits the 'hunter' role the P47 played .. it was just a plain deadly aircraft that the odd sounding song actually complemented it with in a twisted way :) Enjoy it before YT strips off the audio lol

[pkrippa]

RIP Ret. Col Nathan J Adams...11/24/08..Flew 3 missions D-Day in the "Jug"...

[guysey1]

to above i agree that the b17 was a tough aircraft but not the best bomber of ww2,in europe this was the lancaster..in asia the b29

[Cab0cl0]

Many men have gone.

[nanerrat]

P-47 The Cadillac of the Sky!!!

P-51 didnt have air conditioning so it more like a Corvette or a Mustang ;D

I also read somewhere that all of the top ten Thunderbolt aces survived the war. Its the only fighter plane of the war that can make that claim.

Fast, Tough, High flying and Hard Hitting.

Had I been a fighter pilot during the war, its prolly the plane I would have wanted to go to war in.

[TheFick]

I was reading an article on the Thunderbolt and the men who flew them on Air-Ground missions. One was reported to have landed with part of a body from a german soldier in the engine cowl and landed safely. Another had about 147 holes in it from shrapnel and bullets; also landed safely.

[Oso1G]

Respect to the mighty Jug !

[MayHitlerBurn]

The B-17 without a dought is the toughest aircraft ever!! The fastest was the P-51 The stongest engine wise was the F4U Corsair and the most Armored was the P-47 on the Allied side but the B-17 is still the Strongest Aircraft EVER! My GreatX2 Grnadfather was the tail gunner for one.

[NIJACRAB]

whats the name of this song

[zigul9]

Cure, "Lullaby".

[NIJACRAB]

GREAT VID, WHATS THE NAME OF THIS SONG

[Bresilver]

As usual, the information here is about as accurate as the discovery channel. Actualy, the range of the Jug was as good or better than both the Bf-109 and the FW-190. The top speed at 30,000 ft was far superior, and yes, it could out-dive almost anything in the air with a prop...ever. It was almost inarguably the toughest airplane ever built, with as much repute as anyother plane, from the B-17 then to the A-10 today.

[kostucha22]

"As usual, the information here is about as accurate as the discovery channel"

lol what a comment I agree with u.

[Workinbus]

It was inarguably the toughest FIGHTER ever built, not the toughest airplane.There were Forts that made it home on 1 engine & others which made it home after being rammed by fighters.Then there was the Fort driven by a flak burst into the Fort above at 25K ft.They became locked together like mating dragonflies and the pilot in the lower Fort flew them down to a safe landing in a field.Those who hadn't bailed out then walked away and were taken prisoner by stunned Germans.

[McLarenMercedes]

the Soviet IL-2 sturmovik attack aircraft had armoured wings and some were even known to fly after an anti aircraft shell went right through the wing

the american B17 could fly home half shot to pieces and once survived a mid-air collision with a Focke Wulf FW190...

[gio31brasil]

this video with "aces high " music is far away better!!

[majnjord]

This music thing is grotesque, at least I think so... This is real people dying or getting wounded you're watching, and you discuss what music you should listen to while watching? It's a bit strange...

[WalkTheBike]

the p-47 is a armored flying tanks. get a fw 109 and pour all the lead you can and it wont do you any good to the "jug". my favorite ww2 plane

[kostucha22]

WalkTheBike "fw 109" ? I've never heard about that plane please tell us something more. Maybe u were talking about FW 189 hhmm LOL

[aimhelix]

I think he meant the FW190 - MY favorite WW2 plane of all! Great handling, great performance and extremely lethal armament.

[kostucha22]

"I think he meant the FW190" of course u r right I was kiding I believe he was watching Dogfights: " Thunderbolt " about that german pilot who could not shoot down P47 but that was 190 early model with small guns probably he never heard about A6, A8 or A9 versions.

btw D-9 is my favourite version climb like monkey.

[waikukujk]

@aimhelix an excellent weapon but outclassed by later model spitfires

[awc71]

Great armour, bullet-proof windscreens and self-sealing fuel tanks, Republic made a great plane!!!!

[johnnybravo234]

Its all about the pilot..

[icemelongreen]

Great Plane though it weighed close to 7 tons !

It was said it was suicide to dogfight below 30,000 ft. with it. It was great in the dive and use it's zoom to get it out of trouble. Along with the P-38 it had problems with compress-

bility in a dive. Still love the "JUG" !

[oldtilter]

Good Fighter but a gas guzzler..

