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| Hobby Master 1:48 HA8450A P-47D Thunderbolt USAAF "Miss Plainfield" Signature Edition |
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| Scale: 1:48 |
Length: 9" |
Width: 10.25" |
Composition: Diecast |
SKU: HM-HA8450A |
**** Hand Signed by Pilot Col. Steven Nicholas Pisanos ****
Col. Steven Nicholas Pisanos (born Spiros Pisanos, November 10, 1919 – June 6, 2016) was a Greek-American aviator and flying ace who served as a fighter pilot with the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and later the United States Army Air Forces in World War II. He was credited with shooting down 10 enemy aircraft while flying with the American 4th Fighter Group. Post-war, he achieved the rank of colonel in the United States Air Force, flew in the Vietnam War and, by the end of his career in 1974, had received 33 decorations and distinctions. His autobiography, The Flying Greek, was published in April 2008.
The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was one of the largest and heaviest fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single piston engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to eight tons, and in the fighter-bomber ground-attack roles could carry five-inch rockets or a significant bomb load of 2,500 pounds; it could carry over half the payload of the B-17 bomber on long-range missions (although the B-17 had a far greater range). The P-47, based on the powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine — the same engine used by two very successful U.S. Navy fighters, theGrumman Hellcat and Vought Corsair — was to be very effective as a short-to-medium range escort fighter in high-altitude air-to-air combat and, when unleashed as a fighter-bomber, proved especially adept at ground attack in both the World War II European and Pacific Theaters.
The P-47 was one of the main United States Army Air Forces(USAAF) fighters of World War II, and served with other Allied air forces, notably those of France, Britain, and Russia. Mexican and Brazilian squadrons fighting alongside the U.S. were equipped with the P-47.
The armored cockpit was roomy inside, comfortable for the pilot, and offered good visibility. A modern-day U.S. ground-attack aircraft, the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, takes its name from the P-47.
Info: Republic P-47D Thunderbolt USAAF 4th FG, 334th FS, #42-7945 "Miss Plainfield", Steve Pisanos, RAF Debden, England, 1943, Signature Edition
