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THE AIRCRAFT OF THE 56TH FIGHTER GROUP
The end of 1944 saw the 56th become the sole remaining group of P-47 Thunderbolts in the Eighth Air Force, as the 353rd FG converted to Mustangs on October 2, the 356th FG on November 20, and the 78th FG on December 29. Beginning January 3, 1945, the 56th began receiving the P-47M, built to be the fastest Allied piston-driven fighter.[31] Externally identical to the P-47D bubbletops, the P-47M had an up-powered R-2800-57C engine and also incorporated all the range-extending characteristics previously developed for the P-47, particularly use of a 215-gallon belly drop tank.
The 61st Fighter Squadron received the first P-47M-1-REs[32] and immediately began encountering engine problems. Multiple engine failures, including two crash-landings, resulted in the grounding of the Ms on February 26. Technical problems were believed resolved with the identification of brittle ignition harnesses (as experienced in the P-47C two years before) and the final D-model left the group on March 1. On March 4 operations resumed, but four crashes in five days, three of them fatal, again led to grounding of the aircraft on March 16. A dozen P-51B Mustangs were brought to Boxted in case rapid conversion to the P-51 became necessary, but the new problem of engine failure and oil tank rupture was traced to salt-water corrosion in the shipment of new engines overseas. By March 24 every engine and ignition harness on all the Ms had been replaced and the entire group was equipped with the new model, eventually receiving all 130 production P-47Ms.[
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