[crazytrain7114]

the 47 had high speed flaps that ,correctly used, enabled it to out turn 109s 190s and even the vaunted a6m

[ThirdOxen]

No it did not. The P-47 could never outturn a A6M. Pilots were strictly told not to dogfight with the Zero, but rather use the extreme diving ablity of the Jug to Boom and Zoom the Zero. As for the 190s and 109s, it could not outturn either of them. But it could hold its own quite well at high altitude. Outturning ability depended apon the pilots. Storys are conflicting on how good the Jug was against the Luftwaffe. Some loved it, (56th FG) others hated it with a passion, (Col Blakeslee 4th FG)

[Auggie56]

P47 where best at hit and run. The only defence they had was to stay high and dive when in trouble. Nothing could keep up to it in a dive.

[Hallaran]

Great men, great planes!

[windswords2]

Love the comment about the 47 not being able to dogfight at low altitudes - and most of the footage of the shootdowns is at low altitudes! Yes 47's were used in the Pacific too, D's and N's (long range model).

[srxplayer]

Famed German WWII Fighter Ace Adolph Galand said in an interview that the P-47 could out dive the ME262.

He said he was jumped by a P-47 and wnt into a dive to avoid the P-47. He said that the P-47 caught him. He never used a dive manuver agin against a P-47.

[loht773]

It was a good fighter, I do not like the desing personally, but I give him that.I belive the Spitifre played a more important role, by wining the Battle Of Britain, and If the British would have lost the war, all the North Americans would have fall under the german and Japanese.

[Dandon90]

Oh yeah? Even without the Spitfire the Brits could still win the Battle Of Britain, and the US could never had been beaten by the Germans and Japanese.. They wouldnt have the recourses to an invasion of USA..

[McLarenMercedes]

why would Germany even need to invade the USA? they would have become the world's leading power if they had beaten the Soviet Union

most of the world would see nazi germany as the rulers of the world with the most advanced rocket technology...

german would have been taught as the first foreign language in schools around the world...

[FlattusMaximusD]

i agree.

[Dogmeat7]

um... ya. they would have had to fight japan to see who would become the ruler of the world lol. if they did beat all the allies.

[RustiSwordz]

The hurricane did most of the work, actually we only had half of the amount of Spits compared to the hurricane.

The cane was tougher and better armed and was mainly tasked with attacking the Bombers. The Spits were faster and more agile and went after the cover fighters.

[crazytrain7114]

spitfire was used in very small numbers, the hurricane and glouster gladiator were far more extensivly used

[McLarenMercedes]

statistics from the battle of Britain says 5/7 of all downed German airplane were downed by the Hawker Hurricane

the Spitfires were mostly used to fight the german fighters

Hurricanas and other british aircraft went after the bombers,and the fighter-bomber Bf110

[fuuuuchdaworld]

You gotta love the JUG!

[dickenson25]

the p-47 is a great fighter but can't manever down low

[Winky395]

The 47 couldn't even reach the transonic region

the 51 could get going fast enough (in power dive)

to render the elevator control ineffective.

[aimhelix]

That's true warlord, althought there are no evidence supporting this. During the war though, they said that at some dives, it actually went past 700MPH but that info is a bit dodgy considering the plane's design and uncontrollability during supersonic flight. I wouldn't be surprised if the pilots who broke the sound barrier in a P-47 all retired as lawn darts. :)

[darko714]

700 mph?  Impossible, even in a full powered dive.

[lesterclaypool1]

@aimhelix he believe if you go to the repblic p47 cite it shows that after the war new gauges were used and it did go much faster than first thought ,,, especially after the new four blade 13 foot prop

[misterpeaky]

@aimhelix It was a MIG 17 steeeeeep dive .....

[warlord602]

50 cal. small???? %0s tear things up, and 8 of them!!! The 47 could also dive fast. It's said to have been able to break the sound barrier.

[SeanBreen]

The P-47 was a pure dogfighter ,, built with a turbo charge for high altitude extra air intake hence the big nose , and paddled props ,,  extra guns and armour ,, this was the best one on one fighter in the war , but was assigned to ground attack,, etc etc .. if you think this was not a fighter ,, you are way way mis informed ,, the ME 262 ,, could out perform this fighter ,

[DumblyBrilliant]

The song is, "The Lullaby" by The Cure

[texasfathead]

I love the music, who is it? anybody know?

[DumblyBrilliant]

The song is, "The Lullaby" by The Cure

[texasfathead]

But I do love the P-47 butt it was a flghter bomber not a dog fighter. it was like a truck it could take a lot of damage and get the driver home.

