Now read Rip Collins' words. Rip (back then Lieutenant
Collins) was a WW II fighter pilot from the class of
44-C, Aloe Field, Victoria, Texas. Rip was assigned to
the 35th Fighter Group in the Pacific (there is a link
to the 35th at the end of this article), and flew both
the P-47 and P-51 in combat in the Pacific. He is a
big fan of the P-47, and took me to task for choosing
the P-51 over the P-47 in my article "Best Fighter
Planes of WW II." In that he is not alone, but he was
the only correspondent who actually flew both in
combat, so his words carry a lot of weight. At one
point he wrote to me that he could give me a dozen
reasons why the P-47 was superior to the P-51.
Naturally, I asked him to do just that. After reading
his reasons, I asked him if I could use his material
(with credit) in an article about the P-47, and he
kindly consented. From now on you are reading Rip's
words.
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For sure, fighter pilots are a different cut of guys.
I guess we got spoiled because we were considered the
"cream of the crop." In most cases, not all, but most,
if you were going into the USAAC, USAAF, USAF, or
whatever name it was called at the time, the majority
of us young bucks wanted fighters (1055) and not
multiengine (bombers, transports, surveillance,
rescue, etc.). I've seen the disappointment at "wash
out" time, when the primary and basic flight
instruction group was split up prior to advanced
training. The men that couldn't cut it went on to
multiengine advanced training bases, while the "cream"
went on to single engine bases to fly the AT-6 Texan
(advanced fighter trainer).
It is not unusual to favor your own aircraft. In fact,
it is a bit common. We probably all look at this in a
different way, and in a different light. And if you
didn't get to fly both the Jug and the Mustang, you
were at a decided disadvantage. Here are my dozen
reasons why the T-bolt was the superior fighter of the
two.
1. The Republic Thunderbolt had a radial engine that
could take hits and keep on running. I know of an
actual case where a Jug brought a pilot back from
Borneo after 8 hours in the air. The pilot landed with
the master cylinder and three other cylinders blown
out of commission. But the Jug kept chugging along,
running well enough to bring its pilot back safely to
his base at Morotai. I was there.
2. The Jug's radial engine was air cooled, instead of
liquid cooled with a radiator system, like the
Mustang's V-12. This is significant because one small
caliber hit on an aluminum cooling line in a Mustang
would let the coolant leak out, and when the coolant
was gone, the engine seized, and the show was over.
I took a small caliber hit in a coolant tube over
Formosa (Taiwan). When I landed back at base, my crew
chief said, "Lieutenant, did you know you got hit?" I
replied, "No." He continued, "You took a small caliber
shell in the coolant tube on the right side of the
engine. I'd give you between 10 and 15 minutes flying
time remaining." I had just flown from Formosa, over
nothing but the Pacific Ocean, to our fighter strip on
Okinawa.
3. The P-47 could fly higher than the P-51. With its
huge turbocharger, it could climb to over 40,000 feet.
You could just look down at your enemy in a stall and
smile.
4. The Jug could out dive the Mustang. As a matter of
fact, it could out dive any enemy fighter, and at 7.5
tons loaded, it dove fast! I have personally been in a
dive at what we called the "state of compressibility,"
at nearly 700 mph indicated air speed. I was scared to
death, but with a tiny bit of throttle, I pulled it
out at about 2,000-foot altitude, literally screaming
through the sky.
5. The Thunderbolt had eight .50's. The Mustang had
six. That's 33 1/3% more firepower. This made a major
difference.
6. The later model Thunderbolt's could carry and
deliver 2,500 pounds of bombs. (One 1,000-lb. bomb on
each wing, and one 500 lb. bomb under the belly.) This
was a maximum load and you had to use water injection
to get airborne. But it would do this with sufficient
runway. I have done this myself.
In addition to being a first class fighter, it was
also a superb fighter-bomber and ground level strafer.
Jugs practically wiped out the German and Italian
railroads. I have strafed Japanese trains, troops,
ships, gunboats, warships, airfields, ammo dumps,
hangers, antiaircraft installations, you name it. I
felt secure in my P-47.
7. The P-47 was larger and much stronger, in case of a
crash landing. The Jug was built like a machined tool.
Mustangs had a lot of sheet metal stamped out parts,
and were more lightweight in construction. One example
was the throttle arm. You can see the difference. What
does all this mean? The safety of the fighter pilot.
8. The Thunderbolt had no "scoop" under the bottom.
You can imagine what happens during a crash landing if
your wheels would not come down (due to damage or
mechanical trouble). On landing, it could make the
P-51 nose over in the dirt as the scoop drags into the
earth. In water (and I flew over the Pacific Ocean
most of my 92 combat missions), it could cause trouble
in a crash landing because the air scoop would be the
first part of the aircraft to hit the water. Instead
of a smooth belly landing, anything might happen.
9. The Thunderbolt had a much larger, roomier cockpit.
You were comfortable in the big Jug cockpit. In my
Mustang, my shoulders almost scraped the sides on the
right and left. I was cramped in with all my "gear." I
could not move around like I could in the P-47. I
found the ability to move a little bit very desirable,
especially on seven and eight hour missions.
10. The Mustang went from 1,150-horse power Allison
engines to the Packard built Rolls-Royce Merlin engine
that had 1,590 hp. The Thunderbolt started out with a
2,000 hp Pratt & Whitney engine, and ended up with
2,800 war emergency hp with water injection. That's
close to twice the power.
11. The Jug had a very wide landing gear. This made it
easy to land just about anywhere, with no tendency to
ground loop. Many times we had to land on rice paddies
and irregular ground. When you set the Thunderbolt
down, it was down. In the Far East, England, Africa,
and Italy, this helped you get down and walk away from
it. To me, that was very important for the safety of
the pilot.
12. The Jug's record against all opposing aircraft is
remarkable. The ratio of kills to losses was
unmistakably a winner. Thunderbolt pilots destroyed a
total of 11,874 enemy aircraft, over 9,000 trains, and
160,000 vehicles.
But, the big factor, above all else, it saved pilots
in great numbers. Ask most fighter pilots who flew
both in active combat and they will tell you that,
given a choice to fly either one in combat, it would
be the Juggernaut hands down.
Now one last thing: the P-51 Mustang was a superb
fighter. I am fully aware of that! But, considering
that I flew about every kind of mission the Pentagon
could dream up, and a few they didn't know about, I
will rate that 8 tons of destruction first as long as
I live, and no one can change my mind. I was there.
Just simply walk up to one of them and see for
yourself.
The dictionary defines "juggernaut" as: "any large,
overpowering, destructive force or object." That was
the P-47 of World War II.
