Combat aircraft. This evil Carlson

2024 Author: Matthew Elmers | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 21:49

It was not in vain that I remembered about the literary hero. If you compare him with all the other characters of Mrs. Lindgren, then he clearly stands apart from everyone. Yes, there are all a bit rebellious like Pippi and Emil, or very refined ones like Kid or Kalle. But Carlson is a separate phenomenon. They say that the idea of a flying freeloader and a thief to Mrs. Lindgren was thrown by someone from the publishing house, a Russian émigré. I believe, because Carlson is more appropriate in the Russian head than in the Swedish one.

Our hero, whom I consider one of the best fighters of the Second World War, is similar to a literary fiction. And Russian roots, and the fact that well, he was very different from his contemporaries. And it was, to put it mildly, rather big.

In general, "a man in full bloom." But very vicious. Republican P-47 Thunderbolt.

It all started in 1940.

In the USA, a special conference was held at the USAAC Science and Testing Center, to which the pilots who took part in the battles of the Battle of Britain were invited.

The conclusions of the conference were very disappointing: in the prospect of a war with Germany, the American Air Force did not have aircraft capable of withstanding the Germans. Perhaps only the Lightning P-38 was good for something in this regard, and even then in comparison with the Bf.110, which clearly did not shine.

Yes, on the way were the promising P-39 (which "did not enter" neither the British nor the Americans) and the P-40S, which the Tomahawk, the P-40 Kittyhawk was already in service, but alas, the Bf.109 was not a competitor could be from the word at all. In American performance and application.

And on the nose was still the war with Japan, which had already begun its blitzkrieg in the Pacific theater of operations.

What cannot be taken away from the Americans is the ability to react to problems. At least in those days. The US Air Force realized that they needed a breakthrough aircraft that could fight both the strong Bf 109 and the agile A6M2.

And here, oddly enough, the Russians helped! And this is the moment in the history of the US Air Force, which, well, cannot be canceled or painted over.

Indeed, the plane, which until the appearance of the Mustang was the only support for escorting bombers, was created by two Russian émigrés, natives of the Russian Empire, who emigrated to America.

Alexander Mikhailovich Kartveli.

Born in Tiflis, graduated from the Petrograd Technological Institute, the Higher Aviation School and the Higher Electrotechnical School in France. He worked as a test pilot at the Bleriot firm, where after a terrible accident he parted with the sky forever.

So the world lost a pilot, but acquired a designer.

Alexander Nikolaevich Prokofiev-Seversky.

An even more interesting personality. Also a native of Tiflis, from the nobility. The pilot, a participant in the First World War, an ace with 13 downed planes, was shot down, lost a leg and flew on a prosthesis with the personal permission of Tsar Nicholas II.

In the United States he ended up as an employee of the Russian embassy, was an assistant to the naval attaché for aviation issues. When the Russian embassy was closed after the conclusion of a separate peace with Germany, he stayed in the United States.

The surname Seversky, under which Alexander Nikolayevich entered the history of US aviation, is the stage name of his father, the owner of the theater, who played on stage under this pseudonym.

Seversky also turned out to be an excellent engineer. In a short time he patented several very interesting things such as a device for refueling in the air or an oil shock absorber for the chassis. And the US government bought the first bomber sight in 1925 from Seversky. For just a fabulous sum of $ 25,000.

And it so happened that in Seversky Aircraft Corp., two fellow countrymen met, and Kartveli became the chief engineer. And when Seversky removed the board of directors in 1939, Kartveli became technical director.

The firm was renamed Republic Aviation Company.

And it was in this company that the XP-47V project was born. Heavy fighter project.

In general, 80% of the ideas included in the project were those of Seversky, which by that time was no longer in the company. But the war that began in Europe showed that the idea of the supporters of the light fighter, including Kartveli, turned out to be untenable.

A light and very maneuverable aircraft with two 7.62 mm machine guns looked simply ridiculous in a hypothetical battle with an armored Bf 109E with its two cannons and machine guns.

A funny situation developed: the ideas of the exiled Seversky began to be implemented by their opponent Kartveli. But I had to, because his developments were not only outdated, they did not have a chance at all for life.

And so, thanks to the efforts of the Republican firm, it appeared in the XP-47B metal. "X" is "experimental", "B" is in fact the third version after 47 and 47A, which were not built.

The aircraft turned out to be outstanding and controversial.

