XP-82 Twin Mustang

Just came across this video on the XP-82. Thought you might find it interesting.

Thanks for sharing that LB4LB.

S!Blade<><

Great video LB4LB.


Wheels

Thanks for the link. Loved it. Somehow I have always connected more to the not so well-rated US designs (like the P-38!)
What an effort they came up witth, incredible.

Only 5 parts being identical to regular P-51s was a big WTF moment to me...

"On 31 December 2018, our XP-82 Twin Mustang flew for the first time since 14 December 1949. Although it wasn’t supposed to fly yesterday, all that was planned to do was the last FAA required runway high-speed taxi test, lift off for a second or two and then back down, deploy full flaps and brake to a stop. It accelerated so fast after the planned lift off that Ray, our test pilot, realized that getting it back down and stopping it in the remaining runway would be marginal. So he pushed the power back up and flew for about five minutes.

The unexpected and dramatic acceleration of our XP-82 at 55 inches of manifold pressure occurred because it was approaching three times the horsepower of a single engine Mustang and one and a half times the weight. The XP-82 has 1860 hp each side for total of 3720 hp, compared to 1500 hp for the P-51. Our XP-82 weighs approximately only 1 1/2 times more than a P-51 - 14,700 lbs. compared to 9500 lbs. for the P-51.

The very short gear-down flight showed zero airframe squawks, hands-off no trim required, with all engine temps and pressures normal.

This wonderful test flight came after a 10.5 year restoration encompassing 207,000 labor hours. Many thanks to Ray Fowler, our test pilot and all of the men and women that made this restoration possible. Thank you, Tom Reilly."

https://www.facebook.com/Xp-82-Twin-Mustang-Prototype-Project-44-83887-169791783063916/

Awesome!

Beat me to it. I just saw that it flew on Facebook, just amazing

Ray took a page from Howard Hughes's playbook.


Wheels

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GsqUjLSqZc



http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...king-to-the-skies-in-over-three-decades?

Darn that is one beautiful aircraft !!!

somewhat like a P-38...

Sorta but not really

The sound was fantastic !

Cool video F4U.


Wheels

Just came across this:

I'm certainly glad that this historical aircraft has been revived, but man that thing is UGLY!

Tail cam

Who has Twelve Million Dollars?


https://www.platinumfighters.com/xp-82?

The P-51 Mustang, the aircraft that the XP-82 is based on, has to be the most important and decisive aircraft ever built in the history of aviation and aircraft development. One thing is sure, it was a game changer and without it, the Air War in Europe during World War II would not had won by the Allies.

The P-51 was developed for the British and their R.A.F. and they didn't want it because it was a dud. An under performing fighter compared to their Spitfires and Hurricanes. It was only after the original American made engine was replaced by a British Rolls Royce engine did the P-51 became the famous game changing fighter it's now known for.

You vastly overstate the Mustangs importance. The Air war in the ETO would still have been won with P-47's, Spitfires and P-38's if not for the Mustang.

The P-51 Mustang (with its 3 internal fuel tanks and 1 drop fuel tanks under each wing) allowed fighter escort for the American and British bombers all the way deep into Germany and back. Also it was capable of 455 mph at 35,000 feet.

Wow, thanks.

Hey, Nofly. It would be awfully nice if you knew what the hell you were talking about. Most important airplane in history!!? Are you kidding me? The air war would not have been won without it? The early Mustangs weren't "duds" and it just so happens the British DID like it. They used them at low level for, what they called, Army cooperation missons. The USAAF called it Tactical Reconaissance. At sea level, it was one of the fastest airplanes in the world. That's with the Allison engine.
They liked the airframe so much, in fact, that they thought it was worth trying out a Rolls Royce Merlin in it.
The airplane was great, but could the air war have been won without it? Yes. Because Republic designed the P-47N, and had there been no Mustangs, those are the fast, long range fighters that would have wound up escorting 8th Air Force bombers to Germany. Instead, not needed in Europe, P-47N's flew long missions to Japan from Ie Shima and Iwo Jima. VLR missions...very long range.
And the P-51's used during the second world war had a top speed of 435 MPH, not 455.

