The North American F-82 Twin Mustang was the last American piston-engine fighter ordered into production by the United States Air Force. Based on the P-51 Mustang, the F-82 was originally designed as a long-range escort fighter in World War II; however, the war ended well before the first production units were operational.
In the postwar era, Strategic Air Command used the planes as a long-range escort fighter. Radar-equipped F-82s were used extensively by the Air Defense Command as replacements for the Northrop P-61 Black Widow as all-weather day/night interceptors. During the Korean War, Japan-based F-82s were among the first USAF aircraft to operate over Korea. The first three North Korean aircraft destroyed by U.S. forces were shot down by F-82s, the first being a North-Korean Yak-11 downed over Gimpo Airfield by the USAF 68th Fighter Squadron.
Role
Long-range escort fighter and night fighter
Manufacturer
North American Aviation
First flight
15 June 1945
Introduction
1946
Retired
1953
Primary user
United States Air Force
Number built
272
Unit cost
US$215,154[1]
Developed from
North American P-51 Mustang
Design and development
Initially intended as a very long-range (VLR) escort fighter, the F-82 was designed to escort Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers on missions exceeding 2,000 miles (3,200 km) from the Solomons or Philippines to Tokyo, missions beyond the range of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning and conventional P-51 Mustangs. Such missions were part of the planned U.S. invasion of the Japanese home islands, which was forestalled by the surrender of Japan after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the opening of Soviet attacks on Japanese-held territory in Manchuria.
In October 1943, the North American Aircraft design team began work on a fighter design that could travel over 2,000 mi (3,200 km) without refueling. It consisted of a twin-fuselage design, somewhat similar to the experimental German Messerschmitt Bf 109Z "Zwilling". Although based on the lightweight experimental XP-51F, which would later become the P-51H Mustang, it was actually an entirely new design. North American Design Chief Edgar Schmued incorporated two P-51H Mustang fuselages lengthened by the addition of a 57 in (145 cm) fuselage plug located behind the cockpit where additional fuel tanks and equipment could be installed. These were mounted to a newly designed center wing section containing the same six .50 caliber M2 Browning machine guns as a single-engine Mustang, but with more concentrated fire. The outer wings were strengthened to allow the addition of hard points for carrying additional fuel or 1,000 pounds (450 kg) of ordnance. The two vertical tails were also from the XP-51F, but incorporated large dorsal fillets for added stability in case of an engine failure. The aircraft had a conventional landing gear with both wheels retracting into bays under each fuselage center section.
The XP-82 was to be powered by two Packard-built Rolls-Royce V-1650 Merlin engines. Initially, the left engine was a V-1650-23 with a gear reduction box to allow the left propeller to turn opposite to the right propeller, which was driven by the more conventional V-1650-25. In this arrangement both propellers would turn upward as they approached the center wing, which in theory would have allowed better single-engine control. This proved not to be the case when the aircraft refused to become airborne during its first flight attempt. After a month of work North American engineers finally discovered that rotating the propellers to meet in the center on their upward turn created sufficient drag to cancel out all lift from the center wing section, one quarter of the aircraft's total wing surface area. The engines and propellers were then exchanged, with their rotation meeting on the downward turn, and the problem was fully solved. The first XP-82 prototype (44-83886) was completed on 25 May 1945, and made the type's first successful flight on 26 June 1945. This aircraft was accepted by the Army Air Forces on 30 August 1945, whose officials were so impressed by the aircraft, while still in development, that they ordered the first production P-82Bs in March 1945, fully three months before its first flight.
Prototype XP-82s, P-82Bs and P-82Es retained both fully equipped cockpits so that pilots could fly the aircraft from either position, alternating control on long flights, while later night fighter versions kept the cockpit on the left side only, placing the radar operator in the right position.
Although some P-82B airframes were completed before the end of World War II, most remained at the North American factory in California waiting for engines until 1946. As a result, none saw service during the war.
Like several versions of the P-51 Mustang, the first two prototype XP-82s as well as the next 20 P-82B models were powered by British-designed Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, built under license by Packard. These provided the fighter with excellent range and performance; however, the Army had always wanted to give the Twin Mustang a purely American and stronger engine than the foreign-designed P-51's V-1650 (built at Packard plants, dismantled after the war). In addition, the licensing costs paid to Rolls-Royce for each V-1650 were being increased by Britain after the war. It therefore negotiated in August 1945 with the Allison Division of the General Motors Corporation for a new version of the Allison V-1710-100 engine.[1] This forced North American to switch subsequent production P-82C and later models to the lower-powered engines. It was found that Allison-powered P-82 models demonstrated a lower top speed and poorer high-altitude performance than the earlier Merlin-powered versions. The earlier P-82B models were designated as trainers, while the "C" and later models were employed as fighters, making the P-82 one of the few aircraft in U.S. military history to be faster in its trainer version than the fighter version.
