Yes; as good as the P-51 and B-17 are, there are many other airplanes that also contributed greatly to the victory in World War II. It was a real pleasure to be able to be alongside this veteran P-47 in flight. Thanks for watching and commenting!
The best warbird video I've ever watched. And this is coming from a veteran who flew on the Collings Foundation's B-17 and B-24 four separate times. Thank you and congratulations to all.
Thanks. We work with whatever we can get -- first choice is natural aircraft sounds, but we sometimes have to use other audio if the ambient sound is ruined by noise, or during slo-mo segments.
Terrific bit of history to see the K4 looking like new. The 511th would be proud after all these years. A salute to all the pilots who flew this remarkable aircraft.... and Hank Moore who had that last flight on May 8th 1945 .Thank you, Larry.
Shirley Porter this is the flying barn door that the Germans said they couldn't make..this realization was shortly after a gun run by these,.. one of the flying gods of war
I had an uncle in the war. He finished training and was sent to England to await assignment. He said that at the time, the plane he most wanted to be assigned to was the P-51 Mustang. One day, while hanging around on of the airfields, he witnessed a P-47 flying across the field really low. So low, one of its wings clipped a telegraph pole!! Well, the pole was sliced in half and the plane kept on flying!!! "That's the plane I want!", he said. And, that's the plane he eventually got. Brought him back every time.
I watched an interview with a guy who flew P51's, he had actually started out before America entered the war as a Spitfire pilot and flew a bunch of different fighters eventually winding up in a P51, when asked by the interviewer if he ever got to fly a P47 he said "No, but I'll tell you this about Thunderbolts, I was flying on a patrol one day and when I looked down I saw a group of Thunderbolts about to attack a train, so I dropped down to watch, the first two that went in were side by side and they attacked the locomotive, they flipped it over on it's side", then he said "Let me tell you something, two Mustangs couldn't have done that."
Why the hell does your name pop up every time in the comments of a video I have researched without recommendations, I love your content, but it's getting creepy (my grand father was a WWII ace pilot flying p-47's).
Sorry to all you young'uns out there, but that was better than sex. Especially the tail end view take offs. Every time a nose appeared from the right , I thought I was going to.... well you know. Great perspective that is seldom utilized. My dream job is to sit in the tail of "Photo Fanny" and photographically shoot these great works of art and living memorials to those who flew them in harms way. I don't know who you guys know to get such great accesses to these shots, but keep up the great work. I can only imagine what it would be like to A; sit in a B-25 and B; photograph other great warbirds from the tail position. And Dottie Mae just shined like the jewel of the sky that she is. Great work on bringing another P-47 back to life. After the last recession, I thought the warbird community would never recover. Thank God to all the dedicated men and women who stuck it through and now seem stronger than ever. They still need our help, so take a friend and family to go see an airshow and museum. Money well spent. Thank you for your great work as always and God Bless from Florida.
Thanks for your comments. We are grateful for the access we receive and the cooperation and collaboration we enjoy with groups like the Warhawk Air Museum and the Planes of Fame Museum and the crews who support them.
Just incredible! The two fastest fighters at the end of WW2, the P-47-X (unsure which model - all models after "C" had the bubble canopy, and there were several) and the F4U Corsair. We were very fortunate to have such GREAT PLANES during WW2.
Yes! The P-47 and F-4U are my two favorites. Everyone goes on about the P-51, which was a good airplane, but I'd put my money on the Thunderbolt and Corsair in a head-to-head.
The P-47 was as rugged as hell. It would bring a pilot home with damage that other fighters couldn't survive. Plus, it was very deadly for the enemy. It wasn't as glamorous as other fighters but I heard a WWII pilot say that you wanted to be photographed in a P-51 but in battle you'd rather be in a P-47.
Watching the takeoffs, I just realized that the P-40 and the F4U have the same unusual main gear retraction system. The gear retracts rearward and rotates to tuck the wheels flat into recesses in the wing. The Grumman Hellcat also used this system. It is a good approach for an aircraft with folding wings. The landing gear does not extend outward into a space needed for a wing folding mechanism.
The AD Skyraider used that retraction system too, another plane with folding wings. I'm trying to think of a non-American plane with similar gear, but can't come up with one?
joebobshouse Probably one of the F6F videos, although I don't specifically remember that. Just a feeling. What James Henry said makes a lot of sense. Things get tight when designing a bird on paper; thank God they did. It can be a crowded airplane, and we civilians never see anything but the outside. To see what James Henry saw, one just needs two, good, Mark-One eyeballs.
Barry Ervin The USA was the only country making Allied naval aircraft during WW2; we "gave" everything to the Brits. They didn't even have a modern naval fighter, dive-bomber or torpedo plane; we sold them F4F's; F6F's, F4U's, and TBF's under Lend-Lease. The big mistake the Brits made was to prevent the Fleet Air Arm from contracting their own naval aircraft; the RAF controlled all aircraft during the period between WW1 and WW2 and paid no attention to naval aircraft at all. IUR, the Brits sunk the Bismarck using a biplane, the Ferry Swordfish! It did about 100 mph flat-out and was barely able to carry the torpedo it had. It's something I could never resolve because the Brits depended on their fleet, and they were innovators in carrier aviation, but they did nothing about naval aircraft! I think they "went to sleep" after WW1, b/c their losses were so bad. Millions of British/Commonwealth soldiers died, and they sank into oblivion, not much different than the isolationism in the USA. Luckily, the inter-service rivalry (and the two oceans) in the US gave us a chance; we had some aircraft in both Army and Navy to hold on until our engineering & manufacturing capability caught up to the Nazis and the Japanese. As Churchill once said, "It was a close-run thing."
The Brits did have a few decent naval aircraft in WW2, like the Seafire (navalised Spitfire), and the Fairey Fulmar, Firefly and Barracuda. But they did rely heavily on US designs.
