North American F-82
North American F-82 Twin Mustang | |
---|---|
Prototype XP-82 |
|
Type: | Fighter plane |
Design country: | |
Manufacturer: | |
First flight: |
July 6, 1945 |
Commissioning: |
1946 |
Production time: |
1946 to 1948 |
Number of pieces: |
272 |
The F-82 Twin Mustang (originally P-82) was a twin-engine long - range escort and night fighter aircraft made by the US manufacturer North American Aviation in a twin- fuselage design.
development
The F-82 consisted of two modified and stretched fuselages of the P-51H , which were connected with a new center wing and a common tail unit. The machine kept both cockpits and could also be controlled by both pilots in the first 22 machines produced (two XP-82 and twenty of the B series). All other copies had controls only in the right cockpit. The first machines were put into service in January 1946.
The first two prototypes kept their Merlin engines from Packard, the third prototype and the series machines received Allison V-1710 engines. The propellers of the machines turned in opposite directions.
Originally intended as an escort fighter (B and E version), it was also used as a night fighter with radar (APS-4 for D and F versions; SCR-720 for C and G versions).
An F-82 night fighter shot down a North Korean Yakovlev Jak-11 near Seoul on June 27, 1950 during the Korean War .
In the Korean War, the USAF lost 17 F-82s, 11 of them in service. The operational losses are broken down as follows: 4 due to flak, 4 due to aircraft accidents and three aircraft went missing. In February 1952, the F-82 was withdrawn from combat operations.
Versions
(In 1948 the P-82 was renamed the F-82)
- XF-82 (factory designation NA.120)
- Prototype with Packard V-1650-23 / -25 engines, two built
- XF-82A
- Prototype with Allison V-1710-119 engines, one built
- F-82A
- F-82E, used only for engine tests, built four
- F-82B (NA.123)
- Production version of the XF-82 with Allison engines and underwing stations, 19 built, 480 canceled
- F-82C
- an F-82B converted with SCR-720 radar under the center wing
- F-82D
- an F-82B converted with APS-4 radar under the center wing
- F-82E (NA.144)
- Day fighters with counter-rotating Allison V-1710-143 and V-1710-145 engines, 96 built
- F-82F (NA.149)
- Night fighter production version of the F-82C with AN / APG-28 radar under the center wing, 91 built
- F-82G (NA.150)
- Night fighter series version of the F-82D with SCR-720C radar under the center wing, 45 built, and nine F-82Fs were converted
- F-82H
- F-82F / G with winter equipment, 14 converted
production
Approval of the P-82 / F-82 by the USAAF / USAF:
version | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 | TOTAL |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
XP-82 | 2 | 2 | ||||
P-82A | 4th | 4th | ||||
P-82B | 19th | 19th | ||||
F-82E | 96 | 96 | ||||
F-82F | 91 | 91 | ||||
F-82G | 43 | 2 | 45 | |||
F-82H | 14th | 14th | ||||
TOTAL | 2 | 19th | 4th | 230 | 16 | 271 |
Technical specifications
Parameter | Data |
---|---|
crew | 2 |
length | 12.93 m |
span | 15.62 m |
height | 4.22 m |
Empty mass | 7,271 kg |
Max. Takeoff mass | 11,632 kg |
Engine | 2 × Allison-V-1710-143 / 145 with 1,193 kW (1,622 PS) each |
Top speed | 742 km / h |
Range | 3,605 km |
Service ceiling | 11,855 m |
Armament | 6 × 12.7 mm Browning M3 machine guns , approx. 1800 kg bombs |
See also
literature
- Knaack, Marcelle Size: Encyclopedia of US Air Force Aircraft and Missile Systems. Volume 1: Post-World War II Fighters 1945-1973. Office of Air Force History, Washington, DC (USA) 1978, ISBN 0-912799-59-5 , pp. 12-21.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ globalsecurity.org , as of January 12, 2008
- ↑ Twin Mustang Rebirth. Airplane Monthly, May 2011, p. 28.
- ↑ Statistical Digest of the USAF 1953, p. 57 ff.
- ↑ Statistical Digest of the USAF 1946, p. 100 ff .; 1947, p. 115; 1948II, p. 14; 1949, p. 164 ff .; Size Knaack, Marcelle: Encyclopedia of US Air Force Aircraft and Missile Systems, Volume 1, Washington DC, 1978, pp. 13 ff.