mach 1, sound barrier and 'loud noise'. what is 'thunder'??? get it now??? What other WW2 prop planes had mach 1 dive limit??? I can't recall any other that did. Even the great Ta 152 falls short. So, if Republic makes the only plane that can get to sound barrier with out breaking up, calling it 'thunderbolt', seems a good fit to me. So, I simply was speculating on the origination of name.
"it's totally useless for having 1 Mach dive limit when your enemy could outdive you with better acceleration within 0.7 Mach and pull to level run away. Even if you fly the same a/c 500m behind your wingman, you couldn't catch up him when following his dive, could you?"
Huh?
We already know that the fw190a-4 was quicker off the line in the dive! Go back and read your own posts and theory as to why. I already stated your conclusion seemed reasonable. I don't know why you seem to be contradicting your own conclusion now? Most of the other prop planes couldn't touch that dive limit, so p47 acceleration is moot beyond their dive limits. But it did not have the best acceleration in the dive as per the test record.
Also, even if fw 190 does get some lucky shots off in the first part of the dive, p47 is built like a tank. Good chance it gets home.
