The Return of the Jug

The 'Jug' is making a very welcome return. 'Jug' as a nickname doesn't really do much to convey just how much of a fearsome beast this incredibly rare WWII icon really is.

Fully loaded they could be 8 tonnes. That's three Spitfires. It's actual name is suitably illustrious; The P-47 Thunderbolt.

Having an 18 cylinder engine engine belting out 2,000hp helped not only shift all that weight, consisting of over a tonne of rockets, but enabled it to go over 400mph.

They were also remarkably robust. Capable of flying with simply spectacular amounts of damage, stories of P-47's returning home safely but filled with holes abound. Flying nearly three quarters of a million missions in WWII, sadly over 3,500 were lost.

'Nellie' is the only one flying outside of the US and one of just a dozen still airworthy. Being able to have her display once more in a roster which already includes two P-51's and the extraordinary Sally B means that this year's Airshow is most assuredly honouring America, as it should. Old Buckenham was, after all, built for the USAAF. The B-24's which flew from here were escorted by fighters as they went all over Europe. Fighters, such as the P-51 Mustang. The B-24 crews would also spend hours with a familiar sight alongside; the big, heavy, fearsome, rugged, colossally powerful monster the Germans treated with serious respect; the 'Jug'.