Home at Last: WWII Fighter Plane Lands Back on Intrepid

It was a workhorse and the most frequently flown aircraft to alight from the flight deck of the Intrepid during World War II. But it had been more than 70 years since a WWII-era FG-1D Corsair fighter plane sat on the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid. Now the venerable bomber is back home. As of late last month, the public can see a newly restored FG Corsair on display at the Intrepid Museum.

The brand-new addition to the museum, located on Pier 86 in the Hudson River at West 46th Street, is part of a donation-based permanent exhibit with never-before-seen artifacts. The donations come from former crew members and their families and make up the bulk of the new exhibit: diverse uniforms, crew gear, medals, and new video testimonials from former sailors and crew.

It’s been a long journey for the intrepid fighter. The Corsair had been hanging in a gallery for over four decades in a different museum, the Naval History and Heritage Command in Washington, DC. “For the last 40 years, people haven’t been touching it,” Peter Torraca, manager of aircraft restoration said, noting the quality of the plane. The Corsairs made their wartime debut in 1944. “This was essentially the Ferrari of airplanes when it came out. It’s a legendary machine,” said Torraca.

“My job was to take what was brought here and do the necessary work to make it what it is now,” Torraca explained. There was comparatively very little for the restoration manager to actually fix, despite the fact that it took four months to fully restore. “It was mostly cosmetic,” he said, pointing to the new paint job.

Surviving Corsair models are hard to find. There are only about seven complete models still in existence. One of them is now back home, sitting in the hangar bay just the way it did during WWII.

This particular plane belonged to an ace pilot, Alfred Lerch. On his first combat mission during the Battle of Okinawa, Lerch took off from the flight deck of USS Intrepid and became “an ace in a day,” shooting down seven Japanese aircraft. It was the first and only time Lerch encountered fighters from the Empire of Japan. For his actions, the 21-year-old Lerch was awarded the Navy Cross.

”We’ve been looking for one of these since we opened,” said Kate Good, associate curator of Aerospace.

The process of getting the Corsair took a year from start to finish, including paperwork, logistics, restoration, and installation. “It’s been a dash to get this through restoration,” said Good. “Getting it painted how we wanted, even getting it inside!”

While the Corsair takes center stage, the exhibit offers much more. Among the new artifacts on display are personal effects of sailors and soldiers, a fighter pilot’s log book, and a notification-of-death telegram from Western Union. Also included are military medals, uniforms of officers, marines, and sailors, alongside the helmets and flight suits of fighter pilots from WWII through the Vietnam War.

“It was a key component of this exhibition to make the content and the artifacts accessible,” said Danielle Swanson, director of Collections. More interpretation and information about how the ship was built have been included in the new exhibit. Along with these improvements is the addition of Braille on the many placards.

“What we wanted to achieve with this exhibition was to give people a deeper understanding of Intrepid history,” said Jessica Williams, head curator. “It’s a combination of focusing on both the technology of the ship but also much more about the crew who lived and worked here.”

The new exhibit opened to the public in late March. Tickets can be found on the website for USS Intrepid.