Wheee

Finally got one of my OTW entries posted.

Lore:

The P-53 Aggravator was a fighter developed in the U.S. during the mid 1940s. The first prototype would make its maiden flight on January 4, 1945. It would roll out into production later that year, but would see minimal service and no combat due to the war ending shortly after its introduction.

However, while early variants of the P-53 arrived too late for WWII, its high-power turbocharger gave it the speed it needed to at least hold its ground against some early jets, allowing it to see combat Korea. That brings us to the P-53F. A night intruder variant of the P-53 with radar pods (yes, those tip tanks are for radar, not fuel), six guns, and a new 5-bladed propeller to achieve extremely high speeds for a prop aircraft.

Despite being a fighter, though, the F-variant of the P-53 was typically used for ground attack missions, combining the low-speed performance that most jets lacked with its high speed capability to rush into enemy territory, destroy targets, and escape without being threatened by enemy aircraft.

Another interesting tidbit: unlike other WWII-era fighters like the P-51 (F-51), P-82 (F-82), or P-47 (F-47), the P-53 was never redesignated to "F-53." Nobody knows why, especially given it would remain in service with the USAF long after the age of the "pursuit" designation, with the last variant of the Aggravator (P-53H) serving in combat until the end of the Vietnam War. The last P-53s were fully phased out and retired in 1981 by export users.