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Here is the April/May 2018 restoration update on Texas Flying Legends Museum's P-47D Thunderbolt at AirCorps Aviation. This aircraft's left side main tank bay shows in the foreground of the fuselage structure with the auxiliary tank bay behind. (photo by John LaTourelle)
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WarbirdsNews has just received the latest report from Chuck Cravens on the restoration of Texas Flying Legends Museum’s P-47D Thunderbolt 42-27609 at AirCorps Aviation in Bemidji, Minnesota. We thought our readers would be very interested to see how the project has progressed since our last article on this important project. So without further ado, here it goes!
This month work continued on the tank bay and pilot floor areas we reported on in last month’s update. They are complicated and time-consuming parts of the P-47 fuselage, in large part because of the multiple corrugated parts that must be formed.
The work involves fitting, trimming, and trial assembly. Once the structure has been initially put together with clecos and everything is correct, much of it has to be disassembled and sent to paint for a zinc chromate coating.
Here is a closer view of some of the main gear forgings that are being inspected. (photo by John LaTourelle)
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View from the aft end of the fuselage shows the vertical
frame panel at the rear of the of auxiliary fuel bay. (photo by John LaTourelle)
. (photo by John LaTourelle)
Hunter works on the access holes that go through the pilot’s floor
and provide a way to check items like aileron control chains and
fuel tanks; one mounts the fuel tank selector valve. (photo by John LaTourelle)
The cockpit or pilot’s floor on the bench during trial assembly. (photo by John LaTourelle)
This is the bottom side of the main
fuel tank bay lower panel. (photo by John LaTourelle)
The natural aluminum finished assembly is the elevator lever mount. (photo by John LaTourelle)
. (photo by John LaTourelle)
Aaron is working on the lower main tank bay floor. (photo by John LaTourelle)
. (photo by John LaTourelle)
. (photo by John LaTourelle)
It’s that time of month again, here’s another great report from Chuck Cravens on the restoration of the Dakota Territory Museum’s P-47D Thunderbolt at AirCorps Aviation. (image via AirCorps Aviation)
The smaller brackets are seat mount fittings for the pilot’s seat; the larger angles mount the emergency hand hydraulic pump. (photo by John LaTourelle)
The pilot’s floor is being fitted and this image shows the foot troughs
clecoed in place. Many of the parts we have watched being fabricated, fit, and assembled had to come apart for paint. (photo by John LaTourelle)
Even these small panels have
corrugations to stiffen them. (photo by John LaTourelle)
The upper skin of the main fuel tank bay lower panel rests on a protective cloth after the zinc chromate has been applied. (photo by John LaTourelle)
Here is the April/May 2018 restoration update on Texas Flying Legends Museum’s P-47D Thunderbolt at AirCorps Aviation. This aircraft’s left side main tank bay shows in the foreground of the fuselage structure with the auxiliary tank bay behind. (photo by John LaTourelle)
Aaron trims a small part that will be
added to the basic fuselage structure. (photo by John LaTourelle)
This tighter image shows a former just behind the wing attach bulkhead as it is clecoed into place. (photo by John LaTourelle)
Here we have the fuel filler housing for the auxiliary tank.. (photo by John LaTourelle)
Aaron fits a relief valve bracket to
the lower fuselage frame. (photo by John LaTourelle)
The crosstie assembly is a massively strong assembly because it connects the wings through the fuselage. (photo by John LaTourelle)
This casting is the support for the torque shaft of the lower right hand intercooler door control. It is part of the complex turbo supercharger system. (photo by John LaTourelle)
Aaron Prince. (photo by John LaTourelle)
This piece will have round head rivets and will be covered with a liner to protect the rubber self-sealing tank in a couple ways. It helps with chafing wear, but it also has an interesting name that leads to its other function: it is called anti-flowering covering. The flowering it refers to is the petal-shaped metal fingers surrounding shell hole damage. Those metal shards are sharp, of course, and would damage or even puncture the tank. The liner resists the “petals” coming in contact with the tank itself.
The anti-flowering tank bay liner was made by Firestone Tire and Rubber and is described in engineering drawings as having been constructed of “2 Ply Plasite”. Plasite was an early low-pressure laminate form of fiberglass.
The upper skin of the main fuel tank bay lower panel rests on a protective cloth after the zinc chromate has been applied. (photo by John LaTourelle)
This is the bottom side of the main fuel tank bay lower panel. (photo by John LaTourelle)
Aaron Prince: Technician Profile
Aaron Prince. (photo by John LaTourelle)
This month we profile Aaron Prince, who appears in the updates frequently. Aaron hails from Geigertown, PA, which is about an hour west of Philadelphia.
Aaron earned his A+P license at Pennsylvania College of Technology and comes to us from Mark Dinest’s MD Aero, where he also was restoring warbirds. There he worked on Ron Fagen’s award winning SNJ.
Aaron works on all facets of our restorations but he specializes in wiring and electronics installation.
And that’s all for this month. WarbirdsNews wishes to thank AirCorps Aviation, Chuck Cravens (for the words) and John LaTourelle (for the images) for making this report possible! We look forwards to bringing more restoration reports on progress with this rare machine in the coming months.
Richard Mallory Allnutt's aviation passion ignited at the 1974 Farnborough Airshow. Raised in 1970s Britain, he was immersed in WWII aviation lore. Moving to Washington DC, he frequented the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum, meeting aviation legends.
After grad school, Richard worked for Lockheed-Martin but stayed devoted to aviation, volunteering at museums and honing his photography skills. In 2013, he became the founding editor of Warbirds News, now Vintage Aviation News. With around 800 articles written, he focuses on supporting grassroots aviation groups.
Richard values the connections made in the aviation community and is proud to help grow Vintage Aviation News.
