Ex Austria Lakebed recovery P47 first flight

Fascinating stuff John, I knew Dottie Mae was special but had no idea just how special. Thank you for sharing all this.

Watching from afar, it has been amazing to see the original veterans that were involved with “Dottie Mae” during WWII be reunited with this aircraft ever since it was recovered. The aircraft’s original assigned pilot, Larry Kuhl, was reunited with the aircraft for the first time in 2006, and has continued to follow the progress on the restoration to this day. The aircraft’s original armorer, Leonard Hitchman, pilot Ralph VanKerhove (who flew the aircraft on one of his 19 missions), and family members of the aircraft’s original crew chief, E. A. Bergstrom, have all been by to see the aircraft in person over the past few years and have their stories recorded.

Although the aircraft was assigned to Larry Kuhl, and it was named after his wife at the time, the aircraft within the squadron were often shared by various pilots. Henry Mohr was the pilot flying “Dottie Mae” on May 8, 1945, his 15th mission with the 511th FS, when it hit the water of Lake Traun and quickly sank to the bottom. He was rescued by some Austrian locals just moments before drowning. I don’t believe Henry Mohr ever visited the aircraft, but he was aware of the recovery. On that day, the entire squadron was flying at low altitude, and Mohr, having to break from formation to miss a smoke stack, was in the process of rejoining the formation when the prop struck the water, and went in at about 230mph. After WWII, Mohr served in the USAAF for quite some years, flying the P-51, F-80, B-26 Invader, and B-45 Tornado.

It is a great time to re-watch the National Geographic documentary about the recovery of “Dottie Mae”, that aired on TV here in the US several years ago. This was produced/taped prior to Jack Croul/Allied Fighters purchasing the aircraft, and commencing the restoration at Vintage Airframes (which began in 2009):
Part1: https://www.facebook.com/254129241462297/videos/476209009254318/
Part2: https://www.facebook.com/254129241462297/videos/476199902588562/
Part3: https://www.facebook.com/254129241462297/videos/476190192589533/

A great video of “Dottie Mae’s” original pilot and armorer reunited in front of the aircraft and sharing old stories from the war:
https://www.facebook.com/254129241462297/videos/313104172231470/

Hi All,
Congratulations to all the team members involved in the project, their tireless efforts have resulted in an airworthy aircraft that will be viewed by many at
all her air-show appearances over the future life she now has WELLDONE ALL!! :eagerness::applause::cool:

Geoff.

J Boyle,
I’m not suggesting that every find be preserved as is. I love seeing airworthy restorations, even more so to such a high standard.
Something that has occurred in the past, is that non airworthy parts (such as original Luftwaffe painted skins for example), have been disposed of
to protect the provenance of the rebuild.
It is vital that safety is paramount. Non airworthy parts need to be replaced. If there is a way to preserve non airworthy bits for historical reference
without threatening the provenance of the rebuild then I see that as a win win.
As John Terrell mentioned, thoroughly documenting, what stays and what gets replaced is an effective way of protecting that provenance.

Andy

Looks fantastic!

Excellent news,as any pilot would say,”The best thing is to see & here her in her natural environment”.
FLYING:eagerness:

Good reply John, I had missed the background to this epic project, so much has been learned and the skills up dated when P47 work is needed.

The simple fact is if aircraft are preserved in “as found” condition, the world’s population airworthy Spitfires (and other types…the most obvious is the Mosquito) would be a fraction of what it is.

So you have a choice, either a bunch of Loch Ness Wellington-type displays seen knobby the relative few who go to museums, or a living, breathing memorial (albeit with modern bits) to be seen and appreciated in its natural element.

I don’t know how widely this restoration has been followed, but for those that don’t know, you might be interested to learn that the owner, Jack Croul, is a WWII combat-vet himself. He served as a lead navigator in the 96th BG, flying aboard B-17’s for 33 missions. He has been responsible for two P-51D restorations (flying), a P-38 restoration (flying – for which he still owns), and an F6F Hellcat currently under restoration to fly, at Vintage Aiframes, the same shop that has restored “Dottie Mae”.

Thanks John. Great example.
One that I am thinking of is the Robs Lamplough 109E being rebuilt at MeierMotors.
Very little will be airworthy.
Document everything, retain original parts for display and historical reference, while keeping the provenance of the airworthy rebuild.

Andy

Andy, just a quick mention to say that the first project that comes to mind like it, is “Glacier Girl”. The processes of restoration and preservation between the two, and end results (amount of original material in the aircraft, and amount of original material preserved/conserved outside the aircraft) seem to be just about identical. As I recall, Vintage Airframes/Allied Fighters went about documenting the restoration of this aircraft in such a way too, that if anyone restores the aircraft again in the future, they’ll know every part that is original or had to be replaced (I know the same was done with the restoration of “Sierra Sue II” (which, in its case, even has a number of original 1944 skins, besides all that remains original inside)) – something you usually only think of happening at a national museum.

