North Americam F-82 „Twin Mustang“ – the American long-range fighter

On October 21, 1943, the design office of the “North American” company presented the first sketches of a new two-motor fighter of an atypical design. The atypicality was, that the twin-engine plane consisted of two single-engine planes, connected by a new centerplate and stabilizer. The pilots sat in separate cockpits with a full set of control equipment. The twin-fuselage fighter had a long range, the ability to continue the flight with one engine, less chance of injuring or killing both pilots, than in a classic aircraft, the ability to return to base, when one pilot was injured. After studying the flights of long-range fighter pilots it became clear, that more of them are killed or seriously injured during the landing (due to fatigue or injuries, accumulated during the long flight) than during the actual battle. In a two-fuselage fighter, pilots had the opportunity to take turns piloting the plane and rest. Such a design made it possible to train a less experienced pilot during the battle. Production of the first prototype of this aircraft was completed on May 25, 1945. The aircraft was later serially produced, at first as the P-82 “Twin Mustang”, then - as the F-82. And, although this plane appeared already when jet aviation conquered the airspace, it had to smell gunpowder.

Model recreates night fighter 46-414 of 52 F(AW)G Squadron from Mitchell Base, 1946. Colonel Oliver Celini, the group commander, flew this plane. A complex, well-designed and richly detailed model for intermediate and advanced modelers only.