The design of the P-47 Thunderbolt was a culmination of the combined efforts of two men, both ex-Russians, Alexander De Seversky and Alexander Kartveli. De Seversky was born in Tiffis, Georgia in Southern Russia in 1894. In 1910 he entered the Russian Naval Academy, graduating in 1914. He asked for, and was accepted into the Russian MiFitary Aviation program, just in time to fly and fight against the Kaiser in World War One. Flying bombers against German positions, De Seversky lost a leg when his aircraft was shot down. Returning to duty with an artificial limb De Seversky shot down thirteen German aircraft in fifty-seven missions...