Dakota Territory Air Museum – P-47D Restoration Update – October/November 2021

This month work progressed on the firewall forward area, turbosupercharger system, rudder, flaps, landing gear, and cockpit enclosure. We will also revisit our meeting with Kermit Bjorlie, WWII P-47 and P-51 combat veteran who passed away on December 1, 2021.

The rudder requires some complex skin forming, especially near the bottom as it fairs into the rear of the fuselage.

Cory is making good progress on the flaps. Walkway stiffeners, lower skin support structure, and fitting of skin sections were all areas of progress this month.

Work on preparing the cockpit enclosure for installation resumed, with progress on the windshield and sliding enclosure frames occurring this month.

Bjorlie told me that the P-47 was his favorite of the three fighters he flew – it was large, strong, and carried a heavy load of fuel, ammunition, and bombs. In fact, he credits the P-47 with saving his life. Bjorlie recounted flying a mission from Okinawa to Kyushu where he had to attack a Japanese destroyer making fast “S” turns tight against a coastal cliff. He dive-bombed the destroyer, and as he pulled out of his attack, he passed low over the top of a cliff where an enemy anti-aircraft battery was camouflaged in a shack near its edge.

Lt. Bjorlie heard the enemy shells hit the bottom of his plane and then saw shrapnel holes appear in his wing. He turned and flew back toward the water, not wanting to crash on land occupied by Japanese troops. He figured his odds of survival were better on the ocean, and that he might be picked up by the Navy.

As he evaluated his fighter’s condition, he reckoned that the self-sealing fuel tanks had worked as advertised and that his P-47 was handling normally. He would therefore try to make it back to Okinawa with his squadron-mates.

It had to be a great relief to spot his home field after the long overwater flight in a battle damaged P-47, but he did, and landed successfully. In his Forest City Summit interview, Kermit stated “I never did see the airplane again. I think it was taken into the repair depot because it had too much damage.”  He also observed that this was his closest call during his military flying career.

On Okinawa, Kermit recalled surviving the typhoon which hit the Third Fleet east of Okinawa on June 2nd and 3rd, 1945. That storm produced 50-to-60 foot seas, 115 mph sustained winds, and gusts of up to 150 mph. Thirty three ships received damage and 76 airplanes were destroyed, mostly on aircraft carrier flight and hangar decks when the airplanes broke free of tie-downs.

Lt. Bjorlie weathered the typhoon in a Japanese cemetery, crouching under half a tent (shelter half) spread over and tied down to burial urns. He said that planes at his airfield were lifting off and “flying” on their tie downs.

As Kermit recounted his wartime flying career, he got a bit emotional when he told me that one of the saddest moments occurred following a ferry flight to take the 310th’s war-weary P-47s to Clark Field. On the way, the squadron hit towering cumulus clouds and had to “climb to daylight”. But once he landed, he found it hard to hand over his beloved Thunderbolt – an aircraft which had brought him through the fight unscathed.