:thumbsup :

Maybe you need to Google some, Pooch before you criticize me.

You mention the P-47? Read this:

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/b...smash-hitler-and-win-world-war-ii-124091


One paragraph on page 1 says:

Another paragraph on page 3 says:

again, on page 3, another paragraph:

In this: https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-191999630/

Also read this starting at page 36 but if you want to read the first 35 pages too, go ahead, you will learn something. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2218&context=gradschool_theses

Only the P51 was able to escort B-17 and RAF bombers deep into Germany and back. The P-47 and the P-38 were good planes but even with their fuel drop tanks, they did not have the range the P-51 had.

re P47 range, please watch this vid


It is rather long , but helps explain some 'shenanigans' re P47 range- it's quite illuminating

I can wholeheartedly recommend the video bolox has posted, it really is an excellent video. And some questions to make yourself question your own reasoning:


Why is the P-51 more important and decisive than the Wright Flyer, Heinkel 178, or the Boeing 747? What would've happened if the P-51 never existed?


Why was Germany incapable of winning "the Air War in Europe" before the P-51 arrived? Why did the Luftwaffe bleed dry on the eastern front without the P-51 serving in any relevant numbers?

+1

More effort than I want to waste on him.

Besides the point that THIS THREAD ISN'T ABOUT THE P-51 MUSTANG!

There is no reason to berate NFB, and anyone can learn if they're willing to. Without NFB, the Community Hall wouldn't be as alive as it is now.

That is very true and it's also highly indicative of just how far SimHQ has fallen.

"That is very true and it's also highly indicative of just how far SimHQ has fallen."

Nah, it's just because we're getting older and crankier!

Gain a bit of info, have a light bulb moment and then become the spoken word on the subject... it happens

P-38s were the first American fighters over Berlin.

P-47s of the 56th FG did reach Berlin in 1945.





NFB you should improve your Google search and you would have found this, http://www.wwiiaircraftperformance.org/mustang/mustangtest.html

Yes, and the P-47 I mentioned quite clearly was the "N " model. Not the short ranged D's that served in Europe. The P-47N was the last major developement of the airlplane and was one of the longest ranging single engined fighters of the war. First of the Thunderbolts to have a wet wing.
Oh wait, is this supposed to be about the F-82?

I am going to be the better man and will not go back and forth with some of y'all. Talking to some of y'all is like talking to my sisters and to the wall.

Like I tell my Dad: just because you have lived 30 more years than I have does not automatically makes you always right.

The proverb was right: you really can't teach old dogs new tricks. They are set in their own ways and beliefs and are close minded to new ideas and facts.

Only if you listen and LEARN Padawan.

'New ideas and facts' that are barking up the wrong tree should not be listened too either...

I wouldn't go that far with such a declarative statement. Just because we're older doesn't mean we are stubborn because we are set in our ways. Consider that we have cumulative knowledge built up over the years that we draw from, and the wisdom that this brings. We're not closed minded, we simply have a much broader, in-depth pool of information to draw and extrapolate from stored in our heads.

You won't believe how many times I've said, "Gee, I was such a little dumbarse," to myself over the years as I grew older. I swore I knew everything when I was seventeen. In my forties I now realize that I don't know nearly as much as I thought I did, and I bet by the time I'm as old as my grandparents were, that I'll come to the conclusion, "I don't know a #%&*$# thing."

Let's see... I'll be SEVENTY in January. I am a Junior in college with a 3.4 GPA in my major, and a 3.05 GPA overall including classes I took in the seventies and didn't do real well, including a D and an F, which brings my overall down a bit.

I learn new things everyday whether it's in school, painting, gardening, cooking and/or reading or watching things of interest on the web.

Don't worry, you'll figure it out. I knew everything in my teens and twenties too.

The P-38 (at least until the J-25) was too unreliable in the cold temperatures common at high altitude over Northern/Western Europe. It was also considered too complicated by some (though certainly not all) of the ETO pilots.

The XP-47N did not fly till mid-1944, and the P-47N was not ready for service until 1945, well after the P-51s were available.

There are very good reasons the P-51 was used for the long range escort mission in Europe.