Texas Airplane Factory - Herb Tischler & Ki-43 Jigs

43-2195 · **Posted:** Sun Jun 17, 2012 6:34 am

Can anyone enlighten me as to what happened to the Ki-43 Jigs after the Texas Airplane Factory shut down? I know where the Ki-43 rebuilds ended up, and I believe the original wreckage(including engines) is with Jerry Yagen. But what happened to the fuselage and wing jigs. I've had no joy trying to track down Mr Tischler, is he still alive? How about any of the original sheetmetal team involved in the rebuilds are they still involved with the warbird industry?

Any assistance appreciated.

Mike · **Joined:** Tue May 04, 2004 8:54 am **Posts:** 3331

What happened to the final pair of airframes? There was talk at one time of them being scrapped if a buyer could not be found.

43-2195 · **Posted:** Mon Jun 18, 2012 3:53 am

I believe one is with Jack Erikson in Oregon, and the other two are with Jerry Yagen at Virginia Beach(ex Gosshawk, AZ).

The Inspector · **Posted:** Mon Jun 18, 2012 6:18 pm

So, IF T.A.F. is kaput, wonder what became of the 6th Me-262 fuselage he conviently 'forgot' to ship to Everett along with the rest of the project?

43-2195 · **Posted:** Mon Jun 18, 2012 10:22 pm

[quote="The Inspector"]So, IF T.A.F. is kaput,

If they're not "Kaput", they are EXTREMELY difficult to locate. Their advertising budget must be zero. I believe they closed their doors before the 262 projects were all finalised, and that Mr Tischler has passed on. But I welcome anyone who can advise me otherwise. The Ki-43's spent some time with Gosshawk, but then moved to their respective owners(Messers Erikson and Yagen). I know the original wreckage went to Virginia Beach(Mr Yagen), but I dont know what happened to the jigs. I'm reasonably certain that they did not go to Gosshawk. Perhaps they are at Virginia Beach as well?
The Ki-43 does not have the wealth of support documents that your P-40 or P-51 has. There is a manual composed by TAIU(5th AAF) in Brisbane in 1943/44 and copies of an original technical drawings manual captured at Hollandia in April,1944(held at the Australian War memorial). Although the original manual is only 50% readable. The FHC Ki-43-I is the most complete and documented existing in the world today. The EAA Ki-43-II is less documented, incomplete and a mix of components from different models. So the team at the Texas Aircraft Factory must have had a very good working knowledge of the Ki-43 structure and systems fitout. What a great pity it would be to the warbird movement if that depth of knowledge was lost/destroyed once the last Ki-43 reproduction was completed.

Any assistance appreciated. Someone out there must know something.

old iron · **Posted:** Tue Jun 19, 2012 9:31 am

Is the EAA Ki-43-II the same one that is now at Pima Air and Space Museum, on loan from NASM? Any word on the completeness of the NASM example; I think it is all from a single original aircraft, but might lack a lot of the cockpit details.

Warbird Kid · **Posted:** Tue Jun 19, 2012 9:56 am

43-2195 wrote:

What a great pity it would be to the warbird movement if that depth of knowledge was lost/destroyed once the last Ki-43 reproduction was completed.

I will agree with you here. It was always my hope that we see a second run of 4 or 5 new Ki-43s produced. Maybe even a highly modified one start turning pylons at Reno.

mike furline · **Joined:** Wed May 05, 2004 3:45 pm **Posts:** 2635

old iron wrote:

Is the EAA Ki-43-II the same one that is now at Pima Air and Space Museum, on loan from NASM? Any word on the completeness of the NASM example; I think it is all from a single original aircraft, but might lack a lot of the cockpit details.

This aircraft has gone from the EAA Museum to Museum of Flight (Seattle) to Pima Air & Space Museum.
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Japan--- ... dedeb1c810

http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/710327.html

Museum of Flight currently has this one on display. (Tischler/Gosshawk replica)
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Japan--- ... dedeb1c810

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Japan--- ... dedeb1c810

kalamazookid · **Posted:** Tue Jun 19, 2012 1:38 pm

Doesn't FHC have the one that used to be fast-taxied in New Zealand?

I wonder if Yagen acquired just the remaining projects or whether he bought all the tooling, etc.? If anyone has the resources to work out all the bugs and get those two aircraft together, it's Yagen's crew. The engineering work Meier Motors did on their FW190 is incredible, and I'm sure similar resources will be put into the Ki-43 replicas eventually.

43-2195 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 22, 2012 7:19 am

Thanks, I wasn't aware that the NASM Ki-43-II had moved from EAA to Pima. It was one of 3 restored to flying condition at Hollandia by 5th USAAF units. It's a Ki-43-II, but has a Ki-43-I canopy on it(that dates back to it's restoration at Hollandia). The cockpit is also missing quite alot of parts. The FHC is the Ki-43-I which was restored to taxi condition in New Zealand, prior to that it was with Col Pay in Scone, NSW and before that, the Sid Marshall Collection in Sydney. It originated out of Rabaul in 1945, and was probably the most complete Ki-43 to survive the war. There are still several shattered projects available around the world, and the documentation and Jigs that the TAF put together would be a great help in getting them to flying condition. But where is it?

The Inspector · **Posted:** Fri Jun 22, 2012 7:51 am

The MoF has one of the repopped KI-43's never fliers.

JohnH · **Posted:** Fri Jun 22, 2012 12:12 pm

If Herb Tischler died then it's a secret. Highly doubtful. I just searched there is no mention anywhere of this. Seems to me there would be a mention somewhere.

Hemiman · **Posted:** Fri Jun 22, 2012 1:25 pm

N77657 · **Joined:** Fri Apr 13, 2007 6:50 am **Posts:** 68

A little OT, but I agree with what 43-2195 says about preserving warbird information. It would truely be a shame if any warbird information, but rare aircraft in particular, is lost. The Ki-43 is but one example. What happened to the drawings, etc. for the Zero? I seem to recall that someone built at least one reproduction using original drawings. The drawings were of course in Japanese, but apparently the builder had to find someone who understood Japanese technical drawings from that period, which was a feat in itself. Again, where did the information go? I heard a story once that when Fairchild bought Republic Aircraft, dumpsters were filled with P-47 (and other Republic aircraft) info. Someone who worked there at the time understood the significance of the info and managed to salvage some of it, but the rest lies in a landfill somewhere!

Bill

Adam Kline · **Posted:** Fri Jun 22, 2012 6:56 pm

N77657 wrote:

I heard a story once that when Fairchild bought Republic Aircraft, dumpsters were filled with P-47 (and other Republic aircraft) info. Someone who worked there at the time understood the significance of the info and managed to salvage some of it, but the rest lies in a landfill somewhere!

Bill

Same thing I heard about Spitfires :lol:

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Texas Airplane Factory - Herb Tischler & Ki-43 Jigs

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