I just finished a great book on the P-47 in Europe called "Hell Hawks!: The Untold Story of the American Fliers Who Savaged Hitler's Wehrmacht" http://www.amazon.com/Hell-Hawks-American-Savaged-Wehrmacht/dp/0760329184

A quote from a German soldier perfectly summed up the USAAF domination of the air war. "If the planes were camo, we knew they were British. If they were silver, we knew they were American. If they were not around, we knew they were the Luftwaffe."

After I completed this book and learned more about the P-47, I knew a "jug" was in my future and I quickly ordered the Hobby-Lobby Alfa P-47 Thunderbolt ARF. This is my first Alfa model and I'm very impressed!

The beauty of the Alfa ARF airplane is the near perfect blend of foamy durability and the flying characteristics of a balsa frame. Alfa applies this winning formula to yet another P-47, this time with flaps and retracts. Does a park flyer need flaps and retracts? The short answer is probably not, but factor in the huge "cool" factor with these scale additions and you have maybe the best Alfa yet!

Set-up of the retracts and flaps takes a little time and you'll definitely want to fly a lighter battery to compensate for the extra weight of the servos and retract gear. I also included the "slow-down" device to slow the gear in a more scale manor and that little addition looks great in the air.

Alfa also excels in the scale features of their planes and this P-47 is no exception. Some nice bonuses include multiple decal sets for different squadrons and nose-art as well as a pilot bust ready for painting.

Once in the air, you'll be patrolling your park for marshalling yards and German troops! Enjoy!

For more information check out:

The RC Groups "Alfa Appreciation" thread: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=765240
P-47 history: http://www.aviation-history.com/republic/p47.html
P-47 Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-47_Thunderbolt
The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt: http://www.vectorsite.net/avp47.html

It is not hard to conclude why the US flew so many P-47 aircraft. They were formidable foes and carried significant bomb load and fire power. Not only that, but the armaments brought most of those pilots home safe and sound. The Jug is a long time favorite of mine and its distinctive lines and retracts and flaps make this a must own bird.

The retractable landing gear takes a bit of time to set up, but the remaining assembly of this highly prefabricated ARF is completely straightforward. I can certainly appreciate how much work and careful engineering went into the Jug before I received it!

The Alfa P-47 flies extremely well with large flaps and light weight retractable landing gear. It is a blast to raise the gear and flaps and book around. It slows well and I can not find a single flight flaw.

It is remarkable to see the engineering enabling both flaps and retract systems to be added to this small model. Even with those additions the Alfa Jug flies wonderfully. Hats off to Alfa engineers - an impressive feat! It follows the long standing Alfa tradition of being an excellent airplane - Highly Recommended.

Pluses:
Excellent looks
Scale details are well represented
Short assembly time
Stellar flight performance
Magnets used for hatch hold down!
Functioning Flaps and Retracts

Minuses:
Would have been nice to include the flap horns rather than using surplus servo arms
Admit it, flaps and retracts are cool so this new Alfa P-47 will fit the bill and make a great addition to your hangar.