To begin with, the weight turned out to be enormous. Kartveli, realizing that speed and rate of climb would be needed, installed the most powerful motor that the US industry could only give. That is, Pratt & Whitney ХR-2800-21, which weighed 1068 kg dry. And everything else followed the engine.

So the P-47 turned out to be fat by weight. 5,670 kg is pretty much. Sumo wrestler. For comparison, the Bf 109E, a hypothetical opponent, weighed only 2,510 kg, and the Bf 110 weighed 6,040 kg. And if we go further, then some light bombers were inferior to this fighter. The Su-2, for example, weighed only 4,700 kg on takeoff.

Nevertheless, all this was more than compensated for.

To begin with, as I said, a Pratt & Whitney ХR-2800-21 engine was installed on the plane, which produced 1850 hp on takeoff. Then the serial Pratt & Whitney R-2800-17 with a takeoff power of 1960 hp went into action.

It was a lot. So many. For comparison, the Hurricane II had an engine of 1260 hp, the Messerschmitt Bf 109E and even less - 1100 hp.

Everything seemed luxurious, but no. There was also the problem of altitude, which was also in the requirements of the Air Force. The plane was supposed to be high-altitude, since it was supposed to be a fighter to escort bombers, which do not fly very often at low level.

For a plane to feel good at altitude, it needs air. That which is higher, the less. All designers in the world have tried to use engine-driven turbochargers to solve this issue.

The principle of operation of the TC was very simple: the exhaust gases were directed to a turbine, which drove a compressor that compressed the air. But simplicity isn't always easy. Large sizes, frequent failures, burn-out - these are not all the disadvantages of turbochargers.

It is worth saying that many designers have not been able to properly resolve all issues related to turbochargers. Including many of our engineers folded.

But Kartveli could. And besides, in such an unusual way that I will allow myself to describe it in detail.

Kartveli installed the turbocharger not on the engine, but carried it to the tail! It is clear that it cost not just additional kilograms, but tens, or even hundreds. But when they take their heads off, they usually don't cry for their hair.

As a result, it turned out to be a very twofold thing.

The exhaust gases were sent through a pipeline to the tail. The pipeline weighed a lot, BUT: while the gases were going to the compressor, they COOLED !!! That is, Kartveli solved the first problem by this, the problem of overheating of the TC. It's funny, but the TC really stopped malfunctioning from overheating.

Further, the hefty TK snail made it possible to make the nose part smaller. And considering what a hefty engine they put there, it was just lovely, since it significantly improved the pilot's view.

The total length of the pipelines was more than 20 meters, and the whole economy weighed almost 400 kg. Yes, I had to fight with weight distribution, but it was worth it, and here's why.

It is advisable to cool the air that is supplied to the engine. And after the TC, where the air is compressed, it heats up quite well, according to the laws of physics. For this, air radiators or intercoolers are used. Kartveli in the same place, in the tail, installed an intercooler, and the air for cooling compressed in the turbine was taken by an air intake located in the nose, under the engine.

Further, the air went along the bottom to the radiator, and exited through the nozzles on the sides of the tail of the fuselage.

A very difficult, but interesting scheme, in which three streams of air constantly moved along the axis of the aircraft: hot exhaust gases and external cold air for cooling from nose to tail, and a stream of cooled compressed air for the engine went from tail to nose.

Another innovation is the lack of wing tanks. All tanks with gasoline and oil were in the fuselage and were sealed. This eliminated the danger of losses when bullets and shells hit the wings and made it possible to place in the wings a simply creepy battery of 12, 7-mm machine guns with simply excellent ammunition. But about the weapon a little later.

Of course, besides the protectors, there was just armor. For the pilot and the tanks, since they (the pilot and the tanks) were supposed to remain unharmed in battle.

From the front hemisphere, they were well protected by a double star of the engine. In addition, the pilot had bulletproof glass and an armor plate that protected the legs and the lower part of the hull. The pilot also had a 12 mm armored back. In addition, all the aforementioned stuffing in the tail could also serve as additional protection, since the loss of the TC and intercooler in battle did not affect the combat effectiveness at all.

But the most interesting element of the aircraft, I would call an armored ski, which was installed at the bottom of the fuselage and closed the pipelines with gases and air. But its role was not that, but had the goal of saving the plane from complete destruction in the event of a belly landing, that is, without a landing gear.

I also surprised Kartveli with the wing. The P-47 had a very small wing area for such an aircraft. The wing loading was high, it was 213 kg / sq. m, but since the wing shape was close to an ideal ellipse ("Spitfire", hello!), the total wing drag was very small, less than that of Messerschmitt Bf.109 and Focke-Wulf Fw.190.

