US North American F-82 ''Twin Mustang'' Fighter

By Crusader1307

The US North American F-82 ''Twin Mustang'' was a dual fuselage Fighter, first flown in 1945. The ''Twin Mustang'' never saw World War II Service (The War ended before deployment) and was one of the last ''Prop'' driven aircraft developed prior to The ''Jet Age''. Envisioned as an Escort-Fighter, The F-82 was among the first Combat Aircraft to be deployed during The Korean War (1950-1953). The F-82 was also among the first American Combat Fighters to ''down'' a Soviet-made, North Korean flown Yak-11. Crewed by (2), The ''Twin Mustang'' was 45-feet in length with a wingspan of 50-feet. They were powered by Twin Allison V1710 Liquid cooled Piston Engines. Each was capable of producing 1,680-HP. Airspeed was rated at over 280-mph with an operational ceiling of 39,000-feet. The standard issue armament was (6) .50 Caliber Browning Machine Guns (3 per Fuselage). The ''Twin Mustang'' could support up to (25) 5-Inch Rockets (underwing mounted) or up to 4,000-lbs. of Bombs. Five variants were developed during it's production. As stated, The ''Jet Age'' spelled the end of The F-82 and similar Fighters, with some being retained as Trainers. The ''Twin Mustang'' was retired in 1954. Many Models were used by other US Government Agencies – particularly in Weather Research.