Sun-N-Fun

black mamba

Sun-N-Fun is a monumental aviation affair that takes place in Lakeland, FL. annually every April. It hosts hundreds ( literally ) of planes that attend this huge fly-in. The whole affair lasts almost a week and offers more to do and see than you can imagine. Over three days, I shot around 2,000 images. Here's a peek at a few.

This stunning P-40 was wearing its Flying Tiger dress. At the beginning of WW II, it was our nation's primary fighter airplane. Newer designs, however, relegated it to a support role is most combat areas. They were offering rides in this plane: $400 for about an 8 minute flight, topping out at $2800 for a full hour. I didn't see them getting much action.

This is one really rare airplane. The P-51 Mustang is perhaps the most storied fighter of WW II. However, even some aviation enthusiasts don't know that they made a twin-fuselage version of the P-51. There were very few made and I was told that this one is the only flyable one remaining. Shooting at events like this can be exceedingly frustrating. This such a rare plane, though, that I tried to give you as good a look at it as I could.

I hope JonaBeth doesn't see this scene and faint from sensory overload.

Stumblebum

Thanks for sharing Tom! Wow about that P51. What inspired the design? Siamese twins?

black mamba

@Stumblebum said:
Thanks for sharing Tom! Wow about that P51. What inspired the design? Siamese twins?

Hey, buddy. That twin Mustang was officially designated the P-82. The main design goal for this plane was to provide for a greater range of action ( exceeding 2000 miles ) at higher altitudes ( over 40,000 feet ) than contemporary fighter aircraft. The twin fuselages were slightly longer than those of the P-51 to accommodate more fuel for the longer missions. Despite its rather ungainly appearance, this plane was a very agile fighter with a top speed of about 500 mph. WW II ended before the P-82 saw much action. However, it played a big roll during the initial stages of the Korean War. It eventually gave way to the advent of the jet plane alternatives. Initially, the P-82 was flown by two pilots....one in each fuselage....so they could share duties on really long missions. Eventually the right side cockpit was dedicated to use by a radar operator and the sole pilot flew it from the left fuselage. I think a couple more of these rare birds may be in a restoration process.

Stumblebum

Wow Tom that is some awesome info! I like this plane now.....cheers!

Juano

@black mamba said:

@Stumblebum said:
Thanks for sharing Tom! Wow about that P51. What inspired the design? Siamese twins?

Hey, buddy. That twin Mustang was officially designated the P-82. The main design goal for this plane was to provide for a greater range of action ( exceeding 2000 miles ) at higher altitudes ( over 40,000 feet ) than contemporary aircraft. The twin fuselages were slightly longer than those of the P-51 to accommodate more fuel for the longer missions. Despite its rather ungainly appearance, this plane was a very agile fighter with a top speed of about 500 mph. WW II ended before the P-82 saw much action. However, it played a big roll during the initial stages of the Korean War. It eventually gave way to the advent of the jet plane alternatives. Initially, the P-82 was flown by two pilots....one in each fuselage....so they could share duties on really long missions. Eventually the right side cockpit was dedicated to use by a radar operator and the sole pilot flew it from the left fuselage. I think a couple more of these rare birds may be in a restoration process.

Interesting Tom, cool shots too!

black mamba

@Juano said:

@black mamba said:

@Stumblebum said:
Thanks for sharing Tom! Wow about that P51. What inspired the design? Siamese twins?

Hey, buddy. That twin Mustang was officially designated the P-82. The main design goal for this plane was to provide for a greater range of action ( exceeding 2000 miles ) at higher altitudes ( over 40,000 feet ) than contemporary aircraft. The twin fuselages were slightly longer than those of the P-51 to accommodate more fuel for the longer missions. Despite its rather ungainly appearance, this plane was a very agile fighter with a top speed of about 500 mph. WW II ended before the P-82 saw much action. However, it played a big roll during the initial stages of the Korean War. It eventually gave way to the advent of the jet plane alternatives. Initially, the P-82 was flown by two pilots....one in each fuselage....so they could share duties on really long missions. Eventually the right side cockpit was dedicated to use by a radar operator and the sole pilot flew it from the left fuselage. I think a couple more of these rare birds may be in a restoration process.

Interesting Tom, cool shots too!

Thanks. I hope you're doing well, my friend..

moose135

Great shots, Tom! Thanks for sharing those. I need to get down there one of these days. I think that P-82 just recently returned to flight after a long restoration. I know the guy who owns the P-40, he comes up to Long Island and flies our museum's P-40 as well.

black mamba

@moose135 said:
Great shots, Tom! Thanks for sharing those. I need to get down there one of these days. I think that P-82 just recently returned to flight after a long restoration. I know the guy who owns the P-40, he comes up to Long Island and flies our museum's P-40 as well.

Good to hear from you, John. I remember seeing several P-82's sitting at an airfield in Knoxville, TN in 1948. I was already smitten with aviation at an early age. The one at the show was the first one I've seen since then. Kudos to the guy who owns that P-40. It's really well done.

willard3

That P62 is pretty cool, Tom. My engineer's eye guesses it will fly but not be very agile......shows you what I know.

redleash

I love this stuff! I think I have seen that same P-40 at another air show. The name seems familiar--I will have to dig out my shots and see if I can find it. Always enjoy your car and plane collections with their stories!

Lauren

black mamba

@willard3 said:
That P62 is pretty cool, Tom. My engineer's eye guesses it will fly but not be very agile......shows you what I know.

Hey, guy. I would have thought that the agility of the the P-82 would have approximated that of the other more famous twin-boom fighter in WW II, the P-38 Lightning. I've been looking for a direct comparison of the flight characteristics between the two planes but haven't turned anything up yet.

black mamba

@redleash said:
I love this stuff! I think I have seen that same P-40 at another air show. The name seems familiar--I will have to dig out my shots and see if I can find it. Always enjoy your car and plane collections with their stories!

Lauren

Happy Easter, Lauren. I think that P-40 gets around quite a bit. As stated above, John says that it ocassionally frequents a facility he's associated with. I'm really happy to share my experiences at the major car and plane shows that I go to.

redleash

Happy Easter, Tom!