REPUBLIC P-47 THUNDERBOLT - Steve Wolf / Kevin Kimball - Kermie Cam Visit Part 1
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ก.ค. 2021
- We pulled our Republic P-47 Thunderbolt out of its decaying storage container just last week, and already, aircraft builders are lining up to see her. Good news travels fast! Come along on this great Kermie Cam, and be a fly on the wall, as famed vintage replica plane builders Steve Wolf and Kevin Kimball visit the P-47. Steve is in the process of building a 60% replica of the plane, and has come to take measurements and view the beast first hand. In the process there are some great tales told , plenty of cool info shared, and a couple of good laughs. Come tag along.
This is part one of a two part series. Look for part two in the future, where Steve and Kevin Kimball look at my Gee Bee’s. Steve built my R2 and Kevin built my “Z”.
Kermit Weeks
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As Venezuelan, I feel very happy to see this plane again
Kermit Weeks is the Jay Leno of aircraft!!! In it for the pleasure of restoring and preserving historical aircraft for the next generation. We need more people like those two!!!
Kermit, thank you for the videos of your amazing warbirds, and my deep respect for the efforts you take to preserve and fly these treasures. THANK YOU. Much respect.
Love the jug… best prop fighter ever
Kermit has been holding out in us!
That Jug is beautiful!!!😍
I like how Kermit starts the vid by walking through his hangar, past all these iconic aircraft, without batting an eye or looking sideways, in the same manner we would walk through a garage past the lawnmower and garden tools. The man is just a legend!
Thanks!
@@KermitWeeks444 Thankyou Mr Weeks, l live in Australia and l am a keen follower of your posts (especially the Boomerangs). I restore classic motorcycles and have the same reaction from friends who look in my workshop, l too often forget what is put away for resto. We have definitely been drinking from the same well. Your acknowledgement has made me very happy during difficult times. Thanks again, mate.
Two Tempest's AND a Jug? IHATE YOU!!!! lol. Keep preserving History Kermit, well done!
The P-47 is my favorite WWII fighter.
Regards Mr Weeks, me and many people of Venezuela are happy that little piece of history of our country be there in your hands, and glad that this warbird fly again after many years! I'm glad to share you some photos of this airplane when there was like on a display before to return to birthplace!
That awkward moment when you forget that own several large WWII aircraft! Also, I'd love to not only tour the hangers, but also the storage areas. I'd be like a kid in a candy shop!!!
Not to mention the fact that he has airplane projects in work around the world, and projects stored out in the desert as well.
"Kermit Wonka & the Flying Dream-Factory" - I'd love to get a golden ticket!
Great place when it was open it was like walking around in airplane heaven
Wow that building is amazing .
still flying at over 100, legend, Dday, over 100 missions... through trees, shot down, what a guy, legend
My grandfather was on the ground at D-DAY,sniper-corpman I'm sure that lucky chap flew cover for his unit,God bless those men!
If that Sea Fury had a Bristol Centaurus it would’ve been ahead of that P47, but great video and good too see Richard Grace get a mention.
My father told me this story from when he was in France during WWII. He said that the landing gear was slow to come up. The pilots wanted to be cool in front of all of their buddies. They would put the landing gear lever in the up position while on the ground before starting their takeoff roll. Hydraulic pressure would build up while on the ground, but the landing gear would not retract on the ground. As soon as the P-47 lifted off the built up hydraulic pressure would cause the gear to snap up real fast and look real cool to the other pilots on the ground. So one day this pilot pulls up the landing gear level while still on the ground before starting his takeoff roll. So there goes this P-47 going down the runway faster and faster getting close to lift off speed. The P-47 hits a bump in the runway. The P-47 jumps up into the air a foot or so then the landing gear snaps up real fast and cool. But the Jug isn't at takeoff speed yet and settles back down on the runway. Chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp goes the big paddle blade prop as it chews up the runway as the Jug slides down the runway on it's belly. Slides past the end of the runway and mows down a bunch of pine trees with it's wings.
