In an era where flush folding landing gear were becoming common-place on new fighter designs, the P-35 used a method that was minimally effective in reducing drag, as compared to a fixed landing arrangement. The one glaring fault of the P-35 was its retractable landing gear layout. Further development resulted in an Air Corps order for the fighter, now given the new designation P-35. Designated the SEV-1XP, it was flown to Wright Field in Ohio for the 1936 fighter competition, from which, it emerged as the winner. The new fighter incorporated a redesigned fuselage and tail section. Major Alexander de Seversky at the controls of the prototype BT-8 (developed from the SEV-3XAR). This basic wing design would still be seen on the P-47 a decade later.Save & Close One major contributor to the plane’s excellent speed was its distinctive thin, but broad semi-elliptical wing. Several months later and fitted with a more powerful engine, the SEV-3 set a new world speed record for amphibians. Painted in stunning bronze, the SEV-3 was one of the more advanced aircraft in the world. Finally, in June of 1933, the SEV-3 took off from Long Island waters with Seversky at its controls. Even with Edo’s expertise, construction still took two years, largely due to the lack of capital funds. Edo, being the leading manufacturer of aircraft floats, was an ideal choice when one considers that Seversky had no manufacturing facilities. Designed as a low wing monoplane design, this first aircraft, designated the SEV-3, was a float plane. The first design was manufactured under contract by Edo Aircraft Corporation of College Point, Long Island, NY. The Russian connection quickly produced fruit. The record breaking SEV-3 amphibian as it appeared at Wright Field in the summer of 1934. The Major quickly surrounded himself with several expatriate Russian engineers including Michael Gregor and the man who would ultimately head the P-47 design team, Alexander Kartveli. In February of 1931, he was elected president of the new Seversky Aircraft Corporation. Undaunted by this serious financial setback, Seversky attracted enough investors to form a new firm. Unfortunately, the small company did not survive the stock market crash of 1929. Major Seversky formed a company registered as Seversky Aero Corporation.
He even managed to obtain a commission in the Army Air Corps Reserve. This included a gyro-stabilized bomb site purchased by the Army Air Corps. Over the span of the next 8 years, Seversky applied for no less than 360 U.S. Seversky’s brilliance was quickly recognized and he was assigned as an assistant to General Billy Mitchell. Major Alexander de Seversky standing before his beautiful SEV-3XAR in the fall of 1934.Įven in his early years in America, Seversky was obviously skilled at promoting himself, because he managed to gain a position as a test pilot and consultant with the fledgling United States Army Air Service. Seversky had heard of the mass executions of his fellow officers and promptly applied for American citizenship. While he was in the U.S., the Communist revolution made it exceptionally dangerous to return home. In early 1918 Seversky was appointed by the Czarist Government to study aircraft design and manufacturing in the United States. Ultimately, Seversky was credited with no less than shooting down thirteen German aircraft before the Czarist government reached an armistice with the Kaiser Wilhelm in 1917. Unfazed, he managed to convince his commanders to allow him to fly again using an artificial leg. Seversky flew with the Czarist Naval Air Service and suffered the loss of a leg as a result of being shot down in 1915. Seversky, a Russian national, was a veteran of World War One. de Seversky and his highly innovative aircraft of the early 1930s. The development of the Thunderbolt was a classic instance of design evolution tracing its origin back to Alexander P. made Fighter, the story of how it came to exist is at least as interesting as its many accomplishments. Produced in greater numbers than any other U.S. Despite its size, the P-47 proved to be one of the best performing fighters to see combat. Parked alongside any of its wartime contemporaries, the Thunderbolt dwarfs them with its remarkable bulk.
The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt had the distinction of being the heaviest single-engine fighter to see service in World War Two. Aviation Darwinism - The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt
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