The R-47 developed a maximum speed of 663 km / h at an altitude of 7800 m with a landing speed of 148 km / h. The newest at that time German fighter Bf 109F-4 developed a maximum speed of 606 km / h at an altitude of 6200 m with a landing speed of 135 km / h. A high landing speed is, of course, a serious thing, especially with such and such a mass, but, as it turned out, everything is decided by the corresponding elements of the chassis.

Due to the wide fuselage with a convex lower part, the aircraft immediately received the unofficial nickname "Jug" - "Pitcher". In the UK, where the P-47 got under the Lend-Lease program, this nickname was considered an abbreviation for "Juggernaut", a symbol of destructive evil power.

And the official name "Thunderbolt" was suggested by the director of one of the departments of the company "Republic" Hart Miller.

Now about the weapons.

First six, then eight wing-mounted Colt Browning M2 machine guns. With 300 rounds of ammunition per barrel, but if you really needed it, you could shove 400 rounds.

Yes, here it would be possible to argue for a long time, which is better, 8 x 12, 7-mm or like the A6M2 "Zero", 2 x 20-mm + 2 x 7, 7-mm. Or at Bf 109E.

In my personal opinion, the linear placement of weapons in the nose of the aircraft, like in the Bf 109F, was more useful. One 20 mm cannon in the collapse of the block and two synchronous machine guns 7, 92 mm. It is more convenient to aim, more precisely to shoot. Air sniper weapon set. Ours generally managed on some modifications of the Yak-9 with one ShVAK cannon and one BS 12.7 mm. And nothing, coped.

When eight of these barrels are thrashed from your wings, and how the M2 machine gun was very good, you can also completely remove many questions. At least something will fly from such a cloud of steel cucumbers. And 12.7 mm is not 7.62 mm.

Well, the Americans did not have a normal gun at that time. She did not exist at all, so they fought the whole war with the "Hispano-Suizami" and "Colt-Browning", if they fought at all. The Oldsmobil, which was the 37 mm Colt Browning M4 and M10 that was installed on the Cobra, was only refined by 1942. Well, the Americans did not really like the characteristics of the guns, which, after all, had more disadvantages than advantages.

The main thing was that in battle, the enemy fighter "hangs" in the sight for literally a split second. The 37-mm cannon may not be able to fire at all, a 20-mm cannon at best once. And the M2 machine gun, which has a rate of fire of 600 rpm, will have time to release 3-5 bullets. And there are eight machine guns … Total - 40 bullets 12, 7-mm. There is a chance of getting there.

So the P-47 became one of the fighters with a very high second salvo. Only the FW-190A-4 (4 x 20 mm, 2 x 7, 92/13 mm) was steeper. From American - P-61 "Black Widow" (4 x 20-mm, 4 x 12, 7-mm).

Plus bombs, NURS … Weighty.

And so the United States entered the war. To start with Japan. It turned out that the P-40s were not very good at fighting the A6M2. But the main problem faced by the Allies in Europe is the lack of an escort fighter for bombers going to German targets.

With heavy bombers, both the British and the Americans were more than normal. The Americans 'B-17s and B-24s, Wheatley, Lancaster, Halifax - in general, had something to bring bombs on and dump on the Germans' heads.

However, the German air defense very strongly hindered this. Including the work of fighter-interceptor pilots, who regularly intercepted and destroyed. It was not for nothing that the British switched to night work, at night there was a chance to reach the goal and work, and then go back. During the day - more than doubtful.

And the fighters possessed by the countries (Hurricane, Spitfire, Kittyhawk) were not able to escort the bombers to the target. There was not enough flight range, and with the altitude, frankly, it was not very beautiful. Except for the Spitfire. But everything was decided by the range.

Therefore, as soon as the escort fighters rolled off, German fighters appeared and began to do their job. Yes, the P-38 Lightning was able to cover the distance from airfields in Britain to targets in Germany, but this machine, though strong and well armed, was not a worthy rival to the Messerschmitts. Just like the Bf.110 was not a Spitfire rival.

But, by and large, despite the shortcomings of the P-47 in the form of weight, which did not allow it to quickly gain height, the allies did not have much choice. The installation of an improved version of the Pratt & Whitney R-2800, lighter (by almost 100 kg), improved speed data at altitudes, but at the bottom of the P-47 there was still an iron.