Charlie Morhle in his interview said that they did that with the landing gear because when they were taking off they were doing it overloaded by 1,000 lbs on a runway that was 500 ft shorter than what Republic said the aircraft needed, that way the landing gear would immediately come up and clean up the airstream and they could start gaining airspeed and altitude faster that way.
Greetings from Venezuela, Mr. Kermit Weeks, an aviator pilot collector, my respects, I am a lover of military war planes, I am fascinated by the world of aviation, I know you are an aircraft collector, today I just subscribed to your TH-cam channel, the video is very good of the Mustang P-51 the cadillac of the air EXCELLENT PLANE, I was struck by this video where a plane of the Venezuelan air force is shown FAV the REPUBLIC P-47 THUNDERBOLT, fabulous combat plane of the post war wow I see that it is in good hands and I know that you, Mr. Kermit, are going to restore it since the plane is in good condition, I tell you I live in Maracay, the cradle of Venezuelan aviation, in fact I live near the Aeronautical Museum of Maracay, the old Airfield where the Venezuelan Military Aviation began In fact, the limits of the airfield are behind my house, the fence reached there, but over time those lands were urbanized, only said airfield was reduced. Only the Aeronautical Museum, which only has a name as a museum, because nothing compares to its very well restored planes. Well, I hope that the restoration of the REPUBLIC P-47 THUNDERBOLT is a success. I hope to see it restored and piloted by you, more than an expert, an excellent pilot, collector, restorer and promoter of the American Aviation of the world I don't know if he had the privilege of visiting the Aeronautical Museum here in Maracay Venezuela but he has visited it, hopefully one day he can visit Venezuela Maracay cradle of the Military Aviation of Venezuela successes congratulations on the restoration project REPUBLIC P-47 THUNDERBOLT REGISTRATION FAV 8A36. HUMBERTO DONQUIZ says goodbye to you.
Thanks for subscribing. Welcome aboard. Appreciate the comments.
the excitement in Steves face!
Jack Hallett is an American treasure. I can’t wait to see Steve’s 60% P47
Steve's P-47 is a great project. He's a master at work.
This is so freakin' cool. Some of the best hangar talk I've ever heard. I can't wait to see Steve complete his 60% P-47. Thanks for taking the time to accommodate these awesome aircraft builders and posting this, Kermit. Fantasy of Flight is the coolest place.
I love to watch Kermit's videos but they make me so envious lol.
That was SO cool...I ate up this video like a kid in a candy shop....LOVED every second of it...keep em coming Kermie!
Everyone loves big Jugs!
So glad you rescued that plane..... it was rusting away in the patio of a Military Academy....
P47 is awesome. Greg’s airplanes and automobiles has a fantastic series on the P47. Hey Paul.... anxiously waiting on the next 108 video. I think it’s been a while. Thanks
I love all the the unelected old air plane you have
OH YOU'RE GONNA UPSET THE 51 FAN BOYS NOW! Stating the truth about the speed of the 47! I hope you guys are restoring this to flight status. The 47 would be a perfect addition to your Flight experience.
Go about preaching the Radial gospel and burn the inline heretics!
Horses for courses A mustang is like a race breed horse, The 47 a bloody fast cart horse..Just love the sound of the Radial coughing into life in a haze of smoke....
@@joshuamitcham1519 The Radial shall be praised and the false god of in-line shall vanish under the prayer of the lesser parts! Hail the Radial!
The P47 surprisingly doesn't have as much higher of a drag number than the P51 does, I can't remember what they were but I remember being shocked by how close the NACA numbers were.
One thing that everyone does when comparing the two in their mind is just look at the noses, look further down the two planes fuselage's and on the P51 you'll see a great big scoop sticking out of the bottom of it into the airstream that a P47 doesn't have, no one ever takes that into consideration when comparing the two.
Even worse the Spitfire put those scoops on the wings, not only did they account for about the same amount of drag but they also canceled lift at that location on the wings, that's why the designers of the P51 put the radiator scoop at the bottom of the fuselage instead of under the wings, since the fuselage generates so much less lift putting the scoop under it isn't that detrimental, but it still brings the overall drag of the P51's up close to what the P47's was.
@@dukecraig2402 A RAF pilot was reputed to have remarked, on observing the size of the P47, you can release your harness and dodge the bullets by running about inside the immense fuselage. One of the great attributes of the P47 was it could absorb a good deal of battle damage, including its engine that didn't rely on liquid cooling. It was without a doubt one of the great fighters of WW2.
All that wealth of knowledge is truly amazing and is what made America .Thank you to all of our men and women who serve this great country..God Bless America..🇺🇸
The aviation "Brain Trust" right there! Lots of knowledge and talent in that group...
3 shot burst 😁
Would love to see a rundown of everything in storage. Thanks for the videos!
So much enthusiasm in one place, things will get done.
I saw a P47 in Michigan around 1982 which had a nice ladder so I could see inside. The cockpit is big enough to have a party in it.
I've been around aviation all my life and this was a fun video to watch and brings back memories of my grandfather who not only worked on the P-47 but (as a lawyer) became a combat pilot in WWII and Korea in the P-47's then in the F-89's This is one of the best "hanger chats" you can listen to specially when you talk about WWII combat pilots who are still with us. You need to ask them questions because they will not be here forever. I still had a lot of questions I wanted to ask my grandpa and I'm 50 now
Kermit I truly appreciate all you do. We desperately need people keeping us connected to our history now more than ever. Thanks for sharing all that you do! 👏🏼
Great to see you again Steve! The Super Stinker is doing great. Hope you are well.
I could listen to those stories all night. I love all the cool stuff lying around, it’s like an aeronautical Aladdin cave
I loved both part one and two especially the stories that Steve and Kevin shared!
The JUG!!! GREATEST FIGHTER OF THE CENTURY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Built in East Farmingdale, Long Island NY by Republic Aviation.
And just several miles East of Farmingdale was the Grumman Iron Works in Bethpage. Amazing history. The workers and engineers don’t get enough credit for building these beautiful aircraft that defeated evil.
Mr. Weeks, You have been very blessed in your pursuit of preserving these historic aircraft, thank you for sharing them with us!
As well, thank you for sharing these special moments!
When you lit the Spark that was within you and conceived Act III, we are in great anticipation of the Grand Opening, probably as much as you are desiring to have it built!
Mr. Wolf reminded me of, Steve Detch at first.
(Mr. Detch was the man behind the restoration of the B-25 nicknamed, "Wild Cargo" owned by Jerry Yegan and the Fighter Factory, Military Aircraft Museum, in Virginia Beach.)
Mr. Wolf's admiration of Mr. Hallett is incredibly heartwarming!
Thank you, Mr. Hallett for your service to this Constitutional Republic!
Thanks to all of our US Service Members, former and those presently serving!
Maybe the paint scheme of your finished P-47 could reflect Mr. Hallett's, "Frigid Midgit"!
Mr. Hallett"s chances with his target of opportunity, after having become a P-51 pilot, may greatly increase after they taste some Naked In Jamaica Rum!
Great to see such enthousiastic and skilful people together.
And...shaking hands like genuine human beings!
Fascinating conversations, great video, right up there with the 108 updates. Thanks again for inviting us.
A WW II pilot Cpt. R.J. Rhay said the P-47 was his favorite fighter, he told me he felt invincible behind the giant radial when doing staffing runs. Thanks for letting us join in on the tour and great stories.
I passed by FOF today, wish you were open, sir.
45:25 The Nardi FN.305D made a record flight between Rome and Addis Abeba, Ethiopia in 1939.. the 2nd build long range radial example was set for an non-stop atlantic crossing by a yugoslav, but it never came to that. That thing is beyond rare! The 2 seater long range plane you got there was only build once, the 2nd one was single seat.
Fratelli Nardi build some most beautiful aircraft.. the Nardi SIAI-Marchetti FN.333 Riviera is an absolutely cool post WW2 flying boat, like a seabee in elegant.
Kermit seems such a wonderful person :)
The treasure trove takes on a new angle when old containers are opened up,a good idea to get some fresh air around these precious airframes that lurk inside.That Nardi FN235 sure looks good and will make a superb vintage esoteric machine for display.
A Super Wow - and speaking of, sure hope the Supercharger will be operational in this one Kermit. That would make it unique and perform as meant to. All that ducting which makes it the Jug!
You got to love Kermit, it is not enough to just say Yeah, when he gets enthusiastic he becomes a "Triplepeter", yeah , yeah, yeah.
This is certainly one of the best ones I’ve seen. Thank you for sharing this AND my compliments to you for how you treat veterans
The 367 “Dynamite Gang” and the 394th “Casket Gang”!!!
My father flew in the 394th. His picture is on pp. 144 of the great book “the Dynamite Gang, the 367th fighter group in WWII” by Richard Groh (Aero). He’s closest to the camera on the left.
I still have: his flight suit, leather helmet, goggles, scarf (imprinted with a map of Germany), knee board and… the tech manual for the P-47.
He also had a story of the ‘47’s propensity to “mush” if you pulled the stick too far at high speed thereby just changing the aoa and not climbing. He was strafing a train that was proceeding down a valley with steep sides. On pull-up, he was clipping pine trees during climb out - he remembers seeing the boughs flying as the prop was chopping them off.
That was his life story at 27 years old. Mine at that age? Not even close.
Kermit, you do great interviews with these hero's, when he's well, you should try and interview him for the future, Lest we forget.
This aircraft is my all time favorite WW2 prop!
Love seeing your collection, Kermit. I am an avid historian, a Navy Aviation Machinist's Mate veteran (qualified on 80 types for line maintenance) and currently volunteer at the National Museum of the USAF in Dayton Ohio as a guide/docent. Someday you'll have to swing out and see us. Largest military aviation museum in the world now, 19 plus acres under roof, over 350 aircraft on display!
Great video, thanks Kermit
WOW! Amazing video again, Kermit!
After listening to so many people say disparaging things about the 47 for sooo many years, it's awesome to hear people talk about the 47 in such reverence, and with respect. The P-47 has always been, and will always be my favorite fighter {and my opinion the best} of WWII. Thanks for filming this visit Kermit
I was raised by WW2 vets,worked for them as a kids and heard their stories about P-47s.I never heard a cross word about the airplane,but I did hear them talk about its toughness and how fast it was.
They hated the P-39.Hated it.Wanted to wreck them purposely to get P-38's...they were afraid of them because they had a feeling they couldn't bail out if they got jumped in a P-39 and they had no confidence in the airplane because they felt it was a one trick pony.Once you lost energy and alt,you were toast and they hated that plane.
You should watch "Greg's Airplanes" P-47 series. Really helps show how important the airframe was during the war.
@@mousedog440 loved Greg's P47 series his 38 and 190 series are going well too
P51 was substantially cheaper with good performance so it won the war of procurement.
@@falconeaterf15
No, the P47 won the war of procurement, there was more of them made than there were P51's.
Comparing a P51 to a P47 is like comparing a Bic lighter to a Zippo, one's cheap and can be made quickly but the other one's built to last a lifetime, and because of the way the P47 was built many more pilots came back from instances that would easily have wrecked a P51, like the story here about the P47 going through tree tops, that would have ripped the wings off of a P51 and killed the pilot for sure.
The top ten P47 aces survived the war, no other fighter on anyone's side can lay claim to that, that's the true testament to it's quality of construction.
Love that place when it was open, every year I went to Fla. I hang out there all day
Quote, "Hey, Steve we can lend you the P47 tail feathers, you know if you like want to restore it or whatever"? Yeah, and it'll come back 60% completed !! Funny, funny LOL.
Yea Yea Yea ! Oh Kermo you and that 60 percent guy. The both of you are just boiling over with excitement Kermo hang in there big boy.
Back in the early 80's there were about a half dozen P47 canopies in the security area bone yard of Aberdeen Proving Ground. I snagged one and was going to make a coffee table out of it. Someone wanted it worse than I did and I sold it.
Thanks Kermit! Love to be down there helping with your Thunderbolt. Dad talked to a 4th FG vet once, and he said that the Mustang was the one you got your picture taken with to send home to your girl, but if you wanted to get home you flew a Thunderbolt!
My uncle Howard, in his P-47, caught some flack over Ingolstadt. I'd love to fly in one.
What's so great... I love ww2 planes. When I see the video lenght...ok a bit long to wacth right now....I'm 20 minutes into it and could easily wacth all.of it with all.the tidbits of history/flight characteristics and engineering...love it. Thank you Mr.Wizard. : )
Gotta love listening to people talking about an activity they are passionate about. Must get to America one day to visit FOF. Love your work Kermit
Great video, this P-47 is in perfect condition, looks absolutely stunning. Thank you for a great video. BTW when my father was a school boy of 15 / 16 years old at a college, all boys were to be so called „Luftwaffenhelfer“ or Air Force helpers. He had to go to a village called Liblar, just southwest of Cologne with all of his class mates in 1943. They had to man some positions of 88mm Flak AA guns. He told me that one morning there was a warning of ground attack operation in progress. The guns were turned to low elevation, suddenly 3 P-47‘s showed up flying right over the battery (in fact a „Grossbatterie“, consisting of 2 regular batteries, 16 instead of 8 AA cannons). All 16 guns shot together, one P-47 came out of the Flak clouds right, one left. The third one just disappeared. He told me that nothing from the plane was found later, it just disintegrated. They feared the P-47 greatly.
My God...what an amazing bird! Those WWII aircraft were just amazing feats of engineering and those men who flew them were by God fighter pilots in a by God fighting air force. Mr. Weeks, thank you for preserving such vital pieces of our history!
Fascinating P47 story. My father flew B-25’s in WWII. I could never get him to talk about his experiences.
Gah that thing is BIG !
It's literally ONE BOOM of a Nothrop P-61 Black Widow with a bubble canopy on top !
Great video, good to see and hear these guy talking so passionatly about there experiences 👍👍👍
Nice to see Steve Wolf again! Wish him well with his project. Could you do a video on the Italian radial engined airplane? Very interesting. Keep pluggin' away!
Hi Kermit . Thanks for video ..these walk around real world videos are great. Really appreciate it.. nothing better than guys talking planes.
Truly heart breaking to see your place closed..
Hope we can get there one day.. from Australia..
Cheers..
I love the P47!!! When I was younger I didn't pay much notice to it. I was a big Mustang fan. But the more I learned about the P47 the more I understood how awesome it is!! It was the fastest, most survivable US fighter of the War and despite what you have heard, it could reach Berlin with drop tanks. I really hope they restore it to flying condition!!
You're a really cool guy kermit, also the styling of the building is great, would loved to have seen it back when it was open. Always enjoy your videos thanks for sharing
Nice to see this. my Dad had 87 missions in a P-47D with the 316th Helles Belles and in his log book he had written: 525 OK, 550 OK, 575 OK. In a dive it would just keep accelerating. He told us he knew that was fast enough at that time to pull away from most things chasing you in a dive.
Thanks for sharing 👍
The story of that 100+ years former pilot is super nice, there would be a great great interview partner while walking around this great plane.
Excellent stuff. What a mix of history, engineering & aircraft.
Thanks for putting this up.
Ever since the p-51D video I’ve been waiting for the p-47
Steve Wolf of Samson?? I grew up idolizing him, as a kid I had a Sport Aviation magazine from the 80's that had a write up on Samson and Steve Wolf's project and the photo of him sitting in the bare welded frame fuz on it's huge gear in the garden inspired me to study aircraft engineering and many builds followed !
That's really amazing to see you back !
its good to see steve wolf is going great! He built the wolf pitts pro for Wyche T. Coleman III who eventually sold it to a friend of mine and is doing airshows in australia. He is truly a great craftsman and cant wait to see his replica P-47
How AWESOME.....Can't wait to see...Part two....! l had always wonted to meet Benjamin Franklin....l was taken thru a snow storm by air somehow to what l thought was a cave somewhere and inside of the dimly lit place l met him....We talked a long time....But what teed me off was that l had no clue of what was said...Still don't maybe one day l will, l have more things like that but l can't talk to people about such things....You will understand....Thanks Kermit
I think this is the best channel on TH-cam! Your P47D looks amazing and I can’t believe how original it all is. Very interesting listening to your guests and I love the enthusiasm you all have for these aircraft.
GREAT CONTENT KERMIT ! GOOD COMRADERY, WITH GREAT AIRCRAFT !
P-47 is my favorite fighter. She is a beautiful beast.
It's a massive bird.If you stand beside a Jug and know how little a real 109 is,you can understand why the Germans said the 47 was so big the pilot could run around the fuselage to avoid injury if they were attacked.
I can stand flat-footed and look into the Floor pan of a Messersmitt,but at 6',I have to stand on my toes to reach the cowling of a P-47...their sheer scale is massive compared to contemporary fighters of the day.
Cool Stuff everywhere , Next Level 👍
It’s a great video Kermit thank you. I would love to meet and shake the hand of that 100-year-old veteran
So this the P-47 you forgot you had in the stash? LOL I hate it when I forget I have P-47's in my stash. They're 1/48, 1/32, 1/72 scale ones though... I've never come across a 1/1 scale one yet. Gah..
As a Venezuelan I'd really love to see that plane with its original painting restored!
And we should hear also the story of how the airplane was saved from been fried in the Venezuelan's sun in the Maracay's museum.
@@tinorkertesz every airplane in that museum should be saved from its dark destiny
That is one brilliant group of people in one hangar... very nice to see all of you! Keep up the great work!
yeah... thanks for sharing Kermit. That was a great way to spend some time. You have good friends.
Frigid midget is a fantastic name haha. I genuinely believe sentimental stuff like that can make a quantifiable difference in a man's combat effectiveness.
Hi Kermit. It's always a great pleasure to see you back on the screen. I speak for myself though. Because of the passion for aviation that evidently "pours" from you. Happy landings from Portugal.
Oh and it really breaks my heart to see that wonderful place empty of visitors. But as a positive mind being, I'm sure things will soon be back to normal. An immense Wonder like FOF must keep on "flying".
Very Cool
Kermit! Very Interesting! Thanks 😊
Best video yet. Luv Steve's stories. cant wait to see part 2 ans also follow up with the 60%Wolf P47.....
Amazing Dude & OMG what a pilot ! Been watching your videos for years …. THANK YOU KERMIT WEEKS you truly inspire !
Great video, a great bunch of guys, thanks for sharing this Kermit, you're a legend!
Kermit is just going to have to be still flying when he is a 100 plus just to get SOME of these planes finished
Fantastic story about Howard's Sikorsky! Thanks for sharing! I hunted that plane for some time trying to get into Brazoria Co Airport to see it, but got turned away every time. And I did not know it had a new wing as well. Really looking forward to seeing it back together again and it would be very cool if you made videos of its progress regularly!
Built near our home in Long Island NY. The only thing left of Republic is the American Airpower Museum and the ruins of the Seversky works in between Conklin St (State Route 24) and the LIRR tracks in East Farmingdale NY. I'm amazed that the town has not taken down that building, it is a shame to see it in this condition for so many years (since Republic folded in 1987).
Great Addition to FOF , I just love the conversation between Aviation enthusiast. Great Video Mr. Kermit....:-)
Based on the photos of the 60 % scale the metal work is outstanding.