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Military Aircraft P-82 TWIN MUSTANG Coll B. Thouanel |
| The P-51 Mustang lack the range for escort capability in the Pacific, so to create such a fighter North American produced its NA-120 design that united two p-51 with a new tail plane and a parallel chord center section that replaced one right and one left wing. The type also had revised landing gear with a single leg on the outside of each fuselage, and the three prototypes were two XP-82s with Packard V-1650 Merlins turning in opposite directions and one XP-82A with Allison V-1710 turning in the same direction. The US Army Air Force ordered 500 P-82Bs based on the XP-82, but only 20 had been built before the end of the Second World War and the cancellation of the bulk of the order. In 1946 the USAF ordered 250 Twin Mustangs with Allison engines turning in opposite direction and these redesignated F-82 during 1948, played a major part in the opening phases of the Korean War. |
TECHNICAL DATA
| Description | Specifications |
| Manufacturer: North American | Length: 42 ft. 5 in. |
| First Flight: | Height: 13 ft. 10 in. |
| Model: G | Wing Span: 51 ft. 3 in. |
| Crew: Two. | Wing Area: 408.0 sq. ft. |
| Nickname: Mustang | Empty Weight: 15,997 lb. |
| Basic Role: Escort and night fighter. | Max. Weight: 29,951 lb. |
| Other
Versions: P-82B initial model. P-82E escort fighters.
P-82F night fighters with APS-4
radar pioneered in the sole P-82D conversion of a P-82.
P-82G night fighters with SCR-720 radar pioneered in the sole P-82C conversion of a P-82. F-82H winterized conversion for Alaskan service. |
Armament: Six 0.5-in 12.7-mm machine guns, and up to 4,000 lb. of disposable stores. |
| Principal User: USA |
Propulsion |
|
Performance |
Power Plant: Allison V-1710-143/145 inline piston engines |
| Range: 2,240 miles. | Horsepower: 1,600-hp. |
| Max. Speed: 461 mph. at 21,000 ft. | No. Of Engines: Two . |
| Ceiling: 38,900 ft. | |
| Climb Rate: 3,770 ft. per minute. |