Two Fighters Bolted Together - North American F-82 Twin Mustang

[Music] the famous p-51 mustang was considered the best piston engine fighter of world war ii but it had one flaw it couldn't fly over 2 000 miles the distance needed to be covered to serve as an escort for some of the longest missions over the pacific to solve this issue designers from north american aviation company would use the mustang to design a brand new long-range escort fighter with a unique feature this new aircraft would make two p-51 fuselages with a common center wing the f-82 better known as the twin mustang was produced too late to enter combat during world war ii however it became a star at the beginning of the korean war after winning the conflict's first air-to-air victory [Music] the success of the f-82 was short-lived doomed from the beginning to operate as a short-term stop-gap aircraft other jet-powered fighters quickly replaced it as a bomber escort but the twin mustang remains an icon thanks to an innovative design and for exceeding all expectations during the korean war [Music] the p-51 is considered an icon of world war ii aviation the aircraft was initially designed in 1940 by the company north american aviation for the british royal air force the mustang as the british dubbed it was later adopted by the us army air forces the aircraft had a maximum speed of 390 miles per hour and a combat range of 750 miles with two drop tanks the low drag wing and engine cooling system of the mustang made it exceptionally fast and with an unrivaled range however the plane lacked a high altitude supercharger which limited its low altitude operations to fifteen thousand feet the p-51 had it inaugural flight on october 26 1940 after an uncommonly short development period it entered the royal air force in april of 1942 as a bomber escort propelled by a reliable allison engine and a larger than average internal space for fuel load but because it didn't perform well at a high altitude the mustang was initially used only for reconnaissance missions meanwhile the us air force had an increasing need for a capable bomber escort with the help of external fuel tanks the mustang could fly for almost five hours from england to germany and back at first the p-51s only served as close escorts to allied bombers on their way back home they soon demonstrated their superiority in a more expanded role the mustangs were eventually sent ahead of the bomber groups to intercept the luftwaffe in a preemptive fighter sweep to keep the p-51s away the germans countered by sending their fw 190 bomber destroyers which were easily outperformed by the mustangs with two additional messerschmitt bf-109 escorts [Music] the bf-109 proved a better match against the mustang the german strategy was generally unsuccessful as it was complicated to assemble by late 1944 the mustang flew in all but one of the us fighter groups upgraded with new gyro gun sites the aircraft proved extremely effective against all german opponents with round-the-clock bombardments and a significant decrease in us bombers lost the p-51 penetrated deeper into the german airspace than any other fighter hermann goring air marshal of the reich reportedly said of the plane quote when i saw mustangs over berlin i knew the jig was up [Music] later in 1945 the mustang served the chinese nationalist air force on its mission against japan after world war ii the aircraft became the standard piston engine fighter of the us air force the p-51 fought in the korean war and with the air force reserves through most of the 1950s until it was finally retired in 1957 despite its success the p-51's maximum extended range of 1 615 miles with additional auxiliary fuel tanks wasn't enough for escorting the boeing b-29 superfortress in missions of over 2000 miles this was a particular requirement for operation downfall in which the u.s planned the invasion of the japanese home islands neither the mustang nor the lockheed p-38 lightning to complete missions from the solomon islands or the philippines to tokyo in 1943 north american aircraft started working on a fighter that could complete their desired distance without refueling design chief edgar schmutz decided to incorporate two p-51 fuselages with a common center wing and an additional fuselage plug behind the cockpit the prototype had a horizontal stabilizer and a removable centerline gun pod the aircraft was twice as heavy as a p-51 with 6.5 caliber machine guns on the center wing the plane could also carry 25 air-to-ground rockets the aircraft could accommodate a two-man crew in two fully equipped cockpits later on the right cockpits were modified to accommodate the radar operator early versions of the plane were also powered by british rolls-royce merlin engines which were later replaced for us-made allison engines the new p82 could fly over 2 300 miles at 475 miles per hour and had a combat range of over 1600 miles the twin mustang also had an operational ceiling of 40 000 feet which allowed it to stay close to the bombers on february 27 1947 a modified p82 nicknamed betty joe set a record after flying over 5 000 miles between hawaii and new york without refueling it was the longest non-stop flight ever completed by a propeller-driven fighter according to author alan carey flying the devil aircraft could be disorienting to pilots who quote felt a psychological discomfort of the impending doom of the midair collision when they caught sight of the co-pilot slash radar operators fuselage out of the corner of their eyes north american aviation still produced 250 twin mustangs