P-47 Recovered from Lake...Additional Pics

[airnutz]

Why the timeline AMPaul? You could roll it into a little ball..retrieve the
dataplate..and build almost the exact same level of originality..as the first
restoration. What history is lost? Unless I'm misunderstanding the
previous explantions of what would be airborn again? Could the cowling
fly again with a clean-up and preservation or does it get completely apart
for patterns from which a new copy is made? The Spars? Station formers?

So far, I've heard forgings and dataplate...which the forging are the most
significant parts to produce..and a deal-killer if you don't have them for
an "original" performing replica...
Just curious guys...

[JägerMarty]

Well said Rob, agree totally.
Marty, the aircraft has been sold to a Californian and isn't going back to Austria. Full story in the upcoming 'Classic Wings'

Dave

That's a shame,
still it will be good to see it back in good nick in a year or 2

[Lightning]

Howdy

Im sure WestPac in Rialto.CA, will be overhauling/building parts/components for this aircraft.

Keep em flying

Lightning

[Rob Mears]

WestPac is one place I'd really love to visit. What do they have now, three or four active P-47 restoration projects? Love the specialty shops that focus on one type.

[bdk]

Love the specialty shops that focus on one type.

Like FHC's P-51 they completed last year?

[Aircraft Mech Paul]

airnutz,

The only reason I suggested a "time line" for keeping the aircraft airworthy and shown to the public as it would be in flying condition is that being a true combat veteran is signifigant. If you look around, not many American Warbird aircraft are true combat vets. Granted, that planes such as the ME-109's or BF-109's that are flight worthy were combat vets themselves, but the cost to rebuild them in the first place and the cost to maintain them would again be very signifigant given what they are. Add to that, keeping a pilot "current" on any Warbird is a big factor, at least in my line of logic, that if not for that, we could loose yet another Warbird. And we have lost so many already.

Please understand...I am NOT in favor of placing these planes under glass, quite the contrary. Fly what you can, but a signifigant find such as this Thunderbolt, with a combat vet history is something to consider when you look at the aircraft long term...at least I would think so. Perhaps I am wrong, or not explaining myself the way I'd hope to. I know...some would point to Glacier Girl in this regard, but, if Glacier Girl had a combat history and was THE only one of her breed, would you still fly it, with everything in mind as I attempted to state above ??

Just my thoughts, as I hope to have relayed them well enough.

Paul

[Rob Mears]

Should have said "...that enjoy a particular focus on a certain types of warbirds". Airpower Unlimited also comes to mind, as does the past efforts of Square One.

[bdk]

No question that with the tooling and know-how involved focusing on a few select types has its advantages.

[tom d. friedman]

great idea in preserving her nose art as is. it looks great as found, & extends extra character & perspective as how she layed their undisturbed for decades. regards, tom

[Originalboxcar]

Anyone with the latest on this?

Interesting comment from another website (http://www.indianamilitary.org). Along with the recent B-25c in SC recovered from Lake Murray, it appears that bodies of water are the last frontier in recovering "accessible" wrecks

Wolfgang Falch, owner of Sandy Air Corp. near Innsbruck, Austria, said while he thinks the plane will be available for sale, the price is likely to be in excess of $1.5 million. "It will be a good contribution to the Warbirds' scene," Falch said. EAA Warbirds of America is a nonprofit group that boosts restoration and safe flying of old military aircraft. But Falch added he has photographs of two P-47s his company has located at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea that could be "aesthetically restored" for much less. That might work for Evansville, where efforts to get a display-worthy P-47 began more than two decades ago. The planes in the Mediterranean are "covered with shells, but with good structures," Falch said. Serial numbers on the submerged World War II planes will be unavailable until they are raised, so it is unknown if either was built - as was the "Dottie Mae" recovered last week - at Evansville's Republic Aviation plant.

regards,

t~

[DaveM2]

Stored in California as a long term project AFAIK, a lot more history has turned up since the article we did in CW, incuding more wartime pics. Hopefully do an update in the near future.

Dave