OUR RESTORATIONS & PROJECTS

OUR RESTORATIONS & PROJECTS

WE’RE WWII AIRCRAFT FABRICATORS, CRAFTSMEN, & ARTISTS

RETURNING SOME OF THE RAREST PIECES OF AMERICAN HISTORY TO THE AIR

It’s safe to say that the aircraft we restore are a good representation of what we love to do – resurrect historic aircraft of any condition and turn them into period correct works of art that are meant to be flown.

P-47D-23 Razorback

This P-47D-23 RA served in the Southwest Pacific. It was abandoned at Dobodura Airfield on Papua New Guinea in 1944. Later it was recorded as sitting in the yard of a house in Popondetta, the capital of Oro province in northern Papua New Guinea…

P-47 Thunderbolt Restoration
P-51 Thunderbird Racer

P-51C Thunderbird

As the cobalt blue P-51C Thunderbird streaked across the 1949 Cleveland Air Race finish line with Joe DeBona in the pilot’s seat, the staggering average speed of 470 miles per hour set a Bendix record for piston airplanes. The Bendix race winner, owned by celebrity & WWII bomber pilot Jimmy Stewart, weighed just 6223 lbs and raced on a special mix of 150 octane gasoline produced by General Petroleum Company. Thunderbird was finished with 48 coats of primers and the iconic gloss cobalt blue paint.

Piper L-4H Grasshopper

44-79780 was accepted by the Army Air Force on June 13, 1944. It was crated and shipped from the Piper factory in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania to Philadelphia, where it was loaded on a ship bound for Naples, Italy. Once in Italy the Grasshopper was assigned to the 12th Army Air Force, Army Ground Forces on June 30, 1944.

Piper L-5 Restoration
"aeroprints.com, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons"

Beechcraft AT-10 Wichita

An AT-10 is an advanced multi engine trainer produced by Beechcraft beginning deliveries in February of 1942. Because they were mostly wood, only one complete AT-10 exists worldwide at this time…

P-51B Shillelagh

Shillelagh flew an incredible 95 WWII missions with the 353rd Fighter Squadron 354th Fighter Group in the European Theater of Operations (ETO). Nicknamed after an Irish club, Shillelagh / Shillelaugh (two different nose art spellings) embarked on an dizzying array of missions that included dive bombing, escort missions to Berlin, beach patrols over Normandy, scrambles, fighter sweeps, assaults, and patrols. Follow this incredible P-51B restoration and return to flight through Wings of the North Air Museum with the support of the Ken & Betty Dahlberg Foundation.

Miss Kitty III Premier P-51D Mustang

North American P-51D 44-73437 received the paint scheme of ‘Miss Kitty III’, USAAF 75th Fighter Squadron, 23rd Fighter Group, based in the China-Burma-India Theatre during World War Two. This immaculate Mustang, which was restored by Casey, Haley, and Brady Odegaard, Odegaard Wings, and AirCorps Aviation, first flew in 2019.

P-51C Lope’s Hope the 3rd

Lope’s Hope 3rd was a  P-51C flown by Lt. Donald Lopez.  Donald and Lope’s Hope 3rd served in the China-Burma-India theater with the 14th Air Force, 23rd Fighter Group, 75th Squadron.  The 23rd Fighter Group was the descendent of the famous American Volunteer Group or Flying Tigers after the US entered the war…

P-51D “Sierra Sue II”

Sierra Sue II is a World War II combat veteran P-51D-20NA. She was in very nearly original configuration at the beginning of the restoration.  No “jump seat” behind the regular pilot seat has ever been installed. We believe the airframe was one of the most intact, original P-51s known…

Stearman BU.NO. 3347

This particular Stearman N2S-1 Bureau Number 3347, Serial Number 75-1124 is one of five known to still exist that were flown by President George Herbert Walker Bush as a cadet in the Navy.  He flew her in training in the cold Minnesota winter at Wold- Chamberlain Airfield…

Zero restoration by aircorps aviation

A6M-2 ZERO

The iconic symbol of Japanese aviation during WWII, a Navy Type Zero Carrier based fighter designed by Mitsubishi. Allies referred to the nimble and maneuverable fighter as “Zeke” while facing off against it in the China India Burma (CBI) Theater and throughout the Pacific…

Harvard Mark IV 405

The Harvard series of trainers were British Commonwealth Air Forces versions of the North American Aviation AT-6 Texan trainer used during and after World War II. North American delivered its first Harvards in October 1938 to the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).

redtail p51 restoration

P-51C Red Tail CA

The famous Red Tail P-51C, one of the most important educational tools of the Commemorative Air Force, sustained damage during a wheels-up landing in Dallas on February 3rd, 2016. It is very satisfying for those of us at AirCorps Aviation to be able to say she is back in the air…

P51-D Twilight Tear

Twilight Tear is a war veteran P-51D-20, AAF serial number 44-63384. She was delivered to the 78th Fighter Group, 83rd Squadron at Duxford, England. This Mustang is restored in her original color scheme used by Pilot Lt. Hubert Davis, squadron code HL-W. Twilight Tear is named for a race horse…

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