Aircraft History
Built by Republic at in Farmingdale, NY. Delivered to the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) as P-47D-11-RE Thunderbolt serial number 42-75284. Disassembled and shipped overseas to the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) and reassembled.

Wartime History
Assigned to the 5th Air Force. No known nickname or nose art.

Wartime History
This P-47 was scrapped at Finschafen and buried into a large pit.

Wreckage
During 2002, this aircraft was reportedly dug up by an Australian group known as '75 Squadron' (no association with the RAAF or 75 Squadron) while the group was recovering aircraft scrap from Finschafen Airfield.

This aircraft was containered at Lae, and shipped as cargo to Australia. Unloaded at Melbourne, this and other wreckage was transported by road on city streets during Melbourne morning rush hour traffic and identified as P-38s and P-47s by many drivers. Containered with P-38J "Jandina III" 42-103988 and P-38F 42-12652 and three Thunderbolts: this aircraft plus P-47D 42-8074 and P-47D 42-22521.

Shipped to Westpac Restorations in Rialto, California. During 2003-2004, this wreckage was stored at their facility during 2003-2004. At the time, details on this aircraft were unknown due to non-disclosure agreement with the owner/client Paul Allen / Flying Heritage Collection.

This recovery was cited as an illegal recovery in the PNG Government Public Accounts Committee Report in 2006.

Current whereabouts today are unknown, likely moved to Paul Allen / Flying Heritage Collection in Arlington, WA.

References
USAF Serial Number Search Results - P-47D-11-RE Thunderbolt 42-75284
Aeroplane Monthly "Buried Thunderbolts to Fly Again" May 2004
Warbirds International "Out of the Pit" by Michael O'Leary May 2004

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Last Updated
November 9, 2019