Hobby Master Archive

Hobby Master 1/48 Air Power Series HA8402 P-47D Thunderbolt Lt Col Benjamin Mayo, 82nd FS, 78th FG Duxford Air Base, 1944

1/48 scale pre-finished Die-cast metal with a minimum of plastic. Professionally painted. All markings pad applied for superb results. Cockpit slides open. Comes with a pilot that can be removed. Comes with display stand. Can be displayed with landing gear up or down.

The Republic Aviation P-47 “Thunderbolt” entered service in May 1942 with the introduction of the P-47B. It had a “Razorback”, a high dorsal spine behind the side-ways opening canopy that reduced visibility. As improvements were made a “D” variant was produced with 12,602 being manufactured. The British developed a sliding bubble canopy for their Typhoon and this was adopted by the USAAF starting with the P-47D-5. With its ability to survive enemy fire along with impressive armament and bomb load the P-47 excelled at ground attack roles.

Lt. Col. Benjamin Mayo was a P-47 pilot and CO of the 82nd and then the 84th FS 78th FG from June 1944 - September 1944. The 78th FG was based at Duxford Air Base in England. While with the 82nd he flew P-47D “No Guts No Glory” that was lost while being flown by another pilot. Mayo was transferred to the 84th FS and named his new P-47 “NGNG” as well. His third P-47 was 42-26551 WZ-P that he used to down two Fw-190s on September 9, 1944 near Giessen Germany. This third P-47 was later transferred to the 371st FS 405th FG 9th Air Force where it was lost on April 11, 1945.

Republic Aviation P-47D specifications Number Produced - 12,602 most numerous variant Crew - 1 Dimensions Length - 36 ft. 1 in. (11 m) Wingspan - 40 ft. 9 in. (12.42 m) Height - 14 ft. 8 in. (4.47 m)

Performance Engine - 1 x Pratt & Whitney R-2800-59 twin-row radial, 2,535 hp (1,890 kW) Maximum Speed - 433 mph @ 30,000 ft (697 km/h @ 9,145 m) Service Ceiling - 43,000 ft. (13,100 m) Rate Of Climb - 3,120 ft/min (15.9 m/s) Range - 800 mi. combat, 1,800 mi. ferry (1,290 km combat / 2,900 km ferry)

Armament 8 x .50 in. (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns w/ 3,400 rounds Maximum 2,500 lbs (1,134 kg) of bombs 10 x 5 in. (127 mm) unguided rockets