Red V Green...

Red V Green is known for its unique, effective, dare I say incredible designs. However, RvG is also famous for some weird, wacky, and even questionable designs that somehow work. The P-3A Thunderer is no exception to either of these!

Except I accidentally wrote "Thuderer" on the original reference three-view... oops. Oh well, I didn't need that one "n" anyways, right?

Basics

The P-3A Thunderer is a unique, pusher-propeller fighter designed by Green Team. Despite its incredible (or incredulous) design, it was in fact built in the 1940s- and it packed a serious punch!

Info

Fast, maneuverable, graceful, but strong, the P-3A is a dream to fly- well, aside from the small cockpit area. It can make quick work of most enemy fighters, so long that there's a good pilot behind the joystick.

Pros:
-Powerful cannons
-Very fast; aerodynamic design makes it far faster than most fighters of the time
-Pretty good armor
-Small cockpit; maybe uncomfortable, but it means the pilot is a much harder target
-Incredible turn/pitch rate; very agile in a fight
-Pusher propeller; more efficient than puller propellers
-Surprisingly sturdy in spite of its weird design
-Internal comms system is harder to hit, but it's done right (unlike the P-30A whose comms systems are nullified by being internally mounted)

Cons:
-Good armor, but if the armor is penetrated, you're basically losing all of the plane's vitals (when being compact doesn't help)
-No pylons or hardpoints; can't carry extra/suspended armaments or drop tanks
-Very unstable on the ground; high chance to crash if you don't takeoff quickly

Tips:
-The P-3A can out-turn, out-run, and out-climb basically any plane of its time, with jets and nitroprops (e.g. F-1D, P-12A/B) being the only real exceptions. Use this to conquer virtually any opponent
-Your armor is good, but it's not your strong suit. The P-3A's guns are the strongest part of the plane, so use them to decimate enemies
-The Thunderer isn't a Stormer; always focus on enemy fighters, or occasionally bombers, but never target ground units unless it's:
1) an enemy aircraft that hasn't gotten airborne yet
or
2) an urgent ground target that must be destroyed

Random Facts:
-Unlike other RvG planes, the P-3 has no real-life counterpart (at least, none of which it is based on). However, the Thunderer does have roots in another plane which I made, the P-41A Riptide.
-Although this isn't the case in the lore, in terms of real life, the P-3A is the first RvG plane to use a Scimitar propeller blade, with all others using warbird propeller blades or jet engines.

Story

The Red V Green War was underway- and hot. Every day, planes went into the sky, with incomplete formations returning home, most of which were riddled with battle scars. But the war had to continue, there was no backing out now.

The P-2 "Stormer" was one of Green's premiere aircraft, along with the B-4A Asteroid and P-05 Combatant, all three of which fought until the latest years of the war. However, as Red Team tech was improving in an upwards curve, it became clear that the P-2A wasn't quite fit for air-to-air combat. The P-2B was made, it didn't do too well against enemy fighters either- but it was powerful against surface units. The plan was the repurpose the P-2 into a ground attack aircraft, but the issue was that they needed a fighter to replace it. In truth, the P-05 was amazing, but there simply wasn't enough of them to replace the Stormer, and bomber attacks from Red Team would make it difficult to change that. Even then, the P-05 wouldn't really fit the bill, as it was considered a heavy fighter-bomber, while the P-2, prior to its redesignation, was a light fighter. So, Green turned to the makers of the P-2, and presented them with a simple but hard task: make something that can out-fight and thus replace the P-2.

Research and such started in 1943, with Green Team engineers working tirelessly to come up with something that could get the job done. After a few years though, they finally had it. On April 2, 1945 (they waited for April 1 to pass so it would be taken seriously), the first YP-3A prototype flew, and its performance was... meh. It was good, but not anything too special- at first. However, after reviewing the design, engineers realized that the P-3A's engine was simply too weak to make it a true dominator. But unlike the P-28 Chopper, there were other engines available. Several radial and inline engines were tested, but at the end, the team decided to settle on an experiment air-powered engine, nicknamed the "Tornado" due to its loud, whirling sound. And it worked.

With the Tornado now powering the Thunderer, the P-3A could take to the skies and dominate the battlefield. It took over the P-2 Stormer's air-to-air role, although the P-2 still served as an attacker, gaining much fame as the P-2D Slasher. The P-3A, on the other hand, would be a menace in the sky, being a threat against Red Team, but even holding its own against Blue and Purple, being the first aircraft to shoot down 10 MP-41 Blizzards. The P-3 would also get upgrades which allowed it to serve all the way until 1994 when an upgraded, jet version of it was made. This variant was considered the P-4A "Bolt," ending the service of the P-3 Thunderer. However, albeit not in the military. several P-3s continue to serve to this day, taking roles such as scouting in fire departments and the coast guard.

Other Stuff

Size comparison of the P-3A to a P-65A. The Thunderer is certainly tall, but the Centerfighter certainly wins wingspan and length.

As usual, that's all. Good luck, have fun, and happy hunting!