The aircraft climbed to the altitude of 5000 m in 8.5 minutes; the rate of climb at the ground was 10.7 m / s, and the turn time was 30 s. At the same time, the Bf-109G and Fw-190A-3 had climb rates of 17 and 14.4 m / s, and the turn time was 20 and 22 s, respectively.

Therefore, they tried to use the P-47 in operations where the rate of climb did not play a special role. Everyone in the Allied headquarters liked the car. For lack of a better one.

In general, at that time (1942) there was only one aircraft in the world that could be compared with the P-47V at altitudes of over 6000 m. Oddly enough, it was the Soviet MiG-3.

An airplane with an engine of only 1350 hp. developed a speed of 640 km / h at an altitude of 7800 m, and climbed to 5000 in 7 minutes. But the armament of the MiG was sharply inferior to the P-47.

During the production of the R-47V, the aircraft's design was constantly improved. It was for escorting heavy bombers at high altitudes that the anti-icing device for the windshield of the cockpit began to be used. Further, for such flights, disposable suspended fuel tanks were invented. A 757 liter (200 gallon) tank was made from plastic impregnated compressed paper.

Such a tank increased the flight range to 2,000 km at a cruising speed of 400 km / h, which made it possible to accompany bomb carriers.

In the fall of 1943, the production of the P-47D aircraft began, on which a new engine with the Pratt & Whitney R-2800-63 water-methanol injection system was installed. Plus, the lubrication and cooling systems of the engine have been improved.

The engine developed a take-off power of 2,000 hp, and with mixture injection increased the short-term engine power to 2,430 hp. It was allowed to use the afterburner for 15 minutes. Forcing the engine provided a speed increase of up to 30 km / h.

In addition to the outboard tanks, the fuel supply in the main fuselage tanks was increased to 1150 liters. This made it possible to combine fuel tanks and bombs on an external sling, depending on the flight range to the target. The maximum bomb load was 2,500 pounds (1,130 kg). Two 1000 lb (450 kg) bombs and one 500 lb (225 kg). Or instead of a 500-pound bomb, a fuel tank of the same weight.

If there was a need for a bomb strike, then often one machine gun was removed from each wing to lighten the weight and the ammunition load was reduced from 425 to 250 rounds.

In general, underwing suspensions greatly reduced the speed, to 70 km / h, but the need for a toothy fighter-bomber with a long range was very high, especially in the Pacific theater.

And the fact that the P-47 could safely fly at such an altitude that was beyond the strength of the main enemy aircraft made it indispensable both for escorting bombers and for use as a fighter-bomber.

It was flights at high altitudes that required the development of a heating system for machine guns. In general, initially there was such a system (electrical), but it worked extremely capriciously and often did not cope with the task. And the lubrication of the machine guns froze, making it impossible to fire a shot.

Then, to heat the machine guns, they began to divert part of the hot compressed air from the turbocharger. Another airway tunnel appeared inside the plane.

The experience of using the P-47 in combat has shown that, unfortunately, the pilot's rear-view "dead zone" is too large. As an attempt to remedy the situation, it was decided to install the so-called Malcolm teardrop-shaped lantern, similar to that installed on the later Spitfire modifications.

The idea came up, and after a series of improvements caused by the fact that the gargrot behind the lantern was removed, the teardrop lantern was registered not only on the Thunderbolt, but also on the Mustang.

The first combat sortie of the P-47 was made on March 10, 1943. As often happens, the first pancake came out lumpy: due to the difference in frequencies between the British and American Air Force, the controllers simply could not correct the course of the Thunderbolts, and they simply did not find the enemy. After the elimination of the problems, the flights resumed, and on April 15, 1943, the first air battle with the participation of the P-47 took place. The battle was marked and the first victory was shot down by the FW-190.

And on August 17, the P-47s were first escorted by B-17 bombers during the day in raids on Schweinfurt and Regensburg. 19 victories and three losses were announced. In fact, the Germans confirmed the loss of 7 aircraft. True, in fairness it should be noted that the German fighters reportedly “shot down” 11 Thunderbolts.

So the P-47 began its combat activities at the front. And by 1944, this aircraft fought wherever the Allies fought, in all theaters of war, except Alaska.

The Thunderbolt ended the war with the following statistics: 3,752 victories (including those destroyed by bombs and missiles on the ground) with 3,499 aircraft lost. True, the losses here also include non-combat losses through the fault of the pilots.

