Restoration of P-47 named Bonnie finally finished

[Oldbaldguy]

If you are into razorback Jugs, you might want to see this:  aircorpsaviation.com/project/p-47d-23-razorback/ or maybe just www.aircorpsaviation.com

This was a long restoration project and from the looks of things they started out with not much more than a data plate.

[D Bellis]

Or maybe just:

https://www.aircorpsaviation.com/project/p-47d-23-razorback/

 

D

[Troy Molitor]

Love the Jugs!   

 

[LSP_Mike]

Nice.

[coogrfan]

 

[mkd1966]

And the shop that restored "Bonnie" also just finished restoring the P-51C Mustang "Thunderbird" - which raced and once owned by actor Jimmy Stewart and it has gone to the same paint shop that painted the P-47 and it will be in the cobalt blue and yellow it once wore... I understand that they hope to have it done in time for the Oshkosh airshow starting the last week of July... 

Mike

[LSP_Ron]

Such a gorgeous airplane!

[Martinnfb]

https://www.youtube.com/@aircorpsaviation6347

[TAG]

From this:

 

To this:

 

Just an absolutely stellar job from the crew at Aircorps Aviation, like all their restos this gorgeous bird is a perfect replica of a wartime operational machine, right down to the turbocharger (!) which pretty much no other Jug in flying condition has. I hope I get to see this bird in the flesh someday, the old girl just makes your heart skip a beat or two doesn't it?

[John1]

Beautiful but I’m not a fan of the uber-polished mirror-like finish though.   

[Troy Molitor]

Uber polished or not, that is an amazing restoration accomplishment, period.   Love to see these old aircraft fly regardless of the final outcome.  Haven't seen a restoration of a Bf 109 ( as an example) I would particularly love as a camouflage "period" aircraft but I still love to see them fly in a semi gloss state.  We have all read or witnessed a bunch of failures with catastrophic results (Reno,  many airshows in Europe and the north America) but I still love the human efforts behind the scenes in putting these a/c back in the air.   Looking at a dust covered aircraft one of a kind in a museum is also fantastic.  I must however say, I still enjoy the sound these old birds make in the air.   

[MikeC]

10 hours ago, John1 said:

Beautiful but I’m not a fan of the uber-polished mirror-like finish though.   

I don't suppose the crews are always that enthusiastic.  I saw a highly-polished aircraft recently, first thing that happened after parking was that the pilot went to do the arrival paperwork and the support crew set to with metal polish and cloth, and carried on at intervals throughout the day.

 

Then the pilot came back from the briefing and picked up a cloth too.

Edited June 27, 2023 by MikeC

[mkd1966]

12 hours ago, John1 said:

Beautiful but I’m not a fan of the uber-polished mirror-like finish though.   

 

From updates I've read on their other different restorations - this is not polished aluminum - it's brand new aluminum and some of the other P-51's they have restored have let the new skin fade to a natural patina that looks sharp - so as each year passes they'll look more like wartime... Mike

[John1]

22 hours ago, mkd1966 said:

 

From updates I've read on their other different restorations - this is not polished aluminum - it's brand new aluminum and some of the other P-51's they have restored have let the new skin fade to a natural patina that looks sharp - so as each year passes they'll look more like wartime... Mike

Interesting.   Still not convinced though.   I've seen fresh aluminum and the stuff (at least in my case) doesn't look that reflective.    Also seen plenty of WW2 era factory pictures of aircraft coming off the production line and none of them appear to be close to that shiny.     

[Oldbaldguy]

3 hours ago, John1 said:

Interesting.   Still not convinced though.   I've seen fresh aluminum and the stuff (at least in my case) doesn't look that reflective.    Also seen plenty of WW2 era factory pictures of aircraft coming off the production line and none of them appear to be close to that shiny.     

Not sure it’s worth picking that nit.  This is a real airplane that was lovingly brought back from the dead, not a contest model supported by faded photos from a dog-eared magazine.  It is flying again and that should be plenty good enough.  I’d love to see, smell and hear the thing in person, too shiny or not.