P-47 Thunderbolt takeoff

It's easy to forget how many different cockpit controls those WWII birds had.



It's also pretty wild to see the S-turns on the taxiway, because the pilot couldn't see past the cowling. Since the "Jug" was the biggest and heaviest fighter ever powered by a single propeller engine, the engine had to be huge. And "heaviest" was no joke: fully gassed, and with each of its eight .50 cal M2s loaded for bear, the bird weighed eight tons. RAF pilots - used to the cramped cockpits of British fighters - joked that a P-47 pilot attacked by the Luftwaffe could save himself by running and hiding in a different part of the cockpit.

The current A-10 is popularly called the "Warthog", but officially it is the "Thunderbolt II" after the P-47's famous hard-hitting ground attack punch and amazing survivability. Not only the airframe but the engine could take a lot of punishment, and when armed with .50 cal armor piercing ammo, could shoot up all but Tiger tanks.

We built over 15,000, and they flew active duty in some Air Forces until 1966. Sweet bird.