Barry Ervin IIRC, all that you listed came in the later stages of WW2. If they had been available, why did the British "buy" over 2,000 Corsairs and numbers of F4Fs (Martlets), F6Fs (Hellcats - eventually they used the US moniker) and TBMs (Avengers) that I do not have at my fingertips? A book I read years ago (probably lost - I'm a child of the Greatest Generation) echoed that sentiment, that the RAF was not interested in naval aircraft until after they were in the war, and that's why they were forced to run down the Bismarck with the Swordfish. I believe the Swordfish was all that "Force H" had. I'm not looking to argue; I was not yet a wink in my father's eye! (ha!). I do think the dreadful inter-service rivalry did help us in the long run, however. We had two major branches of the military each looking for the weapons that suited their particular needs. Vought and Grumman were our star-designers in naval aircraft, while most others catered to the Army Air (Corp) Force. Those and two oceans gave us what we needed to hold on and win.
I was fortunate enough to be hired by Ted Smith Aircraft as a licensed A&E mechanic right out of Northrop Institute of Technology. I worked on the first prototype of the Aerostar twin engine executive Aircraft N340TS. At the time it was the fastest piston powered executive aircraft in the world. We spent weeks getting the main landing gear to make a slight twist before seating itself in the wing structure. At times, Ted Smith himself and his chief engineer would roll up their sleeves and work along side us techs late into the night. Truly no civilian would ever believe how much goes into the design and assembly of something as basic landing gear.
joebobshouse Because Van Nuys airport was a very busy general aviation field with the added activities of the 146th MATS squadron flying about fifteen C-97 four engine ( R-4360 Pratt&Whitney radial engines)transports in and out of the field seven days a week. I was a flight line mechanic for the 146th squadron while at the same time working for Ted Smith Aircraft. The first several gear down test flights of the 340 were conducted at Van Nuys airport Ted Smith chose Edwards A/F base as the long term development air field for N340TS.
joebobshouse I hit the wrong button and cut off my previous reply to you. Ted Smith was not a licensed pilot, which struck me as odd until I realized that his talent was in designing unique successful cutting edge aircraft such as the N340 and the B-25 Billy Mitchell twin boom tail bomber among other aircraft. For the initial gear down flight of the N340, we took the wings off the aircraft and loaded the fuselage and wing panels onto a very long 18 wheel flat bed truck and had it delivered to Van Nuys airport for its initial gear down flight tests. N340 was placed in a rented hanger and reassembled and extensively tested on wing stands. Assembly and testing went on for weeks, sometime late into the night. The aircraft was equipped with Lycoming flat six fuel injected engines of 340 horse power each. The three bladed (speed) props were direct drive with counterweight pitch mechanisms. Outside the hanger we tested both engines extensively and all controls including flight controls. Nothing was left to chance. Testing the cabin pressurization system came later. The radios and auto pilot were either King or Lear units. Mr. Smith and Mr. Lear were friends. Both were in a class of aeronautic geniuses along with Mr. Kelly out at the Lockheed skunk works at Edwards AF base. Kelly designed of the SR-71 Black Bird and more successful aircraft than I can remember. First gear down flight came on a beastly hot Southern California day. Mr. Smith had hired a NASA pilot to fly left seat on the first flight while he sat in the co-pilot seat. N340 was air conditioned but for the initial testing a small pair of static dorsal vents were relied on to cool Mr. Smith and the pilot. N340 was taken down the runway to V1 several times. All us techs watched the proceedings from the taxi strip. Then came the run at full take off power, gear down. N340 reached V3 and gently lifted off the runway for a short distance then landed. This was done maybe a half dozen times. By now it was mid day and really hot. The aircraft was taxied back to the hanger. Mr. Smith got out of the cabin. He looked like he had been swimming with his clothes on as did the test pilot. Both were sweat soaked. MR. Smith was not a young man, having pure white hair but he was a snappy dresser. He always dressed in silk suits and white shirts. The pilot of course had on a test pilots flight suit over his street clothes. The first thing Mr. Smith did was come over to me and say, " The dorsal vents are way to small. I will have a set of prints drawn up and I want them reconfigured asap." Mr. Smith had instructed me on the repair of one of the upper wing panels after it was damaged with a steel stylus by a new guy. He liked my repair work. Three days later I finished the vents to his satisfaction and N340 was ready for a wheels down go around of the airport. N340 was taxied out with the door open. It sat at the end of the runway for a few moments, then the test pilot gave it take off power and it charged down the runway. I was panic struck as I recalled installing all the push pull flight controls and what a tedious job it was to get them perfect even with the input of the engineer who designed the system. At V3 the bird gently lifted off the runway and continued to climb into the go around pattern. I was shaking, having a picture of this one of a kind aircraft and its genius designer and the hapless pilot barrel rolling into the ground because of something I had over looked. That didn't happen, thankfully. She came in over the fence, flared out and touched down like a feather with all three wheels chirping in unison. She did this a half dozen times and then taxied over to the hanger. Mr. Smith and the pilot exited the aircraft with professional smiles on their faces and only a trace of sweat on their clothes. Mr. Smith gave me a thumbs up pointing to his fresh looking white shirt. The plane was eventually flown to Edwards AFB where we were called on to adjust various systems over a period of time. During our break time we were allowed to wander among the military fighter jets parked all around N340. F-104 fighters were everywhere. The leading edge of the wing panels were so sharp that when parked they were sheathed like a battle sword. I was the luckiest mechanic I know of for my experience. Although the pay was $3.50 per hour, a pittance by today's pay scale, I would have worked the job for free.
Crosswind from the right, so why line up on the left of the runway and then fail to maintain the runway centreline on takeoff? The B-25 crew got it right.
On the F4U, the engine rotates clockwise seen from the cockpit, downgoing blade on the right, torque effect yaws aircraft to the left. Another reason not to line up on the left of the runway and to maintain the runway centreline.
Funny to see it flying... I have been diving on and in this airplane when we recovered it from Traunsee. I personally took out the canopy out of the water.
Very happy to see that.. Who would have thought... Greets to Bob Nightingale! Unfortunately, I cannot upload photos here cause I have a whole bunch of them from the recovery..
The only word I can think of is, "majestic." Oh, they were all fighting a crosswind from 2 o'clock on takeoff! Nearly shoved the Corsair off to the left side of the runway. But the pilot got her up ok. The pilot of the Mitchell had to pour on the coal to get her up and away, and it was interesting to see the counter-rotating props on the '38. Beautiful! Just Beautiful!
