The recently acquired General Electric J-47 turbo jet engine is being made ready to transport to the Perrin Air Force Base Museum. The engine was transported from Pounds Field, Tyler, Texas by Charlie Giarraputo, Dennis Foran and John Elkins, all from of Sherman, TX on December 31, 1005.
Mr. Randy Ball donated the engine to the Perrin AFB museum. He is with the Historical Aviation Memorial Museum located at Pounds Regional Airport and owns a Russian-made MiG17 he flies in national air shows.
James Farris and John Elkins worked many hours to modify an old engine trailer to accept the J-47 engine for display in the Perrin Air Force Base Museum located at Grayson County-Perrin aiport.
The J47 engines were used in many post WWII through the Vietnam war. The General Dynamics B36 Peacemaker bomber ( the largest bomber ever built) had four of the J47 engines along with six propeller driven Pratt and Whitney R4360 twenty-eight-cylinder-reciprocating engines.
The Boeing B-47 "Stratojet" six-engine-bomber of the Strategic Air Command as well as the F86 Saberjet which was used in Korea are among the many types of jet aircraft that utilized the General Electric J-47turbo-jet engine. In fact, the GE- J47 was the most produced and utilized turbo-jet engine during our jet age.
Left to right: Jordan Hanning with Jester Brother's Construction Company of Whitewright, Texas, provide lifting and transfer of J-47 turbo jet engine to a modified engine display trailer and then lifted into a transport trailer by their heavy equipment maintenance truck. The J-47 is now at the museum and making ready for public display. Museum hours are 10 am to 4 pm Monday through Friday.