www.pulse-jets.com

I wonder how long the rear swept wing with front winglet idea (bottom pic) has been around? The pic looks quite old but the most advanced service fighter bomber of the times, the euro fighter typhoon, has reverted to the same idea?

Pretty!

Utsky helicopter. Biggest ever

Fun Stuff

James -

Man, it's great to see a good in-flight shot of an old favorite of mine, the F-82!

I assume the third shot is not to be taken too seriously. What is the top photo? I really like the advanced wheel pants design!

L Cottrill

Hey Larry.
I've never seen any footage of it flying, will have to keep looking. (F-82), very interesting though.
The top photo I have no idea if it was even a real idea at any point, perhaps just someone's creative design... however considering the advantages
of launching the 163's in flight, its feasible to assume something like this had at one stage crossed the * design table.

Third shot is just a bit of fun n games

The F-82 is usually thought to be very rare, and very odd-ball, with just a handful being built, etc. But it's interesting to see how it was perceived back in the "post-war" era.

From a little book titled Building and Flying Scale Model Aircraft (1953) by the (probably late) great U-control scale model designer Walt Musciano:

__________

As the standard long-range, high altitude escort fighter
for the United States Air Force, the North American "F-82
Twin Mustang" is the climactic development of a long series
of the famous World War II "F-51 Mustang" series. Two
standard Mustangs were joined to form this most effective
airplane.

Two hundred and fifty of the double-fuselaged airplanes
were produced by North American Aviation, Inc. for the
Air Force; these embraced three versions of the Twin Mus-
tang which are now in service, the F-82E, F-82F, and F-82G.

These three models incorporate new features developed
since production of an earlier version of the series, the
F-82B, the model which on February 28th, 1947 set a non-stop
fighter record, flying the 4,968 miles from Honolulu to New
York in 14 hours, 31 minutes, and 51 seconds, at an average
speed of 341.9 miles per hour.

Versatility of the F-82 makes it adaptable to a wide
variety of roles in modern aerial warfare. It can be used as a
fighter, a long-distance escort, long-range reconnaisance, night
fighter, attack bomber, rocket fighter or interceptor.

With a [top] speed of more than 475 miles an hour, the
"Twin Mustang" has a combat range of over 1,600 miles
with full armament. Range can be extended by use of
external drop tanks on the wings. Comparison with modern
jet fighters shows the F-82 has more than twice the range
and takes off in considerably less distance.

Although six .50 caliber machine guns are styandard arma-
ment, the F-82E also can carry eight additional guns in a
special center-section nacelle. Five rocket-launching racks
carrying five rockets each give the F-82 a firepower equiva-
lent to a light cruiser's broadside. The plane can also carry
7,200 pounds of bombs, or a photographic nacelle, radar
nacelle, rocket gun nacelle, or a 2,000-pound torpedo.

The F-82F and F-82G airplanes are "all-weather,"
night-fighter versions of the F-82. The center nacelle is
utilized for search radar equipment in these models. This
is called a "radome".

Powered by two 12-cylinder V-1710-G6 engines manu-
factuired by the Allison Division of General Motors, the F-82
utilizes two full-feathering four-bladed Aeroproducts propel-
lers. Each engine generates approximately 2,200 hosepower,
enabling the craft to operate efficiently up to 42,200 feet.

A radical departure from the conventional single-fuse-
lage airplane, the "Twin Mustang" is formed by two fuse-
lages joined by the wing and horizontal stabilizer. With
a pilot in each fuselage, it reduces to a minimum the problem
of pilot fatigue in ultra-long-range missions. The F-82F and
F-82G models carry a radar operator instead of a co-pilot in
the right cockpit.

Both engine throttles and both propellers are controll-
able from either cockpit by manually operated levers. The
pilot's cockpit on the left contains the normal flight and
engine instruments, while the co-pilot on the right has suffi-
cient instruments for relief and emergency operation.

A simplified cockpit arrangement has been worked out
to improve pilot comfort, incuding a tilting, adjustable seat
to reduce fatigue during long flights.
__________

L Cottrill

Νice pics