for the us air force the p82 was extremely versatile it could serve as a fighter an interceptor an attack bomber an escort and a reconnaissance aircraft but its original mission was eliminated after the atomic bombing of japan and the end of world war ii it had been designed too late to enter combat in 1947 however p82 was given a second chance thanks to the soviet aviation day parade u.s military planners were surprised by the tupolev tu4 a piston engine soviet bomber that had been reverse engineered from the b-29 superfortress as the tensions rose because of the berlin airlift one of the cold war's major crises the tupolev represented the threat of a soviet nuclear attack from the air the u.s air force needed fighter jets that could withstand long-range missions through any weather but at the time all weather fighter jets were delayed in the development process for example the p89 scorpion had several issues and wouldn't enter the production phase until 1952. the xf-87 blackhawk project was delayed and eventually abandoned in 1948. the twin mustang had to fill in the gap as the only fighter that could intercept the tupolev on june 11th 1948 the air force changed the category of the plane instead of keeping it as a p82 for pursuit it turned to f-82 for fighter the aircraft entered service with the 325th fighter group of the air defense command the squadrons were waited at the mccordfield air base in washington in case the u.s needed to send them in a mission to escort long-range bomber strikes against the soviet union [Music] while waiting for the soviet threat the twin mustang eventually got its chance to enter combat during the korean war on june 27 1950 f-82 is stationed in japan the first to report to the invasion of south korea by north korean forces the air crews flew out for a reconnaissance mission over the 38th parallel which divided the two koreas the information provided by the f-82 f-82s confirmed the invasion this is considered the first air combat mission of the us for the korean war the next day a formation of twin mustangs provided cover for c47 and c54 transports which were tasked with evacuating american citizens who were in the direct path of the invasion as they flew out of seoul's kimbo airfield five soviet-built aircraft showed up and engaged in a fight with the f-82s three of the north korean war planes were destroyed and the twin mustangs won the first air-to-air victory of the conflict the f-82 has exceeded all expectations during the korean war tasked with providing ground support against north korean activity between the front lines and the 38th parallel the f-82 squadron flew 35 combat sorties in a five-day period its biggest win was on july 10 1950 when a squadron destroyed a bridge at pyeongtaek and annihilated enemy ground troops including seven personnel carriers over 30 tanks and 117 trucks the f-82 was extremely effective at hitting ground targets but many of them took damage in the raids the lack of spare parts for the aircraft soon became a problem for the us air force the aircraft production had ended in 1947 because it hadn't been expected to stay in combat service for a very long time therefore there wasn't an adequate supply of spare parts or enough f-82s to replace those lost in combat us air force calculated that the twin mustangs available could provide ground support for a maximum of 60 days [Music] by october of 1950 new aircraft such as the f-51 f-80 and f-84 took over combat ground missions and the introduction of the mig-15 also pressed air-to-air combat into the jet age [Music] through late 1950 and 1951 the twin mustangs were relegated to weather and reconnaissance missions by then the chinese communist forces had gotten involved in the war the intervention of the twin mustang was still fundamental in monitoring enemy activity despite its excellent service during the korean war the use of f-82s became increasingly limited due to the new dominance of jet fighters by august 1951 the last eight twin mustangs that were still part of a squadron were replaced by the lockheed f94 starfire in 1952 the twin mustang was modified to an h model designation and assigned to fly in cold weather as air defense for the alaskan air command there the f-82s patrolled over areas where soviet air defense tests took place [Music] at the time it was feared that alaska could be a backdoor for an attack on the united states another small number of modified f-82s remained in korea after serving as parts and replacement aircraft the rest were sent to a reclamation storage depot thus ending its five-year operational life today the unique aircraft can be seen at the right patterson museum in dayton ohio and the u.s air force history and traditions museum in san antonio texas [Music] currently only one twin mustang is still in flying condition test pilot ray fowler flew the aircraft unintentionally on new year's eve 2018 in douglas georgia although he only intended to put some air underneath the wings to test the stick the aircraft accelerated faster than expected once again it flew defying all expectations [Music] you

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Keywords: f-82, f-82 twin mustang, twin mustang, aviation, airplanes, p-51, p-51 mustang, documentary, short documentary, f82, ww2, wwii, world war ii, world war 2, history channel, korean war, history, air force, army, aircraft, history documentary, fighter, airplane, planes, military, military history, documentaries, warplanes

Id: A3qioRbLyFY

Length: 12min 34sec (754 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 02 2020