Speech presented by
Mr. A. Kartvell to the Vlsltlng Pilots of the p-47.
The P-4? because
will always have a soft spot in rny heart. Not onry
it was a very irnportant
weapon
in winnlng the war, nor because
it was tJ:e flrst large business transaction Republic
had. and which
put us
in line wlth the rnajor aircraft companies but rnostly because it was a great engineerlng challenge. It presented a problern whlch we had to solve rapidly, efficiently and under very strenuous conditions. we had to produce a fighter plane very rnuch superior to its
predecessor, the P-35i flying much faster, rnuch higher, farther and at the sElrne tirne rrtore stable, rnore rnaneuverable, carrying rnore poweri:
ful arrnarnent and all this at a low price
and
in the shortest possible time.
.
The problern was, indeed, a d.ifficult
one. The rnost cornplex
part of it was to push the speed of the airplane frorn 300 rnph to 400 Today
Tnn.
lt seerns to be slow, but at that tirne it was a darlng achievernent.
By increaslng the speed 301o, we were entering a new region of aerod.ynarnLcs, where the cornpresslbility of air had rnuch to say and was governing the main design features of the airplane - lts speed, stability,
distribution of air loadsr flutter vibration, etc. These phenornena were very litt1e known at that tlme
and. we had
to proceed by trial and. error and
do tlre job very quickly under trernendous wartlrne pressllre.
-z Republ.ic engineers put
-
thelr heads together and with the
asslstance of NACA and the Air Force, produced th.e airplane known as the P-47 'We
or rrThe Jug.rr were very fortunate to have as Project Offlcer, the very
e{ficient, cornpetent and one of the toughest young offtcers, Mark Bradley.
Lt. General Bradley was then just Gaptaln tsradl.ey -
and boy was he
tough.
But engineering and producing an airplane, however new and cornplex, is after all a straight forward proposition. It requ{res knowledge, e>rperience perspicacity and hard work. llowever, ftghting the
war is a rnuch rnore difficult and dangerous job. It takes courage, self sacrifice and heroisrn. A rnachine in itself has no soul. It is the pilot who glves the soul to the rnachine.
It is to the tJrousands of young pilots, who flew the P-47 who fought, suffered. and sorne of whorn lost their
for the P-47 belongs.
'We
and
lives, that full credit
are very happy indeed that our call to celebrate
the 20th annlversary of the first flight of the P-47 has received such an enthusiastic response. This proves that the rnen who flew this airplane also have a soft spot for it ln their hearts. It rnakes the good o1d P-4?
a glorious rnerrrory of a trernendous effort our country has put up 2O years ago
for the cause of freed.orn.
-3An englneering job ls neyer cornpleted. witlrout a thorough e>qrerirnental
test. In our business it rneans flight test. f'light test-
ing of a new advanced airplane is a very cornplicated, llazardous business wlth very great responsibillty. It requlres a thorough understand.ing of
flying, courage, a sense of responsibility and, last but not
least, the confidence in the rnen who designed the alrplane. "We
were very fortunate, lndeed, that on
}v/Lay
2,
1941 we had
with us a rnan of exceptional ability to whorn this tast was assigned.. My frlend, Lowery Brabharn or rrBrabrt as we all know hirn, was the rnan who perforrned
it
weIL
all the f1lght tests in the original P-47. He dld
in a slncere, unassurning way and his judgernent, experience and
advico were invaluable in solving rnany fundarnental problerns of this
airplane. In addition to this, hls slmple phllosophy, his faith in his fellow engineers and hls keen sense of hurnor were indispensable and a
very healthy boost to our strenuous work. Gentlernen, I give you Mr. Lowery Brabharn, the rnan who
made the
flrst flight ln a P-47.