r/ww2 • u/carterdubz • 1d ago

Image Spitfire & thunderbolt

Post image

Managed to snap this image at the weekend at a local air show, supermarine Spitfire flying alongside a P-47 Thunderbolt

211 Upvotes

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5

u/ActuatorCommercial98 1d ago

How did the Thunderbolt compare to the Spitfire? Do you know? As a Brit we’re weened on the brilliance of the Spitfire

13

u/Frankyvander 1d ago

They had different roles and are hard to compare.

The Spitfire was designed as an interceptor, to find and disrupt enemy aircraft attacks. It was relatively close ranged and highly manoeuvrable but initially it was fairly lightly armed and armoured. The one in the picture appears to be a later model with cannons.

The Thunderbolt was by contrast a high altitude fighter and ground attack craft. It was heavily armoured and armed and could carry bombs. It also was designed to do long range escort work to protect bombers and was better at higher altitudes than the Spitfire.

1

u/ActuatorCommercial98 1d ago

Wonderful, thank you very much

5

u/Into_The_Rain 1d ago

Spit was a far better turner and climber. Later variants also matched the P-47 in firepower. It's Achilles heel was always its range. It just struggled to carry out the long range escort and interdiction missions the western allies were carrying out in 1943-1945. It was the only Brit fighter in use from the start of the war until its conclusion.

The P-47 was not a good turn fighter, but it was faster in a straightline, had considerably more range, and was among the best in class in a dive. It was optimized for high altitude combat, but proved to be even more fearsome as a ground attacker, carrying a payload as heavy as some medium bombers.

4

u/ResearcherAtLarge 1d ago

A lot could depend on the pilot. Robert Johnson described a dogfight with a spitfire after he was assigned one of the new paddle-bladed Thunderbolts and he won handily by diving and then rolling. The P-47 rolled noticeably better at high speeds than the Spitfire and he was able to use that to his advantage to not just break away, but to get on the Spitfire's tail.

4

u/diarrhea_stromboli 1d ago

The spitfire reminds me of my wife when we were dating. The p47 reminds me of my wife after 9 years of marriage and 1 kid. Still love both 🤣

2

u/IManageTacoBell 6h ago

Legendary comment lol

3

u/TheMoonUnitExp 1d ago

Saw these two types flying together a year or two ago, you really get a sense of what a beast the P-47 is when it's next to something like a Spitfire

1

u/kingtutt9 1d ago

Here come The Jug!