Historical Background
The Republic P-43A “Lancer” was the immediate ancestor of the P-47 “Thunderbolt”, and was only produced in relatively small quantities at the beginning of World War II. Its immediate competitors for production contracts were the Lockheed XP-38, Bell XP-39, and Curtiss XP-40, all of which were produced in far greater numbers. However, Republic made up the differences when they produced the P-47, which turned out to be one of the best fighters of the war. The P-43A was powered by a supercharged Pratt & Whitney R-1830-35 radial engine, and was armed with .50 cal. Machine guns, although lack of self sealing fuel tanks was a disadvantage.