Hobby Master HA8409 P-47D Thunderbolt 419698, French GCII/5 Lafayette Amberieu, France 1944 1/48

£52.50
MRP £71.99

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(Product Ref 96996)
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In December 1943 GC II/5 Lafayette was one of the first French units to receive the P-47D before moving to Corsica from North Africa in May 1944. They were attached to the U.S. 57th FG as a fighter-bomber unit. After the success of Operation Dragoon the French units moved back to France with GC II/5 Lafayette arriving at Amberieu on September 7, 1944. The USAAF delivered 446 P-47s to the Free French Air Force that equipped 7 Groupes de Chasse (GC). Many of the P-47s were later transferred to Algeria.

The Republic Aviation P-47 Thunderbolt entered service in May 1942 with the introduction of the P-47B. It had a Razorback, a high dorsal spine behind the side-ways opening canopy that reduced visibility. As improvements were made a D variant was produced with 12,602 being manufactured. The British developed a sliding bubble canopy for their Typhoon and this was adopted by the USAAF starting with the P-47D-5. With its ability to survive enemy fire along with impressive armament and bomb load the P-47 excelled at ground attack roles.

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