Volandia Parco e Museo del Volo Malpensa
(Volandia Park and Museum of Flight)
Milan-Malpensa Airport, Italy
June 2023
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Maurizio Longoni is inspecting the P-47D Thunderbolt in his care. |
Maurizio Longoni is Conservator of the VOLANDIA Flight Museum located at Milano Malpensa International Airport. At his disposal within the museum site is the workshop of AREA (Aeronautical REstoration Association) which undertakes any machining required. He also has many volunteers, some of which are former workers from Caproni, Siai Marchetti, Agusta and Aeromachi living in the Milan area.
Now retired and an unpaid volunteer, his passion is for old aircraft and restoring them to museum quality. Interviewed in June 2023 he reported that; "We had to replace or refurbish the whole of the undersides of the aircraft because it had been mistreated over the years as it was lifted and put on the ground with the engine installed making it heavy. Rather than re-fabricate the skin for the undersides we beat out the dents as far as possible.", adding "We wanted to keep the original sections as far as was possible, however three of the larger sections were too badly damaged along with some corrosion so we needed to make those sections from new."
Longoni's specialised expertise is rebuilding instrument panels. When the P-47 arrived the cockpit was empty, he had to find all the missing parts. "I found all the missing parts through a chain of friends that I have built over the last 30 years. I know many people from all around the world. For example, the P-47 gunsight came from the UK, the throttle came from the US, other parts were found in warehouses of the Italian Air Force Museum where most of the instruments were found. The P-47 instruments were more or less standard for the US built aircraft of this period. He admits; "We still do not have every part, missing from the cockpit still is the landing gear control lever, the flap control lever, and parts of the control stick."
I suggested that when the restoration is complete with the cockpit canopy closed, it will not be able to see his fully restored instrument panel. Longoni smiled; "But I know the cockpit will be complete. We are a museum and aircraft in a museum should be as complete as possible inside and outside."
Typically four people are working on the P-47 in the last two years over 6,000 man hours have been accrued. Volandia are funding the repair of the P-47, they get all their money from visitor ticket sales and not any public money from the state or the province.
Longoni does not know when the P-47 will be fully restored; "We are not even sure that it will go to back to Vigna di Valle, as we are not sure they have the room for it. Perhaps it will be put on display here for just one year before going elsewhere."
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