Originally posted by Wingnutt
the M would have a significant performance increase over the D40 at any alt, right down to the deck.
I read a story about the P-47M that you may find interesting. I photocopied the story for my archive. The story is attributed to Maj. George Bostwick.
Flying over Britain during a test hop of a P-47M, Bostwick was putting the new fighter through its paces. This was one of the Ms that had its reliability issues fixed and he was checking out a new motor.
At about 10,000 feet, Bostwick found himself flying near a formation of four RAF Tempests. He slid his Jug in alongside and waved. The nearest pilot waved back. Bostwick eased up military power and the P-47 began to pull ahead. Having taken the bait, Black smoke poured out of the exhaust stacks of the Sabre's in the Tempests. All four surged ahead of the P-47. Bostwick let the Tempests pull out ahead about 100 yards. He then pushed up the throttle into WEP. "My Thunderbolt literally leaped forward, quickly overtaking the Tempests. As I rushed past, I gave them a thumbs up." Bostwick then eased back the stick and zoomed up in a climb leaving the Tempest pilots to "wonder what the hell kind of P-47 that was."
A P-47M using 150 octane avgas could pull up to 80" of MAP. State side tests with 44-1 avgas showed a max speed of 381 mph at SL, 411 mph at 10k and 485 mph at 32k. Using this same fuel, a P-47D-22 managed 444 mph using 72" MAP (2,600 hp) at 23,600 feet.
We would not get 150 octane fuel (maybe for a perk in the distant future, but I doubt it). Nonetheless, the P-47M would be a beast in the MA.
Also, more P-47Ms saw combat than did Ta 152s..... Three full squadrons were active over the last month of the war in Europe.
My regards,
Widewing