Thanks for watching and commenting. Yes, those warbird flights are majestic. The telephoto rear view may exaggerate some of the motions, but that makes it all the more compelling to watch.
SCHWINGGGG!... OMG, clawing through the sky behind the monstrous and magnificent P&W Double Wasp radial, swinging a 13 foot(!) diameter prop, thumb ready to trigger EIGHT Ma Deuces... have any warriors ever charged into battle with a finer chariot???
We must not forget to honor those who were responsible to have this magnificent plane back: Wolfgang Falch/SANDY AIR CORP. - he searched for 2 years and found and recovered it - he was also the first privat owner of Dottie Mae and sold it to a US buyer Dr. Ursula Falch/SANDY AIR CORP. - she was the one to research the loss of Dottie Mae and did find eyewitnesses who pointed out the approximate location to the search team Sture Hultqvist R.I.P. who came with his outstanding self developed side scan sonar and found the aircraft and died a year later ...
Bubble canopy D and M trim makes Thunderbolt look almost trim and sveldt looking, and an awsome late war variant in speed, firepower, and battle damage resistance. I would stack it up against any F190, even in a dogfight, prove me wrong. Slower turning radious? Slam on the brakes (flaps, jack the stick, get behind and shoot) Robert at 66.
It sure had its advantages at high altitude dog fighting but it was also an excellent ground attack plane which meant they lost a lot of pilots to flak and AA fire.
Andrew Hoffman Best fighter and attack aircraft of WW2. And the most produced. Your absolutely right! The jug brought her pilot home despite massive damage. No wonder the A 10 is named after her!
Hi there, does anyone know who owns the copyright to this video? I'm interested in it for potential use within the context of a television documentary I am working on? best Jane
Steve B that would be great. One video said that the lack of any civilian use for the F6F after the war led to its disappearance. Most were probably scrapped by the Navy. A similar situation existed for the P-47; most were in the ETO at VE Day; IIRC, most were chopped up to provide metal to restart German industry and rebuild infrastructure after VE Day. IUR, German Wehrmacht and SS engineers destroyed almost every bridge, trying to slow down the advance on both Fronts.
Steve B To have been able to use drones in Korea Suggests to me the USAF or US Navy may have studied the remote-control equipment that I saw on History Channel ("HC") used by the Luftwaffe against several ships in the Med during WW2. It was an RC missle fired from what appeared to be a Heinkel bomber and the bombardier was using a controlstick much like the game controllers of today. Since the Germans were very advanced in technology, I would not be surprised. Why would the military want such equipment? So many airmen had been wounded or killed trying to bomb enemy targets during WW2; I believe it would be natural to want to devise new technology or use existing technology to accomplish such bombing without risking a pilot or aircraft to injury, death and destruction. As for the P-47, I recall another HC film which showed the ground attack activities of one Wing of P-47s in Germany in the last months of the war. Toward the end of the film, they showed German civilians and former soldiers breaking up Luftwaffe debris at their destroyed airfields, as well as P-47's, in order to use all available metal to restore Germany's infrastructure and factories after VE Day. I can well imagine that, as with the V-1 and V-2 missile technology and parts which were taken by Allied technical units sent to acquire such advanced technology, all such technology was taken back to the USA for further testing and development. To combine the television equipment with the Heinkel-launched missile gives the recipe for the ""guided drone" of which you have spoken. As Spok said on Star Trek, "All things are possible."
*P-47N Thunderbolt* *20,700 lb gross weight* *2,350 mile maximum range* *2,800 hp Pratt & Whitney R-2800-77* *467 mph at 32,500 ft top speed* *A total of 1,816 were built. The very last Thunderbolt to be built, a P-47N-25, rolled off the production line in October 1945.* *Once paddle blade propellers were added to the P-47 in early 1944, climb performance improved significantly.* *The Thunderbolt was the fastest-diving American aircraft of the war-it could reach speeds of 550 mph* *But German pilots gradually learned to avoid diving away from a Thunderbolt. Kurt Bühligen, a high-scoring German fighter ace with 112 victories, recalled:* *The P-47 was very heavy, too heavy for some maneuvers. We would see it coming from behind, and pull up fast and the P-47 couldn't follow and we came around and got on its tail in this way.* *The arrival of the new Curtiss paddle blade propeller significantly increased climb rate at lower altitudes, and came as a surprise to German pilots who had resorted to steep climbs to evade pursuit by the P-47.* *Other positive attributes included the P-47's ruggedness; it could sustain a large amount of damage and still be able to get its pilot back to base. With eight .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns, the P-47 carried more firepower than other single-engined American fighters. P-47 pilots claimed 20 Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighters and four Arado Ar 234 jet bombers in aerial combat.* *In the Pacific, Colonel Neel E. Kearby of the Fifth Air Force claimed 22 Japanese aircraft and was awarded the Medal of Honor for an action in which he downed six enemy fighters on a single mission. He was shot down and killed over Wewak in March 1944*
