P-47D Thunderbolt

This is a beta module. This module is still being developed and may still be missing some features and equipment options. It is playable and most of the content is there, but some final touches and fixes for minor bugs are still in the works. It is probably safe to buy unless you crave absolute fidelity and/or very few bugs.

Before the A-10 Thunderbolt II with its famous survivability and ridiculously large gun, there was the original: the P-47 Thunderbolt, famed for its survivability and ridiculously numerous guns. Also for its… ample frame, giving it the nickname the “Jug”. It is sometimes picked out as the beginning of the “bigger, faster, more heavily armed” trend that would characterise post-war aircraft developments for the next half-century, in spite of attempts (such as the F-16) to reverse course.

Very much unlike the A-10, however, the P-47 put a large focus on the fighter part of the equation, working double duty as a high-altitude escort aircraft, where it slowly supplanted the earlier P-38. This legendary aircraft is represented in DCS World with its bubble-canopied fighter-bomber ‘D’ variant.

Features

Missing features

• Full finalised 3D model and livery templates
• Proper weapon implementation of several rockets and bombs
• Full force feedback implementation

Flying the P‑47D Thunderbolt

The Jug as represented in DCS is very clearly a late-war variant, and the experience of flying it will be quite familiar to anyone who has flown the P-51D to any extent. It's a huge engine with wings, able to power itself out of a lot of awkward situations, and is for the most part very smooth-flying and easy to control. Even landing and manoeuvring on the ground is very similar to the Mustang due to having much the same wide-wheeled stance and sensible wheel-brake system.

It is when things get a bit more hairy that the two start to differentiate themselves. The P-47 does not exhibit the snap-roll tendencies of the P-51, but instead suffers from high-speed compressibility issues, much like the P-38 that it ended up replacing. It has an air-brake system of sorts to combat those control issues — an absolute necessity for the kind of dive-bombing attacks it was supposed to perform. The P-47 also sets itself apart in having a much more complex throttle quadrant and cooling system that has to be juggled properly to get the most out of the engine. For the most part, it follows the same general logic as the Mustang but the sheer amount of levers that can be pulled with the left hand requires a bit of mindfulness to not cook the engine at the most inopportune moment.

Cockpit overview

Getting into the air

Like all full-sim aircraft, it has the RWinHome “cheat” keyboard shortcut that runs through the startup process for you, and the manual and Chuck's guide, linked below describe it in full.

The short version of it all is:

Links and files

• Vehicle Size Chart for sight adjustments.
• Chuck's P‑47D Thunderbolt guide at Mudspike.
• DCS: P-47D Thunderbolt in the DCS shop.

More information

• P-47 Thunderbolt on wikpedia.
• Taming taildraggers — an essay, Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.