November 10, 1943, Rechlin test facility. Hauptmann Hans-Werner Lerche climbed into the cockpit of a captured P-47 Thunderbolt nicknamed “Beetle.” Intelligence briefings had told him American fighters were crude, mass-produced machines built by a nation better at making refrigerators than aircraft. After ninety minutes of flying, Lerche would write something dangerous: “The Americans haven’t built […]German Pilot Tested Captured American P-47 Thunderbolt – What he Discovered Changed Everything
November 10, 1943, Rechlin test facility. Hauptmann Hans-Werner Lerche climbed into the cockpit of a captured P-47 Thunderbolt nicknamed “Beetle.” Intelligence briefings had told him American fighters were crude, mass-produced machines built by a nation better at making refrigerators than aircraft. After ninety minutes of flying, Lerche would write something dangerous: “The Americans haven’t built […]