P-47D 'Nellie B' Display – Abingdon 5th May 2019

It’s always made me cackle when we get the threads about fast-looking aircraft, and might one have got through the sound barrier before Yeager etc etc etc. Fastest aircraft in the ETO in 1945… P47M/N (can’t recall exactly which) – aerodynamics of a wall!

Adrian

A great clip, thanks for sharing. What strikes me, among all the other things already mentioned, is the length of the display and the successive vertical elements. I’m very much not a pilot but it’s amazing to see a warbird being flown in such a way that it doesn’t seem to run out of steam as the display goes on. A very dynamic display, love it.

It was indeed Ben doing the commentary. There was a fantastic and very comprehensive overview of the history of this Thunderbolt pre and post crash (in its original form) in Warbird Digest a couple of issues ago along with the reason for the engine failure that caused the crash and the background to the ferry flight itself. Something I had never read or heard about in all my years around Warbirds.

Sounds like Ben Dunnell to me.

It was indeed…

Mostly P-47N fuselage from a technical college with parts from original N47DD wreck (rebuilt as the static aircraft for the IWM) and the wings from South America according to Geoff Goodall’s site.

I must dig out my old FlyPast’s as I seem to recall she was built using an ‘M’ fuselage and the ‘D’ wings frkm the crash.

Sounds like Ben Dunnell to me.

Who was the commentator at Abingdon….did a great job.

What a fabulous lump!! long may she stay in the UK!

Was there also to witness…superb display. What a pilot Richard Grace is. That dive and approach to open really demonstrated the P47’s power and weight!