Dakota Territory Air Museum – P-47D Restoration Update

01-NOVDEC2021-1 — Randy has been working on the flap hinges for the Dakota Territory Air Museum's P-47D this month at AirCorps Aviation in Bemidji, Minnesota. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

Restoration of the Dakota Territory Air Museum’s P-47D Thunderbolt 42-27609 is progressing well at AirCorps Aviation in Bemidji, Minnesota, as Chuck Cravens’ November/December, 2021 report reveals. We thought our readers would love to catch up on the latest details so, without further ado, here goes!

Update

Finishing details on the wings, gear doors, and control surfaces continued this month. Fuselage work included the cockpit enclosure, empennage fairings, turbosupercharger assembly, and permanently attaching the tail surfaces.

Wings

Flap Hinge — Here is a close look at the flap hinge. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

Marker Notes — Grease pencil and marker notes by the restoration guys indicate tasks yet to be completed. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

Right Wing — Except for the addition of gun and ammunition bay doors, flaps, and ailerons, the right wing is now complete. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

Top Side Wing — A view of the right wing’s top side, with the gun and ammunition bay doors yet to be installed. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

Gear Doors

Each gear door is designed in two pieces to allow for the shortening of the main landing gear legs as they retract.

Pressing Rivet — Neil presses a rivet into one of the main landing gear doors. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

Landing Gear Door — Neil and Theo work on the landing gear door. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

Grease Pencil Marks — Many parts have grease pencil marks on them from notations which the factory workers made. That is especially true of the landing gear doors we are using. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

Traced and Duplicated — All of the marks from the original parts have been traced and duplicated on the newly-painted surfaces to recreate the same historical details. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

4 Nite — While it is speculation, perhaps this inscription indicated that this assembly went together during the “nite” shift at the factory. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

The “14 Nite” notation appears twice inside the gear door. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

Landing Gear — The two-holed components on either side of the landing gear axle serve as the mounting blocks for the lower gear doors. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

Mounting Block — This view shows the upper side for the lower gear door mounting block. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

Rudder and Flaps

Rudder Trim Tab — Brad works on the rudder trim tab. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

Rudder Skins — The rudder skins are now riveted in place, with the rudder being complete except for the installation of the trim tab. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

Left Flap — Cory continues to assemble the left flap. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

Flap Leading Edge — The flap leading edge skin is clecoed in place for riveting. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

Fuselage

The flaps, ailerons, elevators, and rudder are the last large P-47 components to undergo assembly.

Randy Carlson and Randy Kraft get ready to work on the empennage fillets. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

Empennage Astern — This is a view of the P-47’s empennage from directly astern. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

Yellow Tape — The yellow tape stuck to the fuselage marks off measurements for the fuselage-to-horizontal stabilizer fillets. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

Elevator Hinge Bracket — The component attached with red-stained bolts is an elevator hinge bracket. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

Rudder Light Harness — The wiring harness for the rudder light dangles in front of the rear-most fuselage bulkhead. Also visible are the two rudder cable end fittings (protruding from ovoid holes center left and right). (image via AirCorps Aviation)

Curtiss Electric Prop — The black component with red-capped tubes is an oil separator for the vacuum system. Slightly above and to its left (with a lever attached to the upper surface) is the cam mechanism assembly used to control the Curtiss Electric prop. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

Cockpit

Cockpit Enclosure

Top Section Windshield — The top section of the cockpit windshield is seen here clecoed into its main assembly. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

Side View Windshield — Here is a side view of the cockpit windshield. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

Cockpit Enclosure — Restoration of the cockpit enclosure’s sliding section is progressing, as this image reveals. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

Sliding Cockpit — The cockpit enclosure’s sliding section seen here from its forward edge. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

Sliding Portion of Cockpit — The sliding section for the cockpit enclosure is seen here positioned on the fuselage, ready for fitting. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

Turbosupercharger

Sumps — The drain sumps for the fuel strainer, auxiliary, and main fuel tanks are visible in this image. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

Cowl

Work continues in the process of fabricating cowling panels, as the time for installing the restored engine nears.

Cowl Assembly Fixture — The former is now attached to the cowl assembly fixture. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

Cowl Supports — Cowl supports are used to attach the cowl ring to the assembly fixture. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

Cowl Supports Ring — With the cowl supports now attached, the jig is ready to receive the next cowl ring. (image via AirCorps Aviation)

WWII P-47 Advertisements

Official U.S Army poster for the P-47

Republic Aviation Advertisements

The advertisement below, dating from March 1941, is a very early example depicting the Thunderbolt, and actually predates the type’s first flight; indeed XP-47B 40-3051 did not take to the skies until May 6, 1941. Interestingly, the advertisement notes the U.S. military’s first order for the type, a September 1940 contract for 773 P-47s, emphasizing confidence in the type with its purchase right off the drawing board before any flying example existed.

Replica Ad P-47 Driving Speed — This Republic advertisement emphasizes the P-47’s diving speed. (image via AirCorps Art)

Bomber Escort — This company advertisement emphasizes high-altitude performance and bomber escort with text such as: “Our backyard is the stratosphere”. (image via AirCorps Art)

High Altitude Flight — Republic mentions the future of commercial high-altitude flight in this advertisement, suggesting that the technology developed for the P-47 transfer into high-speed high-altitude airliners once peace returned. (image via AirCorps Art)

Supremacy in the stratosphere is the catchphrase for this Republic Aviation advertisement. (image via AirCorps Art)

Bomber Escort P-47 — Bomber escort is the theme governing this vintage advertisement for the P-47 Thunderbolt, a so-called *strato-fighter*. (image via AirCorps Art)

P-47 Subcontractor Advertisements

B.F Goodrich Supplier — Proud to be one of the P-47’s suppliers, B.F. Goodrich provided more than just the fighter’s tires, but also its de-icing boots, expander tube brakes, and feed shoes, as this vintage advertisement reminds us. (image via AirCorps Art)

Most Thunderbolts used Curtiss Electric propellers, although some models, most notably the P-47D-22 and D-25 variants, wielded Hamilton Standard hydrostatic units which adjusted propeller pitch hydraulically rather than electrically.

Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum — A poster from the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum collection depicts a striking visual of the P-47’s reputation for rugged reliability. (NASM archives)

Model Airplanes News magazine’s December 1942 cover depicted the P-47. Model plane building was extremely popular both before and during WWII, and every young model builder wanted to create a small replica of the latest Army Air Forces fighter. The artist responsible for this work is Jo Kotula, who illustrated covers for Model Airplane News and Popular Science for decades.

And that’s all for this month. We wish to thank AirCorps Aviation, Chuck Cravens for making this report possible! We look forwards to bringing more restoration reports on progress with this rare machine in the coming months. Be safe, and be well

Is the P-47 Thunderbolt your favorite airplane? Make sure to purchase issue #73 of Warbird Digest featuring the beautiful “Dottie Mae”