WWII P-47 Thunderbolt story

harrisonm said
I am a WWII nut. I have read a LOT about WWII fighters. The Mustang was great in that is was fast and nimble, but the P-47 was RUGGED. The stories above barely scratch the surface on how tough they were. I agree with @gzig5 in that I have a soft spot for the P-38. My only problem with them is that bailing out looked like it could have been interesting. If you were an accurate shot, can you imagine the destruction a short burst could do with 4 50 caliber machine guns and a 20mm cannon concentrated in such a small space. It would be like a hot knife through butter.

I used to, don't anymore and I've forgotten a lot. I think what got me interested, initially, was two things.......amateur radio.......in about 62 when I was still in Jr Hi school. Back then there were still "surplus" outfits selling (the tail end) of WWII surplus electronics equipment. Another thing was, that my Gramps had bought (got lied to) a surplus top training turret called a "Crocker Wheeler" used in the training twin Beech 18. These turrets were also mounted on stands and on the rear of trucks for training. They were mounted both with 12ga shotguns (skeet) and with one machine gun. Us "kids" "shot down" hundreds of enemy aircraft in the back of Gramp's barn. Later Dad mounted it outdoors on the old well head, and the grandkids had their turns. He sold it to one of the warbird outfits when they came through Spokane with Fifi B-29 and one of the B-24's. I have no idea where it got to

Crocker Wheeler turret--for all I know this used to be my Gramps