Pilots who fought in P-47s in Europe reported the destruction of more than 68,000 trucks, 9,000 steam locomotives, more than 80,000 carriages, 6,000 armored vehicles.

To be honest, the numbers seem to me more than overestimated. An order of magnitude. But the fact that the P-47s arranged at the end of the war to hunt even for single trucks is a fact. And the fact that the Thunderbolt pilots inflicted real damage by ground attacks is obvious.

In general, the attack aircraft in the absence of decent opposition from the R-47 turned out to be quite good.

He fought "Thunderbolt" and on the Eastern Front. But not very actively used. 196 P-47D aircraft came to the Soviet Union in 1944-1945 under Lend-Lease. They were used in parts of the Southwestern Front as a high-altitude fighter in the air defense of rear cities and in the 255th fighter aviation regiment of the Northern Fleet Air Force.

Here, perhaps, only in the Northern Fleet, the P-47 made real combat missions to cover torpedo bombers and attack aircraft and hunt small ships as an attack aircraft.

After all, it was not an aircraft of our style of combat.

One of the best engineers-pilots of the Flight Test Institute, Mark Lazarevich Gallay, recalled the flight on the P-47 this way:

“Already in the first minutes of the flight, I realized: this is not a fighter! Stable, with a comfortable spacious cockpit, comfortable, but not a fighter. "Thunderbolt" had unsatisfactory maneuverability in the horizontal and especially in the vertical plane. The plane accelerated slowly: the inertia of the heavy machine affected. The Thunderbolt was perfect for a simple en-route flight without harsh maneuvers. This is not enough for a fighter."

Nevertheless, it turned out as follows: when the P-47 arrived to the north through the Arctic convoys, the command of the Northern Fleet decided to arrange their tests for the aircraft. And since there was no own test base, the aircraft were transferred to the 255th IAP, where at that time the strongest flight crew was formed.

Test flights were carried out from October 29 to November 5, 1944. At the same time, the possibility of basing the P-47 at polar airfields was investigated. The test results were generally favorable.

The P-47D-22-RE Thunderbolt Test Report was sent to the command.

“From the Commander of the Northern Fleet Air Force Lieutenant-General of Aviation Preobrazhensky No. 08489 dated November 13, 1944.

Report to the Commander of the USSR Navy Air Force Marshal Zhavoronkov

I report that based on the results of testing a serially built P-47D-22-RE "Thunderbolt" aircraft, I made a decision to arm one squadron of the 255th IAP with 14 "Thunderbolt" aircraft.

The squadron will perform the following tasks:

1. Long-range escort of bombers

2. Horizontal and low-altitude bombing based on a bomb load of up to 1000 kg per aircraft

3. Attack of convoy escort ships”.

Marshal Zhavoronkov put a resolution on the document:

“I approve. Re-equip the regiment. Allocate 50 aircraft."

So the 255th IAKP became a regiment fully armed with Thunderbolts.

From January 1943 until the end of the war, being part of the 5th mine-torpedo-torpedo division of the Kirkenes Red Banner Air Force of the Northern Fleet, the pilots of the 255th IAP made 3,386 sorties with a flight time of 4,022 hours, conducted 114 air battles, as a result of which 153 aircraft were shot down enemy.

Of these: Ju-88 - 3, Me-110 - 23, Me-109 - 88, FW-190 - 32, FW-189 - 2, He-115 - 2, BV-138 - 1.

As you can see from the list, our pilots did not really care who to shoot down. Since the "Thunderbort" was able to cope with any German aircraft, then in our hands (and even our Hurricanes fought normally) it became a rather formidable machine.

It is a pity that we could not find data on the loss of 255 IAP. It would be quite educational.

On the whole, it was a very good combat vehicle. Yes, there were flaws with the maneuver. But this is a minus for our pilots, who needed exactly a maneuver for the "dog dump", which is inevitable when covering their own and attacking other people's bombers and attack aircraft.

And the P-47 was created to cover long-range bombers flying at high altitude. That is, what we did not have. But the plane is not to blame.

And so it was a fast (under certain conditions), well-armed, durable machine. Very tenacious.

The British pilots had the following joke (with British humor): “It's easy for a Thunderbolt pilot to evade anti-aircraft fire. You have to run back and forth inside the plane, and you will never be hit."

As a fighter, the P-47 was not the best. But as a fighter-bomber and attack aircraft, he occupies a worthy place in the history of the aircraft that won that war.