Republic P-47D Thunderbolt - Erickson Aircraft Collection - Madras, OR - Static Aircraft Displays on Waymarking.com

The Erickson Aircraft Collection relocated approximately 20 aircraft to the Madras Airport in 2014. This collection of mostly WWII vintage planes were previously housed in a military hanger at the Tillamook Air Museum (NW coastal town in Oregon).

The following verbiage is taken from the Erickson Aircraft Collection website to describe its history:

P-47D Thunderbolt

NARRATIVE

Republic Aviation’s P-47 Thunderbolt was the biggest and heaviest armed single engine American fighter of World War II. Its sturdy construction and eight 50-caliber machine guns made it equally adaptive as a ground support aircraft or as a bomber escort fighter. P-47s often demonstrated their ruggedness and dependability by returning home with combat damage that would doom any other production fighter. The early P-47 couldn’t match the overall performance of the German fighters it faced in combat, but it could, because of its massive weight, out dive any airplane in the sky. Republic enhanced its performance by improving the turbo supercharger effectiveness in the “D” model and replacing the razor back canopy configuration with the bubble type variant that gave the pilot 360 degree visibility. A total of 15,683 Thunderbolts were built,at an average cost of $96,000, more than any other single engine fighter of the war, the “D” model being most plentiful. The P-47 saw action in every theater proving itself to be a devastating low-level ground attack aircraft and versatile enough to be an effective high altitude escort fighter as well. With its bulky shape, the Jug was a monster of a machine, yet it was fast and maneuverable.

Neither the website nor the interpretive display mention how the museum acquired this aircraft.

This plane has an inventory page at Warbirdregistry.org here

Each aircraft contains its own interpretive display and I've included a picture of it which contains additional info on this aircraft.

This collection is definitely worth the visit for any aircraft enthusiast.

Type of Aircraft: (make/model): Republic P-47D Thunderbolt Tail Number: (S/N): 44-90471 Construction:: original aircraft Location (park, airport, museum, etc.): Erickson Aircraft Collection - Madras Airport inside / outside: inside Other Information:: Admission GENERAL: $9.00 SENIOR: $8.00 VETERAN: $7.00 YOUTH (6-17): $5.00 CHILD (5 and under): FREE Access restrictions: The Erickson Aircraft Collection is open to the public this summer daily from 10am to 5pm, except Monday. The Collection will be closed to the public Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.

Visit Instructions:
Photo of aircraft (required - will be interesting to see if the aircraft is ever repainted or progress if being restored)
Photo of serial number (required unless there is not one or it is a replica)
Photo(s) of any artwork on the aircraft (optional but interesting)

Tell why you are visiting this waymark along with any other interesting facts or personal experiences about the aircraft not already mentioned.

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