Germans Mocked P-47 as "The Jug" — Its Eight .50 Calibers Destroyed Fighters in One Pass Explore how a plane that german pilots first laughed at became one of the most terrifying things in the sky. When the p47 thunderbolt first showed up in europe it looked big and bulky compared to the sleek fighters the luftwaffe was used to flying. They even gave it nicknames because they thought it would be a clumsy target that was easy to shoot down. They quickly found out that this aircraft was built like