Hobby Master 1/48 HA8456 P-47D Silver Lady 42-26044, 61st FS/56 th FG, Boxted, May 1944

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.

P-47D 42-26044 Silver Lady HV-Z (underlined Z indicates second time HV-Z was used) was first flown in combat by Capt. James Carter and Major Les Smith of the 61st FS/56th FG, Boxted, England 1944. In May 1944 Smith returned to the U.S. and the Silver Lady was flown by many notable pilots. Gabreski scored four of his victories with 42-26044, other pilots were J. Jure, J. Rankin, C. Thomton, and M. Gladych. In August 1944 Silver Lady was fitted with a Malcolm hood and flown 21 times by Witold Lanowski.