In 1948, the 3200th Proof Test Group at Eglin AFB, Florida, fitted the 4th F-82B Twin Mustang (44-65163) with retractable pylons under the outer wings capable of mounting 10 High-Velocity Air Rockets (HVAR) each, which folded into the wing undersurface when not in use. This installation was not adopted on later models, the standard "tree" being used instead. The 13th aircraft (44-65171). was experimentally fitted with a center wing mounted pod housing an array of recon cameras, and was assigned to the 3200th Photo Test Squadron, being designated, unofficially, the RF-82B
Record-setting
On 27 February 1947, P-82B 44-65168, named Betty Jo and flown by Colonel Robert E. Thacker, made history when it flew nonstop from Hawaii to New York without refueling, a distance of 5,051 mi (8,129 km) in 14 hr 32 min. It averaged 347.5 miles per hour (559.2 km/h). This flight tested the P-82's range. The aircraft carried a full internal fuel tank of 576 US gallons (2,180 l; 480 imp gal), augmented by four 310 US gal (1,173 l; 258 imp gal) tanks for a total of 1,816 US gal (6,874 l; 1,512 imp gal). Also, Colonel Thacker forgot to drop three of his external tanks when their fuel was expended, landing with them in New York.[3]
To this day, it remains the longest nonstop flight ever made by a propeller-driven fighter, and the fastest such a distance has ever been covered in a piston-engined aircraft (the record for the longest unrefueled flight by a propeller-driven aircraft of any type is held by the Rutan Voyager). The aircraft chosen was an earlier "B" model powered by Rolls-Royce Merlin engines (see "Survivors" below).
Retirement
The Twin Mustang had a very short operational life. About two years after its introduction to SAC, the F-82E was phased out of service in favor of the jet-powered Republic F-84E Thunderjet for bomber escort duties beginning in February 1950; the F-82Es were declared surplus by the end of the summer. Some were modified into F-82Gs and sent to Korea for combat as replacement aircraft, others were converted to F-82Hs and sent to Alaska, but most were sent to storage at Robins AFB, Georgia and ultimately reclamation.
In the Pacific, the F-82Gs flown in combat over Korea were replaced by the Lockheed F-94A Starfire starting in April 1951 with the last being sent to the Tachikawa Air Depot in early 1952. There, they were either scrapped or sent to Alaska after being modified to the F-82H configuration in Japan for cold-weather use. Air Defense Command's F-82Fs began to be replaced by F-94As in June 1951, with most being declared excess by the end of the year and were sent to storage and ultimately reclamation at McChord AFB, Washington, although a few Twin Mustangs remained in ADC service towing aerial targets.
In Alaska, attrition and a lack of spare parts led to the withdrawal of the F-82 from the USAF inventory. Initially, 16 of the 36 aircraft became hangar queens and were the main source for spare parts to keep the others operational.[9] By the spring of 1953, the number of aircraft available had dwindled to a handful, with two or three operational aircraft kept flying by cannibalizing others which were incapable of being repaired.[9] Each aircraft were flown about 48 hours per month until it was impossible to keep them in the air on a reliable basis
Ultimately, all were withdrawn from service when the lack of replacement parts made it impossible to keep the aging airframes flying. The last remaining F-82Hs were ultimately surplused and sent to Elmendorf AFB, Alaska for disposal in June 1953. The last Twin Mustang that remained in the operational inventory (46–377) was originally configured as an F-82G model that had served with two different squadrons in Okinawa and Japan. It was flown to Ladd AFB in 1952 and modified as a winterized F-82H. It was sent to Elmendorf AFB, being officially retired on 12 November 1953.
Some of the planes in storage at Robins and McChord were turned over to museums as static displays. Also after the end of their USAF service, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) acquired four surplus F-82s for research work.
Variants
NA-123
Basic Development design. The NA-123 design was presented by North American Aircraft to the USAAF in February 1944. The design for the new aircraft was for a long-range fighter to penetrate deep into enemy territory. Its immediate role would be to escort the B-29 Superfortress bombers used in the Pacific Theater of Operations against Japan. The USAAF endorsed it at once. A letter contract to construct and test four experimental XP-82 aircraft (P-82 designation) gave way in the same month to an order for 500 production models.
