Roaring Glory Warbirds, Vol. 5: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

Flight Journal, Aug 1998 by Farmer, James H

Roaring Glory Warbirds, Vol. 5: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

Video may be ordered from Program Power Entertainment: (562) 621-9090; $19.95.

It was a simple enough concept-as all great ideas usually are. Put together a beautifully restored warbird classic with a capable flying host and record the event with state-of-the-art visual and equipment. The result, which offers the viewer a truly unparalleled behind-the-control column experience, has not surprisingly been a "roaring" success since the 1992 launch of the "Roaring Glory Warbirds" series.

And one has no problem seeing why when viewing this fifth edition that places founding series host/writer, the late Jeff Ethell, in the cockpit of Charles Osborn s immaculate, strikingly marked P47D Tarheel Hal. Following the series format, Jeff begins at planeside, offering a brief historic sketch of the massive fighter before beginning his informative preflight walkaround and cockpit checkout.

Soon, the P47D's giant R-2800 engine starter is energized, the 13-foot propeller begins to turn, and the engine comes to life. Oil temperature and viewer anticipation begin to rise as Jeff continues his pilot's monologue while heading for the end of the runway.

Once airborne: poetry! Never has a Thunderbolt looked so good in flight! With the production's complement of ground-to-air, air-to-air and cockpitmounted cameras, the armchair aviator is in for the ride of a lifetime! The reality of it all is heightened in no small measure by the video's Dolby Surround Sound soundtrack.

It's an experience seldom equaled on the big or small screen, and it is this very success that makes the second half of this 48-minute video so hard to take. Part two's "The Young Pilots" attempts to faithfully recreate the wartime experiences of a pair of Jug pilots, but the step backwards to 1950s filmmaking is disconcerting, at best. This reviewer found himself working hard to id disbelief, to dismiss knowledge of the production's lone P47, to reconcile the tired wartime footage with the first unit work and, most of all, to accept the low-budget technique of placing a non-flying actor in the cockpit of an obviously ground-bound Thunderbolt.

It was done better in "Wings" seven decades earlier, but then they had the entire Air Corps at their disposal.

-James H. Farmer