The _Mustang_ was designed and built as the result of a careful study of modern fighter tactics. It grew out of the need for high-speed, high-altitude fighters to serve as escorts for our heavy bombers. As our bomber attacks against Germany grew in strength, the Nazis in desperation threw in hundreds of their fighters to hinder us. The _Mustang_, with its tremendous speed and ability to fight at high altitudes, proved a sensation as an escort fighter. Two _Mustang_ groups alone have accounted for the destruction of almost two thousand Nazi fighters. With a speed of over 425 miles per hour and capable of great range, _Mustangs_ spelled doom to Nazi air power. MAN-MADE _THUNDERBOLTS_ RIP WIDE A PATH TO VICTORY The Republic P-4-7 _Thunderbolt_ was planned in 1940 as the result of the Air Corps’ desire to strengthen our fighter squadrons. A study of the Nazis’ use of crushing air power in their attacks on Western Europe hastened our plans to build heavier and more powerful fighters. At one of the Air Corps meetings with aircraft manufacturers at Wright Field in 1940, Alexander Kartveli sketched on the back of an envelope an idea for a super-fighter. Eight months later his idea had grown into the fastest and most powerful fighter ever built in this country. Alexander Kartveli was chief engineer for Republic Aviation Corporation. His sketches were developed by his firm to produce the six-and-one-half-ton, 400-mile-an-hour P-47 fighter. The P-47 was the answer to the Army’s demands for a big, powerfully armed fighter which could out-fly and out-fight any warplane put into the skies by an enemy. More than 10,000 _Thunderbolts_ have been built since 1940 and they have taken a terrific toll of Axis planes, both in Europe and in the Pacific. Pilots of one group of _Thunderbolts_ that operated in the Pacific shot down Jap planes at the rate of 52 to 1. [Illustration: THE NEW P-47N, A TEN-TON FIGHTER CAPABLE OF STAYING ALOFT FOR 16 HOURS.] [Illustration: 1941-1945 WINGSPAN 40 FT. 9 IN. LENGTH 36 FT. 1 IN. WEIGHING SIX AND ONE-HALF TONS, THE REPUBLIC P-47 _THUNDERBOLT_ FIGHTER IS EQUALLY DEADLY AT HIGH OR LOW ALTITUDES. POWER ONE 18-CYLINDER 2,000-HP. RADIAL ENGINE. THE GIANT PRATT & WHITNEY RADIAL ENGINE IS ONE OF THE LARGEST AND MOST POWERFUL IN THE WORLD AND IS SUPERCHARGED FOR HIGH-ALTITUDE FLIGHT. SPEED ONE MILE 400+ MILES CAPABLE OF A SPEED IN EXCESS OF 400 MILES PER HOUR, THE _THUNDERBOLT_ IS THE U.S. ARMY’S HEAVIEST AND MOST POWERFULLY ARMED SINGLE-ENGINED FIGHTER. RANGE 600+ MILES CEILING 40,000+ FEET PAYLOAD ONE PILOT. TWO 1,000-LB. BOMBS. EIGHT .50-CALIBER GUNS. ORIGINALLY DESIGNED FOR HIGH-ALTITUDE BOMBER-ESCORT MISSIONS, THE _THUNDERBOLT_ HAS PROVED TO BE EXCEPTIONALLY WELL SUITED FOR FIGHTER-BOMBER ATTACK MISSIONS. IT MOUNTS EIGHT .50-CALIBER MACHINE GUNS AND CAN CARRY HEAVY BOMBS AND ROCKET GUNS UNDER ITS WINGS.