XP-82 / XP-82A
Prototype. The USAAF accepted the first XP-82 in August 1945 and a second one in September. Both were equipped with Packard Merlin V-1650-23 and ?25 engines. The third experimental aircraft, designated XP-82A, had two Allison V-1710-119 engines. It was accepted in October 1945. There is no evidence that the XP-82A was ever actually flown, due to problems with the Allison engines. The fourth XP-82A prototype (44-83889) was canceled.
P-82B
Planned production version. With the end of World War II, production plans were cut back significantly. Against the 500 P-82Bs initially planned, overall procurement was finalized on 7 December 1945 at 270 P-82s. Included were 20 P-82Bs already on firm order and later allocated to testing as P-82Z. The USAAF accepted all P-82Zs in fiscal year 1947. Two aircraft were accepted in January 1946, four in February 1947, and 13 in March 1947. By December 1949, no P-82Bs (by then redesignated F-82Bs) remained in the Air Force inventory. These P-82Bs were basically similar to the XP-82, but differed in having provisions for underwing racks.
P-82C
Night fighter version. A P-82B, (44-65169) modified in late 1946, for testing as a night interceptor. The P-82C featured a new nacelle (under the center wing section) housing an SCR-720 radar. The SCR-720 was the same radar installation which was carried aboard the Northrop P-61 Black Widow, a considerably larger aircraft. The right-hand cockpit became the radar operator's position. The production version was designated P-82G.
P-82D
Night fighter version. Another P-82B (44-65170) modified with a different radar, the APS-4. The APS-4 was a much smaller set than the SCR-720, and operated in the 1.18 in (3 cm) waveband. As like the P-82C, the right-hand cockpit became the radar operator's position. The production version was designated P-82F.
F-82E
Escort fighter version. The F-82E followed the F-82B, which it so closely resembled. They were equipped with two counter-rotating Allison liquid-cooled engines, V-1710-143 and V-1710-145. The first four F-82Es were redesignated as F-82As and were allocated for engine testing. After production delays by engine problems and additional testing, F-82Es entered operational service in May 1948. The Air Force accepted 72 F-82Es in fiscal year 1948 (between January and June 1948), and 24 in fiscal year 1949 (22 in July 1948, one in October, and one in December).
F-82F/G/H
Night fighter versions. A nacelle beneath the center-wing that housed radar equipment (F-82F's AN/APG28 and F-82G's SCR-720C18); automatic pilot; and a radar operator replacing the second pilot. When winterization was added to the F or G, it became an F-82H. Entered operational service in September 1948. One F-82G was accepted in fiscal year 1948 (February 1948), all other F-82s (F, G, and H models) in fiscal year 1949. The last F-82G and six winterized F-82Hs were received in March 1949.
Specifications (F-82G)
General characteristics
Crew: 2
Length: 42 ft 9 in (12.93 m)
Wingspan: 51 ft 3 in (15.62 m)
Height: 13 ft 10 in (4.22 m)
Wing area: 408 ft² (37.90 m²)
Empty weight: 15,997 lb (7,271 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 25,591 lb (11,632 kg)
Powerplant: 2 × Allison V-1710-143/145 counter-rotating liquid-cooled V12 engines, 1,380 hp takeoff (1,029 kW each) each
Performance
Maximum speed: 482 mph (400 kn, 740 km/h) at 21,000 ft (6,400 m)
Range: 2,350 mi (1,950 nmi, 3,605 km)
Service ceiling: 38,900 ft (11,855 m)
Armament
Guns: 6 × .50 in (12.7 mm) Browning M3 machine guns[24]
Rockets: 25 × 5 in (127 mm) rockets
Bombs: 4,000 lb (1,800 kg)
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Images are listed Here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_F-82_Twin_Mustang#/media/File:F-82C_Twin_Mustang_1.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_F-82_Twin_Mustang#/media/File:2d_FAWS_North_American_F-82F_Twin_Mustang_46-415.jpg
Blueprints:
http://www.the-blueprints.com/blueprints/ww2planes/ww2-north-american/46554/view/north_american_f_82_twin_mustang/
http://www.the-blueprints.com/blueprints/ww2planes/ww2-north-american/1673/view/north_american_f_82_b/
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Topic: P-82/F-82 Twin Mustang (Read 2732 times)
