Replubic Aviation Timeline By faith.brown Mar 22, 1942 Republic Aviation announces airplane assembly plant adjoining the Evansville Airport Apr 6, 1942 Ground is broken for Republic Aviation plant and office May 10, 1942 Elder Brooks, an African American, is 1st local civilian death when hit by falling steel at Republic May 15, 1942 The Evansville Airport is leased to Republic Aviation for a $1 a year. Jun 10, 1942 Republic Aviation office opened, completed in 62 days by AJ Hoffman Construction Co. Sep 19, 1942 First Evansville P-47 is flown, the Hoosier Spirit At the celebration , a farmingdale Thunderbolt and a new plane from evansville, named Hoosier Spirit were flown from the crowd. Oct 25, 1942 P-47-D aircraft assembly line begins operation; P-47-D model production will run for 32 months Dec 7, 1942 Japanese attack Pearl Harbor Jan 3, 1943 Modification Center begins operation Apr 15, 1943 P-47s entering combat in England-Europe Apr 27, 1943 President Roosevelt visits city, tours Republic Aviation, sees shipyard & ordinance by train Jul 16, 1943 5 Thunderbolts have a “private” air show for Republic Aviation employees Sep 1, 1943 Lt. Herbert Fields, a brave man, is first to fly his P-47 carrying a bomb, it worked just fine Oct 1, 1943 Republic increases production 300% from previous July, absenteeism was a factor Dec 7, 1943 1,000th Evansville P-47 is completed, named the “Tojo Special” Dec 31, 1943 Republic Aviation Corp has highest fighter production totals of all US aircraft plants: Evansville has the highest efficiency Jan 23, 1944 P-47s now flying with 2 1,000-pound bombs attached Feb 1, 1944 Republic Aviation has a backlog of 275 P-47s stored on airport grass field areas Feb 18, 1944 Backlog of P-47s back to normal as vast ferry movement has taken place, 60 pilots on this day Mar 12, 1944 P-47 loses power over field and glides between tree and house, avoiding serious injury to anyone Apr 15, 1944 International Harvester (IH) buys Republic Aviation Plant for $5,648,000 (date approximate) Apr 28, 1944 Republic Aviation wins 1st E-Award May 1, 1944 P-47s chance to bubble canopy May 3, 1944 Two P-47s bump wings and crash near Inglefield north of airport, no injuries May 18, 1944 2,000th Evansville P-47 completed (this was the day it was announced) Jul 1, 1944 2,000th Evansville P-47 completed (this was the day it was announced) Aug 11, 1944 3,000th Evansville P-47 completed (this was the day it was announced) Aug 24, 1944 Walter Cockroft, age 17, killed at Republic Aviation by walking into spinning propeller Sep 19, 1944 Republic Aviation Corporation completes 10,000 and 10,001 P-47s at NY and Evansville Plants Oct 17, 1944 Republic Aviation wins 2nd E-Award Nov 1, 1944 Modification builds water-cooled XP-47with water cooled Chrysler Engine Dec 1, 1944 Re-tooling underway to build engine cowlings for B-29 Superfortresses Dec 3, 1944 12/3/1944 4,000th Evansville P-47 completed, employment is at 8,300 people Jan 11, 1945 Republic announces cost reduction of one P-47 from $68,750 to $45,600 from 1942 to 1945 Feb 1, 1945 Famed south Pacific P-47 fighter “The Jackie” returns home to Evansville plant for 2 week display Mar 18, 1945 5,000th Evansville P-47 completed, the “Grandiana”, man-hours cut from 23,000 to 6,300 per P-47 Mar 18, 1945 Tornado hits city. Damages several p-47s, warps tails & breaks a hundred blue window panes May 24, 1945 Republic Aviation wins 3rd E-Award Jun 18, 1945 Test pilot Wm Moose was killed as he crashed his P-47 into field 3 miles SW of New Harmony Jun 21, 1945 1st Evansville P-47-N model is flown, change-over was smooth without any lines shutdown Jul 15, 1945 6,000th Evansville P-47 completed (this was the day it was announced) Jul 21, 1945 Republic Aviation Corporation completes its 15,000th P-47 Aug 20, 1945 Republic Aviation announces closure of Evansville Plant Sep 7, 1945 Republic Aviation plant is offered for sale or lease Sep 11, 1945 Employment at the Evansville plant is at 250 people Sep 27, 1945 The last P-47 is flown from Evansville plant, it was the 6,670 P-47 Oct 11, 1945 14 P-47s given to regional schools and colleges, without guns and radios, wings were also offered Jan 4, 1946 International Harvester (IH) buys Republic Aviation Plant for $5,648,000 (date approximate) May 17, 1946 The IH Plant still contains equipment used in P-47 production by RA, Servel & Hoosier Cardinal Sep 27, 1955 International Harvester sells plant and facilities to Whirlpool-Seeger Dec 5, 1956 Whirlpool Seeger is the largest city employer at 5,800 mostly in the former Republic Aviation plant
