North American F-82 Twin Mustang

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.Like most 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, re-engineered for increased durability and mass-production, and 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).The 13th aircraft 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.[5] On 27 February 1947, P-82B, 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.During World War II, the P-51 Mustang had escorted Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers from bases in England and Southern Italy to targets in Nazi-occupied Europe.[8] The F-82E had a range of over 1,400 mi (2,300 km), which meant that with external fuel tanks it could fly from London to Moscow, loiter for 30 minutes over the target, and return, the only American fighter which could do so.The first production F-82Es reached the 27th in early 1948, and almost immediately the group was deployed to McChord AFB, Washington, in June, where its squadrons stood on alert on a secondary air defense mission due to heightened tensions over the Berlin Airlift.Decommissioned F-61 Black Widow external tanks were found at Hamilton AFB, California, which could be modified for the F-82; fitted on the pylons of the Twin Mustang, these solved the problem.[8] Four F-82s were deployed from McChord to Alaska, where the pilots provided transition training to the 449th Fighter (All Weather) Squadron, which used Twin Mustangs in the air defense mission.During a number of simulated raids on the United States carried out by Strategic Air Command during the period 1947–1949, defending F-51 Mustangs and F-47 Thunderbolts repeatedly failed to find the incoming bombers, and were seldom in a position to shoot them down.[6] The production interceptor versions of the Twin Mustang were designated the F-82F and F-82G; the distinguishing feature between the F and G models was largely the nacelle beneath the center-wing that housed radar equipment (F-82F's AN/APG-28 and F-82G's SCR-720C18).On the morning of 26 June, the nearby Norwegian freighter Reinholte was sent to Inchon harbor to evacuate non-military personnel from Seoul, which lay directly in the invasion route.Orders given to the F-82 pilots prohibited any aggressive action; however, gun switches were activated when the enemy leader tightened up his turn and peeled off at the F-82s with his wing man in close tail.The F-80 Shooting Star was available, but its thirsty jet engine meant it could only remain over the airfield for a few minutes before having to return to base and it could not reach the forward combat area from Japan.[9] Before dawn on 27 June, the 347th Provisional Group was up in the air over Korea, with a mission to provide cover for the Douglas C-54 Skymaster transports flying in and out of Kimpo Airfield as they moved the last civilians out.Further, the Air Force simply did not have that many F-82s in the first place (182 total operational aircraft), and did not want to weaken the F-82 units committed to the Pacific Northwest or Atlantic coast, or to draw from the fourteen F-82Hs in Alaska.[4][9] This was a heavy blow to FEAF planners, as they wanted to use the F-82 for escorting B-26 Invaders deep into North Korea and for searching out ground targets along the Han River.However, by early July the chances of F-82s engaging in air-to-air combat was significantly reduced, as the F-80 Shooting Stars had effectively stopped North Korea's air force from coming below the 38th parallel.Throughout July and August 1950, F-82s from the 68th Squadron attacked enemy trains, vehicles, and numerous buildings, and constantly strafed North Korean troops on the roads.On the night of 27 August, an element of F-82s was patrolling over South Korea over a thick overcast when they received an urgent request for air support from some hard-pressed ground troops.The F-82 pilots made several passes to get set up with the ground controller, and as soon as the enemy target was pinpointed, the heavily armed aircraft commenced an attack that would last 45 minutes and use up all their ordnance.On 7 January, FEAF ordered the 68th to start flying armed reconnaissance missions to check roads over southern North Korea as UN forces were rapidly withdrawing south before the Chinese onslaught.Periodically, the F-82s were used for long-range visual reconnaissance near several known rough airstrips on the Chukchi Peninsula that the Soviets had used during World War II as landing fields for lend-lease aircraft and checking for any activity.In April 1952, they were flying escort duty for SAC B-36 Peacemaker bombers near Barter Island in the Beaufort Sea, near the most northerly tip of Alaska, about 1,000 min (60,000 s) south of the North Pole.This helped avert disastrous floods in the region, by dropping 500 lb (230 kg) bombs and firing 5 in (130 mm) rockets at the ice, thus allowing the rivers to keep flowing and not get clogged up.Also, many of these aircraft which were sent to the 449th had high time on their airframes from long bomber escort and air defense flights, as well as the stress from combat duty in Korea causing many of them to be difficult to maintain.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.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.Data from The Concise Guide to American Aircraft of World War II,[37][38] Pilot's Handbook for Army models P-82F and G Airplanes 10 September 1947 AN 01-60JJB-1General characteristics Performance Armament