The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was a single-seat, single-engine fighter, yet in some configurations, its loaded weight could exceed 10 tons. The Thunderbolt towered over its contemporaries, friend and foe. It bucked the trend in U.S. Army Air Force fighters by using an air-cooled radial engine instead of a slimmer V-12 liquid-cooled power plant. Not as glamorous as the lithe P-51 mustang, the P-47 nonetheless earned a reputation for accomplishment- and durability. The barrel-shaped behemoth was bluntly, yet respectfully, called the Jug by it users. In the hands of skilled pilots, the Thunderbolt was a remarkable fighter. Like the otherwise dissimilar-38 Lightning, the P-47 used a whirring turbosupercharger to gain performance at altitude. Thunderbolts served to the end of World War II and beyond, playing out their American service live in Air National Guard.underbolt - Warbird Tech Series This series has become one of the best sources of information for modelers and aviation enthusiasts. Each book is crammed full of excerpts, drawings, exploded views, cutaways, assembly line and repair depot photos from original tech manuals.