AT CHINO 2016 THE AIR SHOW ACROSS THE FIELD IS ALLIED FIGHTERS, A FELLOW NAMED JACK CROUL (BEHR PAINTS) OWNS IT AND HE IS A LOVER OF WWII AIRCRAFT. THE SECOND DAY OF THE EVENT I SAW THAT THE HANGAR WAS OPEN AND THE BEAUTIFUL SIGHT OF A P-38 GRACED THE HANGAR AND I TOOK THE INITIATIVE TO ASK A MAN IN THE HANGAR IF I COULD VIEW THE P-38 CLOSER, I DIDN'T WANT TO INTERRUPT A CATERED LUNCHEON THAT SEEMED TO BE GOING ON SO I ASK IF I DIDN'T GET IN THEIR WAY. THE FELLOW I TALKED TO WAS A MANAGER AND HE SAID JACK CROUL THE OWNER WOULD WANT ME TO SEE THE P-38 NAMED HONEY BUNNY. THESE WERE SOME OF THE NICEST PEOPLE I HAVE EVER MET, MY FRIEND WHO IS THE CURATOR OF THE McMINNVILLE AIR MUSEUM IN OREGON WAS WITH ME. WE WERE ALL OVER. THAT P-38. I PHOTOGRAPHED ONE END TO THE OTHER. IT MUST BE NOTED OUT OF RESPECT TO JACK CROUL AND HIS FANTASTIC MANAGER AND THE OTHER ASSOCIATES, THAT THE HEAD PILOT OF THE P-38 PASSED AWAY, WHOM JACK ADMIRED AND LOVED ,JEFF HARRIS. SO MY UNDERSTANDING THAT JACK WAS SO BEREAVED THAT HE WAS GOING TO,SELL THE P-38 AND SOME OF HIS FINE ASSOCIATES TALKED HIM OUT OF IT. THE P-38 COULDN'T BE IN ANY FINER HANDS THAN ALLIED FIGHTERS AND JACK CROUL. I MUST MENTION, THEY HAVE THE BEAUTIFUL,DOTTIE MAE REPUBLIC P-47, I BELIEVE THEY HAD A P-51 I HAVE HEARD RUMORS THEY ARE RESTORING A GRUMMAN F-6F. MY FIRST KNOWLEDGE OF THE P-38 WAS WHEN I WORKED FOR THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA AS AN INVESTIGATOR/PEACE OFFICER FOR ALCOHOL BEVERAGE CONTROL IN OAKLAND, IN THE MID 70'S, MY PARTNER HAD FLOWN THEM IN WWII AND ALL HE TALKED ABOUT WAS "COUNTER ROTATING PROPS", TRICYCLE LANDING GEAR. 2700 HP. WITH TWIN 1710 V-12 ALLISON AIRCRAFT ENGINES THAT PRODUCED A SPEED OF OVER 440 MPH. ALSO THE DEVASTATING FIRE POWER OF 4 M2 .50 CAL AND ONE HISPANO- SOUZA 20 MM AERIAL CANNON AND THE GUNNERY IN THE NOSE GOOD FOR 1000 YDS. SOON EX LT. WILLIAM REYNOLDS HAD ME WANTING TO SEE SUCH AN AIRPLANE AS THIS. HE CALLED IT "EVERY PILOTS DREAM" EASY TO FLY AND DEVASTATING IF YOU WERE TO SEE ONE ON YOUR TAIL. AFTER SEEING STEVE HINTON FLY ONE (23 SCODOO) AND DO AEROBATICS, I KNEW WHAT BILL REYNOLDS WAS TALKING ABOUT. UNFORTUNATELY HE HAS GONE TO THE GRAND EAGLES IN THE SKY(AS PART OF THAT GREAT GENERATION), BUT HE TAUGHT ME WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO FLY THE CLARENCE KELLY/HALL HIBBARD CREATION THE LOCKHEED P-38. THANKS AGAIN FOR THE GREAT EXPERIENCE THAT DAY AT YOUR HANGAR MR. CROUL AND FOR THE KINDNESS OF YOUR MANAGER. SINCERELY, LARRY WILLIAMS.
And thanks for your comments. Yes, it's good to acknowledge the people who make it possible for us to appreciate these warbirds. And it sounds like your partner the P-38 pilot was an interesting guy too.
This is a painstaking restoration of this aircraft the way it was during World War II, and Dottie Mae had wing racks, so this is a very authentic and complete restoration.
I very much appreciate that there are people who still love and care for the machinery of World War II, and the men who made them work so well.
Agreed!
Wow, what a beauty.
And those 250 pounders under the wings bring in a sense of the fighter going on an attack run.
Super!
I agree, love the bombs and wing mounts.....
I think those might be simulated 500 pounders?
I was lucky enough to watch this from the ground. Some great hardware on display. Good photography as well!
P-51D Mustang gets all the glory but this plane the P-47D is just as badass.
Yes; as good as the P-51 and B-17 are, there are many other airplanes that also contributed greatly to the victory in World War II. It was a real pleasure to be able to be alongside this veteran P-47 in flight. Thanks for watching and commenting!
In a full dive it was faster than the Mustang
@@mark6310 and faster then a Jet ME 262 in a dive, look it up..a few confirmed kills too
Beautiful thunderbolt, just glistening like a jewel in the sky 🤗
P-40 is such a menacing looking aircraft.
Yeah it was a pretty cool-looking hunk of junk... I mean that in a good way.
Love seeing all these warbirds. P-47 has been my favorite ever since I read Robert Johnson’s autobiography, “Thunderbolt”, in high school.
The best warbird video I've ever watched. And this is coming from a veteran who flew on the Collings Foundation's B-17 and B-24 four separate times. Thank you and congratulations to all.
And thank you for your comment. Glad you found the Airailimages Channel.
Very nice video! No loud music, no commentator just the sounds of WWII Aircraft and wonderful shots of them flying.
Thanks. We work with whatever we can get -- first choice is natural aircraft sounds, but we sometimes have to use other audio if the ambient sound is ruined by noise, or during slo-mo segments.
SO BEAUTIFUL.....TEARS of pure DELIGHT & JOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Terrific bit of history to see the K4 looking like new. The 511th would be proud after all these years. A salute to all the pilots who flew this remarkable aircraft.... and Hank Moore who had that last flight on May 8th 1945 .Thank you, Larry.
Shirley Porter this is the flying barn door that the Germans said they couldn't make..this realization was shortly after a gun run by these,.. one of the flying gods of war
I had an uncle in the war. He finished training and was sent to England to await assignment. He said that at the time, the plane he most wanted to be assigned to was the P-51 Mustang. One day, while hanging around on of the airfields, he witnessed a P-47 flying across the field really low. So low, one of its wings clipped a telegraph pole!! Well, the pole was sliced in half and the plane kept on flying!!! "That's the plane I want!", he said. And, that's the plane he eventually got. Brought him back every time.
Thanks for sharing the story, and for watching.
cool story!
I watched an interview with a guy who flew P51's, he had actually started out before America entered the war as a Spitfire pilot and flew a bunch of different fighters eventually winding up in a P51, when asked by the interviewer if he ever got to fly a P47 he said "No, but I'll tell you this about Thunderbolts, I was flying on a patrol one day and when I looked down I saw a group of Thunderbolts about to attack a train, so I dropped down to watch, the first two that went in were side by side and they attacked the locomotive, they flipped it over on it's side", then he said "Let me tell you something, two Mustangs couldn't have done that."
