German Pilots Laughed at the P-47 Thunderbolt—Until its 8 .50 Cals Shredded 5 Fw 190s in 1 Afternoon

On August 17, 1943, high above occupied Europe, First Lieutenant Robert S. Johnson of the U.S. Army Air Forces climbed into combat escorting B-17 Flying Fortresses over Regensburg and Schweinfurt. What followed was one of the most brutal and decisive air battles of the Second World War — a single afternoon in which a supposedly inferior fighter destroyed five elite Luftwaffe Fw 190s.

This video tells the full, step-by-step story of that fight.

Using precise timestamps, combat altitudes, aircraft specifications, and real historical doctrine, we break down how the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt — nicknamed “the fat American” by German pilots — became one of the deadliest fighters of World War II. You’ll see how its Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine, turbo-supercharger, and eight .50-caliber M2 Browning machine guns turned weight into an advantage and dives into a weapon.

This is not a dogfight myth or Hollywood version of air combat.
It’s a grounded, technical reconstruction of:

WWII fighter escort missions

Boom-and-zoom tactics over Europe

Luftwaffe vs USAAF air doctrine

Why survivability mattered more than elegance

How the P-47 helped break German air power before D-Day

We follow Johnson from high-altitude bomber escort, through violent second-by-second engagements, to the Thunderbolt’s evolution into a devastating fighter-bomber and ground-attack aircraft. From airfields and rail yards to Normandy and the Ardennes, the Jug reshaped the air war — and the Luftwaffe learned too late.

By the end of the war, the P-47 had:

Destroyed thousands of enemy aircraft

Flown hundreds of thousands of sorties

Influenced future aircraft like the A-10 Thunderbolt II

Changed how air forces think about energy fighting and survivability

This is the story of design meeting doctrine, told through real combat, real machines, and real consequences.

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