Republic Aviation Timeline By kaylee.ricketts Period: Jan 1, 1941 to Dec 31, 1946 World War II Dec 7, 1941 Japanese Attack Pearl Harbor 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 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 Sep 19, 1942 First Evansville P-47 is flown Oct 25, 1942 P-47-D aircraft assembly line begins operation Jan 3, 1943 Modification Center begins operation Apr 15, 1943 P-47s entering combat in England Europe Apr 27, 1943 President Roosevelt visits city Jul 16, 1943 5 thunderbolts have a "private" air show for Rupublic Aviation employees Sep 1, 1943 Lt. Herbert Fields is first to fly his P-47 carrying a bomb Oct 1, 1943 Republic increases production 300% from previous July Dec 7, 1943 1/000th Evansville P-47 is completed Dec 31, 1943 Republic Aviation Corp has highest fighter production totals of all US aircraft plants 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 Mar 12, 1944 P-47 loses power over field and glides between tree and house Apr 15, 1944 Republic Aviation has open house for 25,000 employees and family members Apr 28, 1944 Republic Aviation wins 1st E-Award May 1, 1944 P-47s chance to bubbly canopy May 3, 1944 Two P-47s bump wings and crash near Inglefield north of airport May 18, 1944 2,000th Evansville P-47 completed Jul 1, 1944 Modification builds two 2-seat P-47s for training use Aug 11, 1944 3,000th Evansville P-47 completed Aug 24, 1944 Walter Cockroft 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-47 with water cooled Chrysler Engine Dec 1, 1944 Re-tooling underway to build engine cowlings for B-29 Superfortress Dec 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 $68,000 to $45,000 Feb 1, 1945 Famed south Pacific P-47 fighter "The Jackie" returns home to Evansvilleplamt for 2 week display Mar 18, 1945 5,oooth Evansville P-47 completed, the "Grandiana", man-hours cut from 23,000 to 6,300 per P-47 Mar 18, 1945 Tornado hits city Jun 18, 1945 Republic Aviation wins 3rd E-Award Jul 15, 1945 6,000th Evansville P-47 completed Jul 21, 1945 1st Evansville P-47-N model is flown 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 250 people Sep 27, 1945 The last P-47 is flown from Evansville plant Oct 11, 1945 14 P-47s given to regional schools and colleges Jan 4, 1946 International Harvester buys Republic Aviation Plant for $5,648,000 May 17, 1946 The IH Plant still contains equipment used in P-47 production by RA, Servel & Hoosier Cardinal Sep 27, 1955 IH sells plant and facilities to Whirlpool-Seeger Dec 5, 1956 Whirlpool-Seeger is the largest city employer at 5,800
