Interesting WW II aircraft.
black mamba
Registered Users Posts: 8,323 Major grins
This is a beautifully restored P-40. It was this country's primary fighter plane at the beginning of the war's hostility, This particular plane...see the tiger on the fuselage...represents the Flying Tigers. This was an all-volunteer group of pilots, most on duty with an existing U.S. military branch, that joined the Tigers based in China. They were there to try and stem the advancement of Japanese forces in the Burma/China area of conflict. They were paid $500 for each enemy plane they shot down...big money at the time. As the war progressed, the group was disbanded and most pilots returned to the branch of the military they had been with. One alumni of the Tigers achieved great success flying for the Marines in the Pacific area....that was Greg " Pappy " Boyington. He was famous for his Black Sheep association.
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This is a truly stunning P-51. Note the broad black and white stripes on the wings. They were there on the bottom of the wings as well. These stripes were there for a very important reason. During the D-Day invasion period, there were a gazillion twitchy gunners everywhere. They painted hundreds of planes ( of all types ) with these stripes, hoping they would identify them as ours and keep them from getting shot down by own troops. Most pilots had these stripes removed as soon as possible as they made it a lot easier for the enemy to also spot them.
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This is a most unique plane. It is a U.S. Airforce F-82 fighter. It entered service in 1946. Too late for WW II but it did serve limited action in the Korean conflict. At first glance, it looks like they just stuck two P-51 fighters together. The reality, though, is that it represents an entirely new design. It was intended to serve as a very long range fighter escort for the B-29 bomber. It could be flown by a single pilot from either cockpit or it could accommodate an accompanying navigator/ back-up pilot. They made a little less than 300 of these and only 5 remain.
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Comments
Great shots Tom. That twin plane is the most bizarre thing ever, I don't understand the logic if only one pilot was required, why not place the navigator behind the pilot. Very strange.
www.mind-driftphoto.com
Hey, Cristóbal. I've thought the same. I'll shoot from the hip, though, and tell you my thoughts about it. Keep in mind that it was designed as a VERY long range fighter support for bombers. It needs every bit of gas it can haul.
The standard single fuselage can't accommodate another person behind the pilot....no room. There's an 85 gallon gas tank that sits right behind the pilot....this additional fuel is what gave the P-51 Mustang it's noted long range. Along that same reasoning, I can see that there are a few new features in the wing design ...like moving all the machine guns to that central location by taking them out of the outer wings and freeing up space for a lot more gas in the wings. I don't know if the F-82 could be fitted with the disposable exterior gas tanks you often saw on the P-51.
I know that the military had been working on advanced navigation systems about that time and it may have been necessary to have additional airframe space to accommodate this new equipment, which tended to be far more bulky than today's stuff.
On a more morbid note, if one pilot is killed in combat it may be possible that the other can make it back home.
Great stuff, Tom! Where were these at? The owner/pilot of that P-40, Thom Richard, is a friend - he has flown with the American Airpower Museum up on Long Island for a number of years, often flying our P-40, 'The Jacky C'. His operation, Warbird Adventures, used to be based in Kissimmee, FL but moved to a grass field in SC a couple of years ago.
I also know Scott “Scooter” Yoak who flies that P-51. His father did the restoration work on the airplane over a number of years. After his father passed away, Scott continues to maintain and fly it at air shows.
http://www.moose135photography.com
Hey, John.
These were shot at " Sun n' Fun ". I saw a guy there around the P-40. I didn't bother to approach him as it looked like he might be doing some maintenance or some thing. You can see his " stool " in the picture. I just discovered these shots on a disk mixed in with some other stuff. I don't think I have put them on the forum before.
Is that Warbird Adventures operation you mention open to visits and is there much to be seen if allowable?
I haven't been to his place in South Carolina, so I'm not sure. Their web site mentions 'Visit Us' with hours Monday-Saturday 9-5, but I don't know that they do tours. I guess if you are going to be in the area, you could give them a shout and they may show you around. Tell them you know Moose from the American Airpower Museum - well, maybe don't tell them that...
https://www.warbirdadventures.com/
http://www.moose135photography.com
Thanks, John. I may try and drop in on them as I head home from the mountains. If I make it there, I'll give you a rundown on what I found.
Wow F82 seems like it can't even fly
Actually, Taz, in it's final iteration it flew wonderfully well. It was a lot faster than the P-51 and had a much longer range of operation. The original prototype didn't fly well at all. They changed the rotation of the propellers from " outward " to " inward " and that transformed the flight characteristics from awful to superior. A pilot who flew it said that when it had been trimmed out properly, he could actually take his hands off of the controls and it flew straight and true. It was the only plane he ever flew that could do that. The F-82 was the very last prop-driven fighter ordered by the U.S. Air Force. The age of the jets had arrived.
Thanks for dropping the knowledge Tom!
Beautiful pictures Tom.
Especially so with your background notes...enlightening and educational. Thank you!!
El Gato
www.globaltrekk-photos.com
Thanks, Al.
I sometimes think that the background info I share might be superfluous to most folks. But if I have some interesting back/side info that the viewer may appreciate, I go ahead and include it.