[Karabiner98Kurz]

the music could not be any worse

[ponchoyo]

yo i saw some zeros, i dont think this is all europe

[aimhelix]

You're right I think I did too but I'm not sure. Did Thundbolts ever tangle with Zeroes? Must've been one hell of a tacticians fight since the strong and weapoints of the P47 and the Zeroes are complete opposites.

[kbroma01]

Yes, Republic did make special P47's for the Pacific. They were either an "N" or "M" series with extra fuel tanks. The Zero was still a great plane down low, but became infective at higher altitudes.

[XDude22]

or mabey it's not all P-47 footage.

[ufo19831026]

This is absolutly treasure for WW2 lovers!!

Anybody who doesnt give this a 5 is crazy!

[kphfun]

very cool track to some great vid. For those who don't know the p-51 (A-35 in it's early use wth 4 50's)later models were better for it's performance at alt. and for it's distance along with much better response with its V engine, but the radial engine showed it's strength in the A-1 Skyraider as the last piston combat aircraft of US Armed Forces other then spec. op's planes.. P-51 was a mustang of the air but the P-47 was the WARHOG, you figure it out!

[staydput]

The GAF first encountered the P47 escorting heavies over France in 1943.

It was quickly established that it was not profitable to tangle with them. So the GAF held off until the P47 pulled away due to fuel limitations and then went at the heavies. This held down the kill scores for this plane. The P47 could take tremendous punishment. In effect the P47 and P51 switched roles.

[p47plane]

The P-47 is an amazing plane. I'm surprised the P-51 has retained so much fame while the P-47, the biggest and the toughest fighter of the war, has become a bit obscure.

[aimhelix]

I agree. I absolutely love the Thunderbolt -- that is the original A10 tank killer. That thing performed just as well as the Mustang. But I think it's the Mustang's aesthetics coupled with Hollywood movies that pushed its popularity.

[rowie33]

it's the Cure (the Group) singing and the song is i believe Hungry. on their greatest hits album

[654bjk]

Don't change a thing. Music is haunting, spiders dining,P-47's hunting for prey. 56th Fighter Group flew P-47's the entire war. They did not switch to P-51's,as all other groups did, yet had highest air to air kills,674,by end of war.What is the name of the song?

[aimhelix]

Lullaby by the Cure.

[BoNidle3863]

Guncamera's of the day did not record audio. Any noises of engines, machine guns, cannons, flak, explosions etc that you hear in documentaries has been dubbed on to make it a little more involving for the viewer.

[gamerhelmet]

What are they fighting? Stukas?

[aimhelix]

I believe the pilots (with the camera) are flying the P-47 Thunderbolts. Most of the kills you see looks like Bf109's and some Halftracks as well as AA emplacements.

[rittjc]

No, Stuka's rarely appeared on the Western Front. Too slow and too easy to shoot down. P-47 was the best prop fighter of WWII. A rookie P-47 pilot is the one that shot down Adolph Galland in his ME-262 and put him out of the war for good. Galland had made a pass at bombers the Jug was covering and it ran it down in a shallow dive. Very fitting that a 500 mph plane could run down a 560 mph plane just by dropping its nose like Jugs could. An amazing plane.

[jlwillsey]

i dunno. maybe the pilot was just lucky. besides the P-51D was probably the best fighter during WWII (or aat least in Europe).

[texasfathead]

the P-47 was a lead sled and was not a good figther,it could not clime or turn most pilots did not like to dog fight in it,and it had no cannons just small 50cals,most pilots sad all it could do was dive to get out of trouble, but as a bomber it was ok.FYI.

[texasfathead]

Also there is no way a P-47 could catch a ME-262 the 262 could clime faster than a p-47 could dive, the p-47 got him when trying to land,did you read Adolph Galland book?

[SmiertSpionem]

CLips are superb but 'The Cure' was odd choice of music.

[jenkins0111]

What's odd about a song about spiders eating their prey and fighters preying (like spiders) on some poor schlepper on the ground??

[TinmanII]

Thanks for putting this up! Awesome!

[aimhelix]

So would I. :(

Unfortunately, I haven't yet been able to find a version of this with the original audio. I'm not even sure if it exists. If it does, I'll put it up.

[SKSeattle]

love old WWII birds, P51H Mustang being my favorite. This is a really cool video. Awesome plane, excellent footage, nice editing and an artistic choice of music.

[vannilesoep]

Wow great footage, best WWII footage from planes I've ever seen, nice!