That was nice of them to let you ride in the plane and film that!
The people involved with this air show are first-rate, and I am indeed grateful for the opportunities to capture it on video.
Why the hell does your name pop up every time in the comments of a video I have researched without recommendations, I love your content, but it's getting creepy (my grand father was a WWII ace pilot flying p-47's).
@@ONeillKeeganJay Wow! Do you have any pics/info on your grandfathers days as a fighter pilot? That is an awesome heritage. 🇺🇸
@@klugermann5806 We have his medals, his notebooks, flight logs etc.. He flew with the flying tigers in china also.
Golden Age of Flight! I drool every time I see these War Birds!
Beautiful restoration!
Totally incredible..Awesome job on this video too..some amazing flying to...the turns too...Thank you so so much..I do greatly appreciate it too..
Sorry to all you young'uns out there, but that was better than sex. Especially the tail end view take offs. Every time a nose appeared from the right , I thought I was going to.... well you know. Great perspective that is seldom utilized. My dream job is to sit in the tail of "Photo Fanny" and photographically shoot these great works of art and living memorials to those who flew them in harms way. I don't know who you guys know to get such great accesses to these shots, but keep up the great work. I can only imagine what it would be like to A; sit in a B-25 and B; photograph other great warbirds from the tail position. And Dottie Mae just shined like the jewel of the sky that she is. Great work on bringing another P-47 back to life. After the last recession, I thought the warbird community would never recover. Thank God to all the dedicated men and women who stuck it through and now seem stronger than ever. They still need our help, so take a friend and family to go see an airshow and museum. Money well spent. Thank you for your great work as always and God Bless from Florida.
Thanks for your comments. We are grateful for the access we receive and the cooperation and collaboration we enjoy with groups like the Warhawk Air Museum and the Planes of Fame Museum and the crews who support them.
Spawn 1960 a
Amazing Army history!
Nice view from the rear, to watch the props spool up for takeoff
Just incredible! The two fastest fighters at the end of WW2, the P-47-X (unsure which model - all models after "C" had the bubble canopy, and there were several) and the F4U Corsair. We were very fortunate to have such GREAT PLANES during WW2.
Both the P-47 and the F-4U use the same 2,000 horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine. I love them both. 🇺🇸👍
Yes! The P-47 and F-4U are my two favorites. Everyone goes on about the P-51, which was a good airplane, but I'd put my money on the Thunderbolt and Corsair in a head-to-head.
Thanks so much, fantastic !
You are welcome. Thanks for watching.
The P-47 was as rugged as hell. It would bring a pilot home with damage that other fighters couldn't survive. Plus, it was very deadly for the enemy. It wasn't as glamorous as other fighters but I heard a WWII pilot say that you wanted to be photographed in a P-51 but in battle you'd rather be in a P-47.
My 1st and 2nd favorite American planes of WWII, the P-47 and the F4U, respectively.
And both made good use of the R-2800 engine.
Great footage, thanks for posting.
Great camera and editing. Beautiful.
Thanks!
the most beautiful american WWII planes
Watching the takeoffs, I just realized that the P-40 and the F4U have the same unusual main gear retraction system. The gear retracts rearward and rotates to tuck the wheels flat into recesses in the wing. The Grumman Hellcat also used this system. It is a good approach for an aircraft with folding wings. The landing gear does not extend outward into a space needed for a wing folding mechanism.
The AD Skyraider used that retraction system too, another plane with folding wings. I'm trying to think of a non-American plane with similar gear, but can't come up with one?
joebobshouse Probably one of the F6F videos, although I don't specifically remember that. Just a feeling. What James Henry said makes a lot of sense. Things get tight when designing a bird on paper; thank God they did. It can be a crowded airplane, and we civilians never see anything but the outside. To see what James Henry saw, one just needs two, good, Mark-One eyeballs.
Barry Ervin The USA was the only country making Allied naval aircraft during WW2; we "gave" everything to the Brits. They didn't even have a modern naval fighter, dive-bomber or torpedo plane; we sold them F4F's; F6F's, F4U's, and TBF's under Lend-Lease. The big mistake the Brits made was to prevent the Fleet Air Arm from contracting their own naval aircraft; the RAF controlled all aircraft during the period between WW1 and WW2 and paid no attention to naval aircraft at all. IUR, the Brits sunk the Bismarck using a biplane, the Ferry Swordfish! It did about 100 mph flat-out and was barely able to carry the torpedo it had. It's something I could never resolve because the Brits depended on their fleet, and they were innovators in carrier aviation, but they did nothing about naval aircraft!
I think they "went to sleep" after WW1, b/c their losses were so bad. Millions of British/Commonwealth soldiers died, and they sank into oblivion, not much different than the isolationism in the USA. Luckily, the inter-service rivalry (and the two oceans) in the US gave us a chance; we had some aircraft in both Army and Navy to hold on until our engineering & manufacturing capability caught up to the Nazis and the Japanese. As Churchill once said, "It was a close-run thing."
The Brits did have a few decent naval aircraft in WW2, like the Seafire (navalised Spitfire), and the Fairey Fulmar, Firefly and Barracuda. But they did rely heavily on US designs.
Barry Ervin IIRC, all that you listed came in the later stages of WW2. If they had been available, why did the British "buy" over 2,000 Corsairs and numbers of F4Fs (Martlets), F6Fs (Hellcats - eventually they used the US moniker) and TBMs (Avengers) that I do not have at my fingertips? A book I read years ago (probably lost - I'm a child of the Greatest Generation) echoed that sentiment, that the RAF was not interested in naval aircraft until after they were in the war, and that's why they were forced to run down the Bismarck with the Swordfish. I believe the Swordfish was all that "Force H" had.
I'm not looking to argue; I was not yet a wink in my father's eye! (ha!). I do think the dreadful inter-service rivalry did help us in the long run, however. We had two major branches of the military each looking for the weapons that suited their particular needs. Vought and Grumman were our star-designers in naval aircraft, while most others catered to the Army Air (Corp) Force. Those and two oceans gave us what we needed to hold on and win.
