P-47D Razorback 42-76179, Lt. Frank Klibbe, 56th FG, 61st FS USAAF, Halesworth, UK, March 1944 in 1/48 scale die cast by Hobby Master. The 56th FG received their P-47s in June 1942 and 6 months later went to England. Over the next two years the 56th FG became the 8th AF’s highest scoring air-to-air combat group with 665.5 victories. 1st Lt. Frank Klibbe, with the 61st FS accumulated 7 victories with the final two coming on May 8, 1944. Klibbe flew 63 missions and was assigned three different P-47s with two of them wearing the nose art “Little Chief”. 42-76179 was his third P-47 and used to score four of his seven victories. The Republic Aviation P-47 “Thunderbolt” entered service in May 1942 with the introduction of the P-47B. It had a “Razorback”, a high dorsal spine behind the side-ways opening canopy that reduced visibility. As improvements were made a “D” variant was produced with 12,602 being manufactured. The British developed a sliding bubble canopy for their Typhoon and this was adopted by the USAAF starting with the P-47D-5. With its ability to survive enemy fire along with impressive armament and bomb load the P-47 excelled at ground attack roles.