EVANSVILLE, Ind (WEHT) After two days of less than ideal weather preventing the P-47 Thunderbolt from coming home to Evansville, Tarheel Hal is back in Evansville.
The plane left Houston, TX Saturday morning and stopped to refuel in Little Rock, AR before continuing the journey home to Evansville. The plane had a little trouble in Little Rock, but everything was up and running again and Tarheel Hal was back in the sky, just a little later than planned.
The plane arrived and flew over the downtown riverfront around 3:20 p.m. before landing at Tri State Aero. Tarheel Hal will have a permanent home at the Evansville Wartime Museum.
Tarheel Hal was one of the over 6600 P-47s made in Evansville during World War Two but Tri-State resident Warren Reynolds estimates says only about a half dozen of the planes still exist.
Evansville Wartime Museum Chairman Richard Kuhn says Evansville residents have tried on and off to get a P-47 since the end of the war, but the process to get Tarheel Hal took about four years. Kuhn adds the P-47 was one of the most feared planes the Americans had during the war for its ability to destroy tanks, railroads, and bridges.
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(This story was originally published on October 17, 2020)
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