Gorgeous video, would love to see her at Thunder over Michigan
Willow Run Sept 2
I remember this well. Flying right over my house at 0:25! And the pilot has C.E. "Bud" Anderson's signature on the back of his helmet!
I was fortunate enough to be hired by Ted Smith Aircraft as a licensed A&E mechanic right out of Northrop Institute of Technology. I worked on the first prototype of the Aerostar twin engine executive Aircraft N340TS. At the time it was the fastest piston powered executive aircraft in the world.
We spent weeks getting the main landing gear to make a slight twist before seating itself in the wing structure. At times, Ted Smith himself and his chief engineer would roll up their sleeves and work along side us techs late into the night. Truly no civilian would ever believe how much goes into the design and assembly of something as basic landing gear.
joebobshouse Because Van Nuys airport was a very busy general aviation field with the added activities of the 146th MATS squadron flying about fifteen C-97 four engine ( R-4360 Pratt&Whitney radial engines)transports in and out of the field seven days a week. I was a flight line mechanic for the 146th squadron while at the same time working for Ted Smith Aircraft.
The first several gear down test flights of the 340 were conducted at Van Nuys airport Ted Smith chose Edwards A/F base as the long term development air field for N340TS.
joebobshouse I hit the wrong button and cut off my previous reply to you.
Ted Smith was not a licensed pilot, which struck me as odd until I realized that his talent was in designing unique successful cutting edge aircraft such as the N340 and the B-25 Billy Mitchell twin boom tail bomber among other aircraft.
For the initial gear down flight of the N340, we took the wings off the aircraft and loaded the fuselage and wing panels onto a very long 18 wheel flat bed truck and had it delivered to Van Nuys airport for its initial gear down flight tests. N340 was placed in a rented hanger and reassembled and extensively tested on wing stands. Assembly and testing went on for weeks, sometime late into the night.
The aircraft was equipped with Lycoming flat six fuel injected engines of 340 horse power each. The three bladed (speed) props were direct drive with counterweight pitch mechanisms. Outside the hanger we tested both engines extensively and all controls including flight controls. Nothing was left to chance. Testing the cabin pressurization system came later. The radios and auto pilot were either King or Lear units. Mr. Smith and Mr. Lear were friends. Both were in a class of aeronautic geniuses along with Mr. Kelly out at the Lockheed skunk works at Edwards AF base. Kelly designed of the SR-71 Black Bird and more successful aircraft than I can remember.
First gear down flight came on a beastly hot Southern California day. Mr. Smith had hired a NASA pilot to fly left seat on the first flight while he sat in the co-pilot seat. N340 was air conditioned but for the initial testing a small pair of static dorsal vents were relied on to cool Mr. Smith and the pilot.
N340 was taken down the runway to V1 several times. All us techs watched the proceedings from the taxi strip.
Then came the run at full take off power, gear down. N340 reached V3 and gently lifted off the runway for a short distance then landed. This was done maybe a half dozen times. By now it was mid day and really hot. The aircraft was taxied back to the hanger. Mr. Smith got out of the cabin. He looked like he had been swimming with his clothes on as did the test pilot. Both were sweat soaked. MR. Smith was not a young man, having pure white hair but he was a snappy dresser. He always dressed in silk suits and white shirts. The pilot of course had on a test pilots flight suit over his street clothes.
The first thing Mr. Smith did was come over to me and say, " The dorsal vents are way to small. I will have a set of prints drawn up and I want them reconfigured asap." Mr. Smith had instructed me on the repair of one of the upper wing panels after it was damaged with a steel stylus by a new guy. He liked my repair work.
Three days later I finished the vents to his satisfaction and N340 was ready for a wheels down go around of the airport.
N340 was taxied out with the door open. It sat at the end of the runway for a few moments, then the test pilot gave it take off power and it charged down the runway. I was panic struck as I recalled installing all the push pull flight controls and what a tedious job it was to get them perfect even with the input of the engineer who designed the system. At V3 the bird gently lifted off the runway and continued to climb into the go around pattern. I was shaking, having a picture of this one of a kind aircraft and its genius designer and the hapless pilot barrel rolling into the ground because of something I had over looked. That didn't happen, thankfully. She came in over the fence, flared out and touched down like a feather with all three wheels chirping in unison. She did this a half dozen times and then taxied over to the hanger. Mr. Smith and the pilot exited the aircraft with professional smiles on their faces and only a trace of sweat on their clothes. Mr. Smith gave me a thumbs up pointing to his fresh looking white shirt.
The plane was eventually flown to Edwards AFB where we were called on to adjust various systems over a period of time. During our break time we were allowed to wander among the military fighter jets parked all around N340. F-104 fighters were everywhere. The leading edge of the wing panels were so sharp that when parked they were sheathed like a battle sword.
I was the luckiest mechanic I know of for my experience. Although the pay was $3.50 per hour, a pittance by today's pay scale, I would have worked the job for free.
Nothing better!
It looked like the Corsair was going off the runway but lifted off in time. lol
Thanks for the video and hope you have more from the event.
Long telephoto lens exaggerates the appearance, I think. Yes, more video to come.
Crosswind from the right, so why line up on the left of the runway and then fail to maintain the runway centreline on takeoff? The B-25 crew got it right.
On the F4U, the engine rotates clockwise seen from the cockpit, downgoing blade on the right, torque effect yaws aircraft to the left. Another reason not to line up on the left of the runway and to maintain the runway centreline.
P-FACTOR out the proverbial wa-ZOO!... not sure anything in the civilian realm comes close.
really enjoyed this video
Looks like the F4U has an open gear door.
Funny to see it flying... I have been diving on and in this airplane when we recovered it from Traunsee. I personally took out the canopy out of the water.
Thanks for adding your story. The airplane has been beautifully restored, as you can see.
Very happy to see that.. Who would have thought... Greets to Bob Nightingale! Unfortunately, I cannot upload photos here cause I have a whole bunch of them from the recovery..
que c'est beau,j'adore ces avions!!! merçi
what a stout looking aircraft. the tank and train killer of its day, but it could also dogfight..... amazingly well for its size and weight.
