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Road to Top Gun — Captain Ralph Espisito and his Brazilian Thunderbolt

GSNadmin

Staff member
Coming from Sao Paulo, Brazil, Ralph Esposito will be competing in the Expert class this year with his impressive P-47D Thunderbolt. Ralph says: “Very few people know that the Brazilian Air Force fought against the Axis in Italy using P-47 Thunderbolts given to them by the United States. I always wanted to model one of those flying machines and, after some research, discovered that the Brazilian Air Force museum in Rio de Janeiro had the only flyable, original P-47 from WW2. I have decided to model this P-47 squadron number B4”.

Ralph started with a giant scale Top Flite Gold Edition P-47D kit and it took five months to complete. He modified it slightly to match the museum bird which is painted in the colors of of Lieutenant Dornelles . It is 75-inches long and has a wingspan of 85 inches. The plane weights 21 lbs and is powered by a DLE 61cc gas engine turning a 4-bladed Biela prop. Ralph also scratch built the cockpit details, and the bomb release mechanisms for the fuselage and wing panels.

The Radio is a brand new JR 14e and the retracts are the new Robart electric-operated units. The model is painted will custom colors mixed by Ralph to match the full-size planes scheme and tone. Some of the Insignias are decals and some are hand painted



Captain Ralph’s day job is as an airline captain flying Boeing 767’s for UPS Airlines (27 years).


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