Aeroplane – June 2018

AEROPLANE JULY 2018 http://www.aeroplanemonthly.com 17

SPECIAL REPORT

generated money for the Air

Force Assistance Fund, which

supports four different charities

providing assistance to USAF

airmen and their families who

fi nd themselves in need.

Joining the Thunderbolt was

Anglia Aircraft Restorations’

Spitfi re Vc EE602/G-IBSY,

representing a type fl own by

many American pilots in the UK

both in the RAF’s Eagle

Squadrons and US Army Air

Forces units. The historic

fi ghters were fl own in by Stu

Goldspink and Richard Grace

respectively.

Selecting a 492nd FS scheme

for the P-47 creates a very

pleasing link with the modern-

day USAF presence in East

Anglia. Fighter Aviation

Engineering’s Graham Peacock

said, “It was very diffi cult to

fi nd any photographs of the

squadron. We eventually found

some bits of photographs,

some of the front, some of the

back, and we were able to put

it together. [The aircraft] arrived

two weeks ago from the States

in a shipping container, so we

stripped all the paint off it,

repainted it in these colours,

put it back together and fl ew it

for the fi rst time on Friday.”

G-THUN was last in the UK

from 1986 to 2006, when it was

operated by The Fighter

Collection at Duxford in 78th

Fighter Group/82nd Fighter

Squadron colours with the

name No Guts — No Glory!

The 1945-built fi ghter served

only briefl y with the Army Air

Forces, and for rather longer

with the Peruvian Air Force,

prior to its sale during 1969

into civilian hands. Registered

N47DD, it went through the

hands of numerous US owners

until its acquisition by TFC.

Fittingly, the P-47 will now be

partly based at Duxford once

again. It will divide its time

between the Cambridgeshire

LEFT: Members of the 492nd FS,

known as the ‘Madhatters’, in

relaxed mood on the May Day

Bank Holiday Monday during the

heritage shoot with the P-47.

Joining the Thunderbolt are an

F-15C Eagle (left) of the 493rd

FS, also part of Lakenheath’s

48th Fighter Wing, and a 494th

FS F-15E. GLENN STANLEY/COAP

A fl yby over Lakenheath by the P-47 in company with Anglia Aircraft

Restorations’ Spitfi re Vc EE602. USAF

airfi eld and Sywell, where Air

Leasing will provide

engineering support.

The aircraft made its return

to the UK airshow circuit on the

weekend of 19-20 May, when

Stu Goldspink piloted it at the

new Midlands Air Festival

staged at Ragley Hall,

Warwickshire. A busy

programme of appearances is

planned for the summer.

Ben Dunnell

The Thunderbolt touching down at Duxford, its former home and now

— in part — its current one. MIKE SHREEVE

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