Before the P-47 Thunderbolt gained a "bubble top" fairing, these
fighters had slightly different - some claim to be more racial - figure.
In the first versions, the plane had a typical canopy built into the
fuselage, which resulted in a slightly hunched line.
The first copies of the P-47B underwent a series of tests at the turn of
1941 and 1942. Initially, they were not very promising. One of the
planes was lost because of the tail tearing off during the dive. In
addition, at heights above 9144 m, the flaps froze, it was impossible to
open the cabin hood, and the forces on the rudders were very big. At
high speeds, the paint covering the elevators fell off and the
aerodynamic pressure inflated their sheath (they were covered with
canvas), causing dangerous tail vibrations. To remedy these problems,
metal sheathing was introduced, elevators shape was changed and weight
flaps were added. The propulsion of the P-47B version was a 2000 HP
R-2800-21 engine. The time to reach the ceiling of 4572 m was 6.7
minutes. The aircraft developed a speed of 690 km/h at an altitude of
8230 m (in horizontal flight), which was a great result.