Hobby Master 1:48 Air Power Series Diecast Model

Republic Aviation P-47D Thunderbolt – "Oh Johnnie", 1st Lt. Raymond Knight, 346th Fighter Squadron, 350th Fighter Group, USAAF, Pisa, Italy, 1945

1:48 Scale.  Length: 9".  Wingspan: 10.2”

On April 24, 1944 1st Lt. Raymond Knight volunteered to lead two other P-47 Thunderbolts on a raid of a German airfield at Ghedi, Italy. While the other P-47s kept a higher altitude, Knight flew at tree-top level to recon the field. He spotted eight aircraft and during the following strafing runs destroyed five while the other two P-47s accounted for two more. Later that day he led a raid on Bergamo; making ten strafing passes destroying six twin-engine enemy aircraft and two fighters while the other P-47s destroyed another six aircraft. On April 25 1944 Knight attacked Bergamo again and destroyed three more German aircraft, but this time “Oh Johnnie” was critically hit by enemy fire and crashed, killing the 22 year old 1st Lt. Raymond Knight.

The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was a single-seat fighter aircraft used by the U.S. and allied air forces during World War II. It was one of the largest, heaviest, most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single piston engine. The P-47B was first flown on May 6, 1941 with the first production aircraft being delivered in May 1942. The Thunderbolt was very effective as a short-to-medium range escort fighter and as a fighter-bomber proved especially adept at ground attack. The aircrafts eight .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns could inflict severe damage on lightly armored targets. In the fighter-bomber ground-attack role it could carry ten five-inch rockets or a bomb load of up to 2,500 pounds.

The first P-47 combat mission took place on March 10, 1943 when the 4th FG took their aircraft on a fighter sweep over France. By 1944, the P-47 Thunderbolt was in service with the USAAF in all of its operational theaters, except Alaska. Although the P-51 Mustang eventually replaced the P-47 in the long-range escort role in Europe, the P-47 still ended the war with 3752 air-to-air victories claimed in over 746,000 sorties. A total of 15,678 P-47s of all types were built, the last being a P-47N, which rolled off the Republic Aviation production line in October 1945. The P-47 Thunderbolt served with the U.S. Army Air Force (U.S. Air Force after 1947) until 1949 and the Air National Guard until 1953.


Hobby Master offers a wide selection of quality, pre-assembled, diecast model airplanes. Each model is crafted to a high level of accuracy using specifications of the original aircraft. They are constructed with precision-made diecast metal and some plastic components.

This model of a P-47 Thunderbolt features: