How to assemble a P-47 Thunderbolt Fighter in a field with unpowered hand tools (Restored -1944)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- This truly remarkable step-by-step training film shows how a ground support crew of fifty men could assemble a P-47 fighter in a farm field using nothing more than muscle, unpowered hand tools and pieces of the shipping crate it came in. We're talking nothing more than hammers, wrenches and bicycle pumps. In "Uncrating and Field Assembly of the P-47" you'll get a unique look at the inner workings of the big Jug as it is bolted together. Then a pilot jumps in and flies it away! A must see for P-47 fans and shade tree mechanics alike. "I digitally restored this video. It's One of my personal favorites!" Zeno, Zeno's Warbird Video Drive-In www.zenoswarbir...
Don't miss our P-47 Thunderbolt DVD with 3 more videos, P-47 pilot's manual & free bonus P-47 DVD! bit.ly/HU5UvL Visit our aviation DVD store at www.zenosflight... for the World's largest selection of World War 2 & vintage jet aircraft aviation videos.
Like what you see? Your DVD purchases at our store make this channel possible.
www.zenosflightshop.com
We need your support! Zeno
My mom and I enjoy watching this video because it gives up a chance to see my grandpa my moms dad. He's the Crew Chief reading the instructions and giving the orders and knocking the pins out of the wing root. I never got the chance to meet him as he passed away during the Korean War
That is a great story and it's wonderful you have such tangible memories of your grandpa. My grandpas were a farmer and a coal miner - no vids of them to be found and one died just a couple months before I was born. 🙂 Last night, I watched a one-hour documentary on the P-47 and gained a whole new appreciation of this remarkable machine for the next time I try it out in DCS.
That is a awesome story, and a very clever way to assemble an airplane.
Lucky!
His name and hometown?
Right after the pilot has taxied away toward the runway, one guy says to the other, "And look at all the extra parts we still have!"
Not extras, just spares.
"Parts not installed canntot fail".....
tvcchuck ☆ Toss them into the Box.
Lol
Lol....
I always enjoyed this video. I probably watched it the first time around 2001. The question I always had was, "would you trust flying a plane assembled by a bunch of guys in a field? " Two-finger torque technique, lol....
It seems to me the crate could be designed to eliminate the digging. All that stacking and nailing of the platform only to have to dig pits? I am only a lowly carpenter but could solve this issue so that if this were done in unforgiving soil types (say in the winter) you could still assemble the plane.
Sure....
Well I guess you'd have a bunch of these all arriving at once, so, you'd have a bunch of guys all working on each plane but for certain steps it goes to all-hands mode to move the wings around.
Variations on the "turn of nut method" (Google it) are still in use for building structures because they work! The engineers weren't stupid. They knew the fastener and wrench lengths and approximately how much torque "two fingers" would apply.
Assign them at roll call first thing in the morning. Not hard.
The thought going into the design of the crates is impressive. Same for the actual assembly instructions. How many tines did the engineers and planners put together and take apart one to hammer them out?
"Hey, Ralph! We forgot to tell 'em to put the aileron control rods in BEFORE attaching the wing!"
IKEA got nothing on this.
Jttv ☆ IKEA learned everything they know from this video series...
Hello, I'm Troy McClure. You might remember me from such instructional
videos as "Mothballing Your Battleship" and "Dig Your Own Grave, And
Save!"
This great film depicts American ingenuity, massive production, and various methods of supplying arms to the front lines. It is also a modeler's ultimate example: open the box, read the instructions, make sure all the parts are there, then carefully assemble.
I have rebuilt several car engines over the years (most in the driveway) and I always had a bolt or two left over (I think most of us have looked at the work table and wondered where "that one" went). I wonder if they give them to the pilot for safe keeping?
+Mac Sterling i work as a mechanic and i constantly recheck everything i do and do it systematically i never have leftover fasteners
Forget American ingenuity, it's Russian designed by De Seversky and Kartveli
I like to fantasize finding a few crated up Thunderbolts in a forgotten warehouse. Maybe a few rows down from the Ark of the Covenant.
that would make a day
I had the same thought with a Jeep in the next crate beside it
Can you imagine how awesome that would be , can't get my mind off it now lol
8" wrench, two fingers, pull til your elbow clicks.
Lol....good en-tight German torqued. Followed by a QA inspection to verify the correct torque applied; 1 calibrated elbow 💪 required. Now is safe for flight.
Retired USAF maintainer here who loves this video!
Assembly was practical without ground support equipment. That meant less GSE to manufacture. ship and maintain. It also meant that you could assemble multiple aircraft at the same time with each crew chief supervising. It makes much more sense than it may seem. Remember maintenance manning was relatively large compared to modern squadrons so pulling bodies for uncrating would have been no problem. Uncrating crew could move down the line while maintainers finished assembly.
The pins took shear loads and the nut was a lock nut so the assembly method made perfect sense. Unlike a cylinder head or other part where multiple bolts required MATCHING torque, pins are single-fastener and the nut just holds them in place. Google "turn of nut method" before whinging about torque wrenches. They have their place of course.
Wait...did an American just use the term "whinging"?
I read the local farmers, experienced in maintaining their equipment, would chip in of course. As satisfying as the video is, I'd imagine working on the tractor yesterday and helping a P-47 fly off today was a thousand times better.
My mother assembled these fighters at the factory: Republican Aviation in Farmingdale, NY. She was a riveter. Thank God for her.
I just did a new digital restoration of this wonderful film. It's one of my personal favorite World War 2 training films!
ZenosWarbirds Touchè Sir
@@jeremybear573 GREAT JOB..!
@@RemoVegas I don't know what I did, but I'll take it! Thank you!
My Grandfather worked for Republic building the P47 in Evansville Ind.
How many guys do you think removed the crates from the trucks before reading the instructions?
The punishment for not following simple directions in the military ins't worth the hassel. they all read the instructions.
The guys who assemble these P-47's are probably the same mechanics and crew chiefs who maintain them while they fly combat missions.
I've never thought of it before but I wonder how a brand new P-47 straight out of the box smells like. Probably better than any brand new car.
The AAF put a smelly preservative on the cockpit leather. It ruined the out of the box experience.
more than likely smelled of Cosmoline.
Just imagine in less than ideal conditions what a chore! Wind, dust, sand, heat, cold, dust, rain, mud, snow, frozen ground. One down, two hundred to go! Those tow trucks would be so cool restored in a parade now days.
Nor to mention the occasional Japanese mortar round or artillery shell.
This was incredible. The thought and effort into designing the entire process is amazing. This could be done on am island, even near the front lines.... Wow, just wow.
Thanks for posting, I've been looking everywhere for a how-to and no one seems to have instructions. Now I can finally put one together. All I need is another 49 helpers, some rope, shovels, mechanics tools, and a crated P-47 on a truck.
Machine guns and ammo appear to be separate.
I'd like to help you when you're ready! I'll bring all the needed tools too!
Hurry up guys! We have 200 more planes to assemble!
Amazing. Think it's possible to build an F-22 in the field?
Probably just gotta be motivated enough
who put the wings on upside down? This is a great vid. No electric screwdrivers. Fascinating...
I really enjoyed this, thanks so much. I had no idea that this procedure was even followed at destination. I think it did not even occur to me that crews overseas had to do all this, and on wet and cold days, too. You have given me a fresh understanding of the reason our forces has to enlist so many people to pursue the war. And to think that such men were called REMF's is shameful. As with all of our troops, every single person, enlisted or officer, or civilian, who participated in this combat is a member of "The Greatest Generation." My parents' entire generation, and my grandparents' as well, were all members, and I will tolerate no name-calling.
My uncle was a P-47 crew chief. He was told he had to volunteer for at least 1 bomber mission. That was the last flight in a aircraft he ever took in his entire life.
Another instructional video along similar lines is the one showing how to recover a tank stuck in a ditch with a Scammel breakdown tractor, and a 5-1 pull block and tackle.
Is that assembly manual out there somewhere in PDF form?
Thanks for the great movies Zeno's Warbirds!
Best unboxing video of all time...
Oh how I wish I could find some of those crates in an old warehouse....
Probably still a shed or two somewhere built with wood from the crates.
This film made my evening, very relaxing and nostalgic! Soul soothing. Thank you!!
I assume everyone sees a 5 or 8 man crew that works on just one plane at a time, and one big mass of fifty, so that a crew of maybe 70 is assembling 3 or 4 planes adjacent to each other. The mass moves to each unit as needed. Add a superintendent and assign someone in the mass as crew boss.
Some very smart people designed the shipping crate alone. I never even gave one thought to assembly of these planes in the field. This is a cool video.
"Some assembly required, batteries not included".
Goodness, what our grandpas could do! Today's kids can't operate a letter opener generally.
The greatest generation indeed!
We still see it, and we where born in the era of the real heros before us. But we got to see society while they walked upon us.
Here is an airplane designed by men with a Phd, flown by men with a college degree, work on by men with a high school degree.
And assembled by farmers gathered within walking distance (not kidding.)
You think the guy trying to figure out where to tie the rope had a high school degree?
Wrong on every count.
Vídeo muito interessante! Sou fã do P-47 thunderboolt 🌟👊
One run up and thats it? I change a prop let alone a FCU im doing run ups till quitting time!
When we were an "arsenal of democracy", vs. "saving money & living better" at Walmart.
Wish I'd been born 40 years earlier.
Now where can I order the „kit“ ?
So If you have a p 47 thunderbolt in your garage and you don't know How to assemble, here's.
And there was I thinking all my life that planes were delivered fully assembled. Those mechanics were heroes too in my mind for keeping all those planes functioning.
Just like IKEA, some assembly required. It what I've always wanted a fighter in a box! Order me a couple. I wonder if shipping is free?
Invisible star of the show: The guys who first figured out all these instructions on how to use the very much standard-issue packaging material to field-assemble a high-tech plane using nothing but muscle power and hand tools. Also of course the engineers who made the plane as "idiot-proof" as possible (short fuselage cable goes to long wing cable and vice versa - I strongly suggest it's impossible to assemble incorrectly).
Idiot-proof, maybe. But remember, some of the people who would be assembling these things were Marines. ;)
@@KeithHearnPlus "You try your best to make something idiot-proof - the world inevitably comes up with a bigger, much improved idiot"
It wasn't "figured out", it was designed this way from the start. The P-47 was intended to be the best possible fighter for deployment in Europe escorting bombers, part of that was making it efficient to ship and assemble.
@@jimmydesouza4375 Well the difference between something being intended to be one way, and it actually being that way, usually lies in the figuring out :). My point of respect was simply, they put a lot of thought into it.
Just think. All this done design, aircraft design, manufacturing, crating shipping, assembly at site, flown away, and not a single damn computer anywhere.
They had computers back then, they were just mechanical.
I wonder how many Thunderbolts were actually assembled this way. And how do Thunderbolts even fly of one wing takes 50 men to carry it?
I'm always amazed at the ingenuity yet simplicity of putting the early P 47 in the air. I'm a ex helicopter mechanic with a passion for all aviation. The quality of construction at the factory is admirable, basically the design is like a model T Ford except this thing shoots down Germans....
All jokes aside, airplanes were sent to the field in kit form because a squadron of unassembled airplanes takes up as much space as a handful of fully-assembled airplanes. That box of bolts could be shipped to England, North Africa, Guadalcanal, and be ready to fly quickly. Some vehicles, like trucks and tanks, would be fully assembled, and then partially disassembled to save space on the cargo ships.
I am so thankful to the men and women that built and put pride into their job to build my favorite WW2 plane.
It IS a BEAST, isn't it?
...my mentor Capt. Don Kosteff did this with P-40s on the Rangoon Docks for the Flying Tigers
Hey, started right up! :) ... and fingers crossed at 39:16...
1:1 scale model kit building
Whew! boy a lot of respect for ground crews; really interesting.
Where can I order one of these kits.... :)
I wouldn't want to fly the first few planes a new assembly crew put together. And I hope extra hardware was included since some nuts and washers are bound to be dropped and lost.
How many of these planes were assembled on site like this?
Our US Army Aircorps of WW2.
This must have been an early P-47 to be started with a hand cranked inertial starter.
Apparently over 16,400 P47s built.
Very interesting indeed.
My eflite foam 1.2m radio-controlled model was a little easier to assemble. Lol
This was really cool 😎
Nice COE trucks at 1:34. GMC's?
Remember it’s worth more if you have the box it came in!
Amazing to think that over 15,000 P-47s were produced.
Dear Santa,
I recently moved a new home with a bigger back yard. Now you should be able to drop my new toy box….
Best unboxing video ever...
"This wing is being turned over so that the landing gear is on the under side, for convenience later on when taking off."
It was neat to hear the "National Emblem" march.Played it often as a military musician...
Huh - this feels like about 35 lbs. Here - doesn't say -- oof - that should do her! And here - that should do it!
Amazing
Thank you TH-cam for letting us see what some of them were doing back then.
When was the 47 a friction crank start? Every video I have seen they all were electric start ? This is weird
One of the clean cut,nice and really informative channels on TH-cam!!!
Saw it earlier pretty cool of course you can't do it in a video game
Ratchet wrench (patent US 1957462 A) was invented in 1933. I would think that instead of combination wrenches would be used.
(Craftsman tools all the way).
How long does this process take?
that pilot's seat looks awful!
looks awful because the pilot sits on his reserve Parachute, while the main Parachute cushions his back
fascinating video
My favorite too!! Thanks for this new upload.
Approximately fifty MEN 💪
Will Amazon deliver one to my doorstep?
If only RC ARFs can be put together this quick
So glad the cordless drill was invented
This was not unique to the P-47.
Instructions: Insert tab A into Slot B
What? Real Men do not Read Instructions!
Just glance at the pictures. Oops. No Pics.
"Hey! That looks like a propeller!
I know where that goes!
(Nylocks were used in WW2!)
OK, guys here is our shipment of 50 airplanes, get them assembled for tonight's mission, to bad it's snowing out and the ground is rock hard, and by the way when your done get back to your KP duties!
@38:38 that is called an Inertia Starter
This is my third time watching this video!
I need to find the song in the beginning
I'm actually really thankful that every comment isn't "wOw dey shure built em better back den bet u culdnt do dat wit anything theez days"
Can’t get enough of this. The US instructional and docos of this era were superb and non-sensationalist.
Ikea fighter plane be like
Quite a flatpack.
Strike that burning question off my list.
Im sure in real life half of the instructions were passed over 😆
And this is where a 109 had that handy Center Landing Gear and Glider Type Wing Mounting and Light Wings so it could be assembled by fewer people in less time.
The landing gear in the 109 was fragile and cased a great many losses. Plus a narrow undercarriage is harder to handle the aircraft on the ground.
Ever wonder why that gear design was not copied by other makers including Heinkel? Not ideal for rough field landings, narrow track and the struts were not vertical. Slinging wings on any fighter of the era wasn't difficult.
P+47's we're often used for Me+109 disassembly...
@@johnbuchman4854 and it was very good in that role
Great vid... that hand crank starter... i have no idea how that works ?
Epic!
Coming back to watch this at 2am because it’s amazing
Fabulous video. I would test fly it, sure. Its WW2. Let me at em!
Awesome