Bonito video; potente el P-47.,hermoso.
Excellent...decent crosswind for the takeoffs.
The only word I can think of is, "majestic." Oh, they were all fighting a crosswind from 2 o'clock on takeoff! Nearly shoved the Corsair off to the left side of the runway. But the pilot got her up ok. The pilot of the Mitchell had to pour on the coal to get her up and away, and it was interesting to see the counter-rotating props on the '38. Beautiful! Just Beautiful!
Thanks for watching and commenting. Yes, those warbird flights are majestic. The telephoto rear view may exaggerate some of the motions, but that makes it all the more compelling to watch.
airailimages I enjoyed it thoroughly. Next life I want to have the time, the money, and the 20/20 vision so I CAN be a pilot.
airailimages The only other word that just hit me is "WOW".
Those sounds! 😍
SCHWINGGGG!... OMG, clawing through the sky behind the monstrous and magnificent P&W Double Wasp radial, swinging a 13 foot(!) diameter prop, thumb ready to trigger EIGHT Ma Deuces... have any warriors ever charged into battle with a finer chariot???
We must not forget to honor those who were responsible to have this magnificent plane back:
Wolfgang Falch/SANDY AIR CORP. - he searched for 2 years and found and recovered it - he was also the first privat owner of Dottie Mae and sold it to a US buyer
Dr. Ursula Falch/SANDY AIR CORP. - she was the one to research the loss of Dottie Mae and did find eyewitnesses who pointed out the approximate location to the search team
Sture Hultqvist R.I.P. who came with his outstanding self developed side scan sonar and found the aircraft and died a year later ...
A Beauty ... She is a Beauty ❤️
Man, just look at the diameter of those prop blades! That takes some serious power to turn.
Who's flying the Corsair?...."Right Rudder!!!"...lol
Bubble canopy D and M trim makes Thunderbolt look almost trim and sveldt looking, and an awsome late war variant in speed, firepower, and battle damage resistance. I would stack it up against any F190, even in a dogfight, prove me wrong. Slower turning radious? Slam on the brakes (flaps, jack the stick, get behind and shoot) Robert at 66.
If I’d been given the choice of which plane to fly during WW2 it would have been the P-47.
It sure had its advantages at high altitude dog fighting but it was also an excellent ground attack plane which meant they lost a lot of pilots to flak and AA fire.
P-47 is the ugliest most useless thing in the world...I'd pick the Bf 109 or P-51
Andrew Hoffman Best fighter and attack aircraft of WW2. And the most produced. Your absolutely right! The jug brought her pilot home despite massive damage. No wonder the A 10 is named after her!
And if you were in the 109 a P47 would make quick work of you.
@@mark6310
The top 10 Thunderbolt aces survived the war, no other fighter on anybody's side can lay claim to that.
Great !!! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Thank you! 😃
@@airailimages Greetings from Brazil !
👍😉
Hi there, does anyone know who owns the copyright to this video? I'm interested in it for potential use within the context of a television documentary I am working on? best Jane
Serenaded by R2800s. Thank you.
Great video, but what's the problem with modern video cameras and propellers? Propellers just don't look like that.
The p47 was a beast ww2 American plane, fast ,big, powerful, a dangerous ground attack aircraft, powered by the popular r2800 engine
Hope they fix that gear door on the F4U.
It was fixed right away.
When are you going to complete her last mission ?
anybody notice the gear door was open on the Corsair while it was flying
We’re all these guys just off to work in their war birds? Looked like peak hour!
Corsair’s right gear door is not closed!! 😱
Now they need a F6F to have the three with the 2800. One is at the airport in Blaine minnesota and flies over my house every now and then.
Steve B that would be great. One video said that the lack of any civilian use for the F6F after the war led to its disappearance. Most were probably scrapped by the Navy. A similar situation existed for the P-47; most were in the ETO at VE Day; IIRC, most were chopped up to provide metal to restart German industry and rebuild infrastructure after VE Day. IUR, German Wehrmacht and SS engineers destroyed almost every bridge, trying to slow down the advance on both Fronts.
JosephK109 I looked it up on Wikipedia. They used them as drones to attack bridges in Korea. What a waste. Not to menny
Very few left fling
Steve B To have been able to use drones in Korea Suggests to me the USAF or US Navy may have studied the remote-control equipment that I saw on History Channel ("HC") used by the Luftwaffe against several ships in the Med during WW2. It was an RC missle fired from what appeared to be a Heinkel bomber and the bombardier was using a controlstick much like the game controllers of today. Since the Germans were very advanced in technology, I would not be surprised. Why would the military want such equipment? So many airmen had been wounded or killed trying to bomb enemy targets during WW2; I believe it would be natural to want to devise new technology or use existing technology to accomplish such bombing without risking a pilot or aircraft to injury, death and destruction. As for the P-47, I recall another HC film which showed the ground attack activities of one Wing of P-47s in Germany in the last months of the war. Toward the end of the film, they showed German civilians and former soldiers breaking up Luftwaffe debris at their destroyed airfields, as well as P-47's, in order to use all available metal to restore Germany's infrastructure and factories after VE Day. I can well imagine that, as with the V-1 and V-2 missile technology and parts which were taken by Allied technical units sent to acquire such advanced technology, all such technology was taken back to the USA for further testing and development. To combine the television equipment with the Heinkel-launched missile gives the recipe for the ""guided drone" of which you have spoken. As Spok said on Star Trek, "All things are possible."