Thanks John T.
I always appreciate the depth of knowledge and expertise that you share.
This restoration really is a new “high bar”.
I’d like to see Dottie Mae displayed with all of her original, non airworthy parts preserved.
Keeping the airworthy machine along with these parts could be a way of ever creating any challenge to provenance.
I’m thinking of other rebuilds in which a large amount of original bits are binned to protect provenance.

Thoughts anyone?

Andy

The original skins, for the most part, had too much corrosion to be re-used. At one point, they were going to keep some of the skins and age all of the new skins to match, but obviously eventually it was just decided to use all new skins. The inner structure of the aircraft faired quite well, however, and a good amount of the interior structure is original, with perhaps the greatest exception being the carry-through spars of the fuselage – in various places/assemblies, it is said that there is anywhere from 75-95% original parts. Wherever possible, if they needed to replace a part, they tried to use a NOS part first, or an original second-hand part, before having to re-manufacture a new one. I recall that even much of the landing gear assemblies/castings are original, and perhaps most amazingly, the plexiglass bubble canopy you see on the aircraft is the original canopy.

Although they had wanted to restore and refit the original engine, it was too far gone, but I believe the restored magnetos and some other accessory items are original to the aircraft (the nose case of the original engine was made of magnesium, and had deteriorated so badly that much the nose case (where the important engine data plate is located too) and the entire prop assembly separated when the aircraft was recovered). The original engine, as in other parts of the aircraft that were better thought of as to preserve than restore (such as the skins containing the original nose art), were cleaned-up and have been conserved for display purposes. According to the project guidelines at the start, every part of the aircraft was to be documented during the restoration – each part recorded as whether it was original, NOS-factory, or new-manufacture, etc. The engine that is fitted came from Anderson Aeromotive, and of course was built/finished in all of the original factory finishes/details. According to the research done by Mark Sheppard, the restored turbocharger unit had originally only been fitted to “Dottie Mae” for about a week prior to the accident on May 8, 1945, that sent it to the bottom of Lake Traun – it had been replaced on May 1st, after a round had entered/damaged the previous turbo that was fitted (where as there were some patches found around the aircraft from combat damage (including some flak fragments found in the airframe), a few shrapnel holes were found in the stainless turbocharger shroud, not yet repaired). The aircraft flew 93 combat missions in total, with at least 3 aircraft documented as destroyed on the ground to its credit (though by the time of the aircraft crashing, it only had two “kill” markings painted on, with some indication of a third being penciled on). It is considered the last USAAF fighter lost on a combat mission in the ETO, and is the only WWII combat-vet P-47 flying today.

I like to refer to “Dottie Mae” as the “Sierra Sue II” of P-47 restorations (“Sierra Sue II” being the most authentic Mustang restoration to-date), as they share a commonality in both being restored to the highest level of authenticity/accuracy yet achieved, and with matching historical/authentic details (both are 9th AF combat-vets as well). Like “SSII”, “Dottie Mae” has all of the original production details, as found, reproduced – including the original Alcoa and Reynolds Aluminum watermarks on the skins and ribs, all of the original factory worker pencil marks, graffiti and stamps reproduced as found/recorded, all of the skins where spot welding occurred have the marks of being acid-washed (original factory process), of course all of the original-type primers/paints where used, and the rivets were made to original spec with the original factory multi-colored finishes – depending on where you look on the aircraft, you’ll find silver, yellow, blue and red rivets, as per original. (As the restored P-51D “Sierra Sue II” just edges above the earlier restored P-51D “Upupa Epops” in some details, the restored P-47D “Dottie Mae” also just edges above the earlier restored P-47D “Tallahassee Lassie” in some details – all four restorations, however, are very comparable/much alike, and represent the finest in fully-researched, “impossibly-authentic” restorations.) All of the artwork that was applied in the field has been re-applied, accurately, by brush, as it was done originally. The original, colorful nose art on the port-side cowls will be reproduced/added soon.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that she’ll be brought to Airventure Oshkosh next month – of the events they had/have been asked about attending this year, it is the only one they haven’t denied. ; )

The machine could have been recovered and rebuilt using a large amount of original material . However there are very few collectors who would go down that route. There have been few examples where aircraft have been recovered and preserved without long term issues with corrosion.

Beyond all praise. Its return to flight will give an educational essay to, hopefully, future generations.

Its a difficult one – in order to conserve it as an artefact, it would have to be gone through anyway to treat corrosion and so on. I think, on balance, if it was a unique survivor, I would agree. In this case, where the P47 is relatively well known and understood, I don’t think it matters so much, and if you look at the work they have done on this aircraft, it is to an extremely high standard, and it well represents an aircraft straight from the production line.

Another amazing restoration. Personal memories associated with the rarity of airworthy warbirds in the 70s-80s, results in a instinctive cognitive bias in favour of flyers recreated from wrecks. In recent years I consider more carefully the loss of wrecks as historical artefacts when they are rebuilt, with all that loss of originality. I wish this aircraft was displayed in the condition in which it was recovered.