Nazi swastika adorns Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue (not really)

Haaretz.com ^ | 02/12/10 | Staff

[PeaceBeWithYou]

Republic P-47D Thunderbolt "Squirt VIII"; s/n 45-49205, c/n 39955744, N47RP

[hoagy62]

I can’t really post the first thought that came to mind when I saw the pic of the young woman and the name of the plane.

It did involve the word “squirt”.

You do the math.

[Northern Yankee]

LOL...

I received the SI swimsuit edition this week. I was disappointed with that segment of the issue. I really did want to see more of the planes. (Wife's finished looking over my shoulder... Great issue!)

[Thrownatbirth]

Scratch two Messerschmidts.

[VOA]

All I can say is.....
Congratulations to SI for showing us “why we fight”!!!

[Yorlik803]

P47 was the understated hero of WW2. The P51 got all the glory, the P47 did a lot of train busting. A lot of USAAF pilots owe their lives to this plane. It was a flying tank. Not very prettiest girl at the ball, but would be my first choice to fly into combat.
Same with its namesake, the A10 Thunderbolt

[alfa6]

Overlooked in much of the writing on the WW-II airwar was the role of the Tactical Air Forces. It was the flights of P-47s flying cover for Patton’s 3rd Army that enabled Patton to race across France in 1944. Close Air Support(CAS) was a hazardous occupation as the Whermacht was liberally equipped with AA guns.

It had to be comforting to the pilot to be sitting behind that big Pratt and Whitney R-2800 engine while on CAS missions. There were several documented cases of Thunderbolts bring the pilots back to base with a “rough running” engine. The reason for the “rougness” due to a cylinder or two missing!!! 8 .50 caliber Brownings also tended to make an impression, not mention the 5” rockets and 500 and 1000 pound bombs that the P-47 could tote.

Regards

alfa6 ;>}