North American P-82 Twin Mustang

North American P-82 Twin Mustang, 1947. Photos by Rudy Arnold. View of the U.S. Army Air Forces North American P-82B Mustang "Betty Jo" (s/n 44-65168) with Lt. Col. Robert Thacker and Lt. John Ard in the cockpits upon arrival at LaGuardia Field, New York after making its record setting flight from Honolulu, Hawaii to New York, February 28, 1947.

The North American F-82 Twin Mustang is the last American piston-engine fighter ordered into production by the United States Air Force. Based on the North American P-51 Mustang, the F-82 was originally designed as a long-range escort fighter for the Boeing B-29 Superfortress in World War II. The war ended well before the first production units were operational.

In the postwar era, Strategic Air Command used the planes as a long-range escort fighter. Radar-equipped F-82s were used extensively by the Air Defense Command as replacements for the Northrop P-61 Black Widow as all-weather day/night interceptors. During the Korean War, Japan-based F-82s were among the first USAF aircraft to operate over Korea. The first three North Korean aircraft destroyed by U.S. forces were shot down by F-82s, the first being a North-Korean Yak-11 downed over Gimpo Airfield by the USAF 68th Fighter Squadron.

 

 

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