*P-47N Thunderbolt*
*20,700 lb gross weight*
*2,350 mile maximum range*
*2,800 hp Pratt & Whitney R-2800-77*
*467 mph at 32,500 ft top speed*
*A total of 1,816 were built. The very last Thunderbolt to be built, a P-47N-25, rolled off the production line in October 1945.*
*Once paddle blade propellers were added to the P-47 in early 1944, climb performance improved significantly.*
*The Thunderbolt was the fastest-diving American aircraft of the war-it could reach speeds of 550 mph*
*But German pilots gradually learned to avoid diving away from a Thunderbolt. Kurt Bühligen, a high-scoring German fighter ace with 112 victories, recalled:*
*The P-47 was very heavy, too heavy for some maneuvers. We would see it coming from behind, and pull up fast and the P-47 couldn't follow and we came around and got on its tail in this way.*
*The arrival of the new Curtiss paddle blade propeller significantly increased climb rate at lower altitudes, and came as a surprise to German pilots who had resorted to steep climbs to evade pursuit by the P-47.*
*Other positive attributes included the P-47's ruggedness; it could sustain a large amount of damage and still be able to get its pilot back to base. With eight .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns, the P-47 carried more firepower than other single-engined American fighters. P-47 pilots claimed 20 Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighters and four Arado Ar 234 jet bombers in aerial combat.*
*In the Pacific, Colonel Neel E. Kearby of the Fifth Air Force claimed 22 Japanese aircraft and was awarded the Medal of Honor for an action in which he downed six enemy fighters on a single mission. He was shot down and killed over Wewak in March 1944*
Schöne Aufnahme, wo kann Mann solche Maschinen in Deutschland sehen?
I was at this show
The Jug. Ain't. NOTHIN'. Like. It. Nowhere!
Bud Anderson signed his helmet!
Interesting how the pilots hold right rudder during take off
holy crap
Look li ke gear door open on the Corsair
5:52 Is this plane missing some parts?
Temporary modifications for using as a photo platform aircraft.
Must be working on the B25's rear turret.
The tail was reconfigured for a photo shoot, and can be returned to stock configuration. The open-air photo/video view from there is tremendous.
7:04 that a A-36 right
P-51C
Only one pilot was able to find and stay on centerline.
That helmet has to go it ruins the shot! But Dottie Mae what a beauty!😍
AT CHINO 2016 THE AIR SHOW ACROSS THE FIELD IS ALLIED FIGHTERS, A FELLOW NAMED JACK CROUL (BEHR PAINTS) OWNS IT AND HE IS A LOVER OF WWII AIRCRAFT. THE SECOND DAY OF THE EVENT I SAW THAT THE HANGAR WAS OPEN AND THE BEAUTIFUL SIGHT OF A P-38 GRACED THE HANGAR AND I TOOK THE INITIATIVE TO ASK A MAN IN THE HANGAR IF I COULD VIEW THE P-38 CLOSER, I DIDN'T WANT TO INTERRUPT A CATERED LUNCHEON THAT SEEMED TO BE GOING ON SO I ASK IF I DIDN'T GET IN THEIR WAY. THE FELLOW I TALKED TO WAS A MANAGER AND HE SAID JACK CROUL THE OWNER WOULD WANT ME TO SEE THE P-38 NAMED HONEY BUNNY. THESE WERE SOME OF THE NICEST PEOPLE I HAVE EVER MET, MY FRIEND WHO IS THE CURATOR OF THE McMINNVILLE AIR MUSEUM IN OREGON WAS WITH ME. WE WERE ALL OVER. THAT P-38. I PHOTOGRAPHED ONE END TO THE OTHER. IT MUST BE NOTED OUT OF RESPECT TO JACK CROUL AND HIS FANTASTIC MANAGER AND THE OTHER ASSOCIATES, THAT THE HEAD PILOT OF THE P-38 PASSED AWAY, WHOM JACK ADMIRED AND LOVED ,JEFF HARRIS. SO MY UNDERSTANDING THAT JACK WAS SO BEREAVED THAT HE WAS GOING TO,SELL THE P-38 AND SOME OF HIS FINE ASSOCIATES TALKED HIM OUT OF IT. THE P-38 COULDN'T BE IN ANY FINER HANDS THAN ALLIED FIGHTERS AND JACK CROUL. I MUST MENTION, THEY HAVE THE BEAUTIFUL,DOTTIE MAE REPUBLIC P-47, I BELIEVE THEY HAD A P-51 I HAVE HEARD RUMORS THEY ARE RESTORING A GRUMMAN F-6F. MY FIRST KNOWLEDGE OF THE P-38 WAS WHEN I WORKED FOR THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA AS AN INVESTIGATOR/PEACE OFFICER FOR ALCOHOL BEVERAGE CONTROL IN OAKLAND, IN THE MID 70'S, MY PARTNER HAD FLOWN THEM IN WWII AND ALL HE TALKED ABOUT WAS "COUNTER ROTATING PROPS", TRICYCLE LANDING GEAR. 2700 HP. WITH TWIN 1710 V-12 ALLISON AIRCRAFT ENGINES THAT PRODUCED A SPEED OF OVER 440 MPH. ALSO THE DEVASTATING FIRE POWER OF 4 M2 .50 CAL AND ONE HISPANO- SOUZA 20 MM AERIAL CANNON AND THE GUNNERY IN THE NOSE GOOD FOR 1000 YDS. SOON EX LT. WILLIAM REYNOLDS HAD ME WANTING TO SEE SUCH AN AIRPLANE AS THIS. HE CALLED IT "EVERY PILOTS DREAM" EASY TO FLY AND DEVASTATING IF YOU WERE TO SEE ONE ON YOUR TAIL. AFTER SEEING STEVE HINTON FLY ONE (23 SCODOO) AND DO AEROBATICS, I KNEW WHAT BILL REYNOLDS WAS TALKING ABOUT. UNFORTUNATELY HE HAS GONE TO THE GRAND EAGLES IN THE SKY(AS PART OF THAT GREAT GENERATION), BUT HE TAUGHT ME WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO FLY THE CLARENCE KELLY/HALL HIBBARD CREATION THE LOCKHEED P-38. THANKS AGAIN FOR THE GREAT EXPERIENCE THAT DAY AT YOUR HANGAR MR. CROUL AND FOR THE KINDNESS OF YOUR MANAGER. SINCERELY, LARRY WILLIAMS.
And thanks for your comments. Yes, it's good to acknowledge the people who make it possible for us to appreciate these warbirds. And it sounds like your partner the P-38 pilot was an interesting guy too.
I would never hang fake bombs on it, unless it was for a movie stunt.
drop the bombs
*You need to remove those Wing Racks*
This is a painstaking restoration of this aircraft the way it was during World War II, and Dottie Mae had wing racks, so this is a very authentic and complete restoration.