Edwin Wright shows off the damage to his P-47 Thunderbolt, October 1944
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Edwin Wright shows off the damage to his P-47 Thunderbolt, October 1944
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Wright belonged to the Ninth Air Force, which, following the ground invasion of France in June 1944, moved its bases from Britain to mainland Europe in order to provide closer support to the advancing troops. This picture was taken near St Trond, Belgium.
It was not the first time Wright’s aircraft had been hit on a mission. By the time this photograph was taken, the 19-year-old had completed 39 missions and survived being hit by flak six times.
Wright was considered a very fortunate man by his squadron, who nicknamed him Lucky for his ability to evade death. The hole here measured eight inches in diameter in an 11-inch propeller. If the damage had been an inch and a half over on either side, the blade would have severed and Wright would have been brought down.
Wright died, aged 34, from lung cancer.
Man that thing and to vibrate something fierce
Thunderbolt was a tank airplane. My mind is blown, 19?
That was one of the most survivable planes in WWII, but in this case luck brought it back home.
Luckily he had the metallic propeller and not a composite one.
Wonder how you write up that gripe.
So that’s what a near miss looks like.
That blade would be something to save – and mount over the back of a bar to share with all =)
Airholes allow the plane to fly faster
perhaps the least realized advantage of the P-47 over other single-engine fighters like the Spitfire and Mustang, the P-47 was by far the most likely to bring you home come hell or high water. Hellcat and Corsair used the R-2800 engine as well and were similarly tough. A lot harder to replace pilots than planes
Grumman iron works…
Looks like a 30mm shell came in from behind.
This is an all-time great for the sub. Good choice.
Must have been shaking like a wet dog all the way home.
How is he an officer at 19?
Thunderbolt was the A-10 of WWII in terms of sheer tankiness and survivability.
That will buff out
Close call
Whatever struck the prop came from 6 o’clock and barely missed Lucky’s airframe. Any guesses? 20mm from a Messerschmitt?
That must have vibrated like a mother fucker
I’m laughing but only because I already emptied my bowels in my flightsuit.
You can file that out and send it!
What’s the individual propeller equivalent of “three turning one burning” in terms of how dangerous it is?
That’s the luckiest SOB in the history of aviation
Gottem right in the Hamilton-Standard.
That must have been quite a jolt when it punched through. The fact that it stayed together and spinning is pretty amazing.
I am very surprised that the prop imbalance didn’t do a “brick in washing machine” to the engine
Cartoon style, looks like a damn hole punch. Must’ve been a close shave
I saw amateur footage of a B17 crew coming back from a mission once and I have never seen a bunch of people happier to be alive.
I’m getting the same vibe from this photo.
Damn, it looks like a perfect cartoon drawing of a bullet hole
Those planes were made in my hometown.
Impressive but damn you can see the fear in his eyes, poor guy had to have had some serious PTSD