Tony Riccio, a P-47 Test Pilot

Tony’s last test flight for Republic is on May 1, 1944, when he flew three P-47-D’s at their Farmingdale plant in Long Island, New York, for a total of 3 hours and 5 minutes.

I believe this set of photos are of the last flight my father had in a P-47, and he went out in style with the first-ever “P-47 selfie,” minus the sharing via social media part, of course. I also believe the aerial photos are of the runway at Martha’s Vineyard Airport and the Eastern tip of Long Island, New York, along the Montauk area. This would seem like a logical route and one that my father would be comfortable flying and enjoying his last flight in the “Jug.”

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