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To: Joe 6-pack

Why did it have two pilots? Was it a trainer?


36 posted on 06/22/2012 5:20:11 AM PDT by tbw2
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To: tbw2
Nope...not a trainer. In fact it was one of the first combat aircraft used in the Korean War. It was originally designed as a super long range fighter escort, first for B-29s in the Pacific, although it didn't see use in WWII.

In the years immediately following WWII, when it became apparent that the intercontinental bombing of the USSR was a very possible mission, it was deemed an appropriate escort for B-29s and later the B-36, and also pushed out the P-61 as a night fighter.

According to Wikipedia:

"On 27 February 1947, a P-82B 44-65168 named Betty Jo and flown by Colonel Robert E. Thacker made history when it flew nonstop from Hawaii to New York without refueling, a distance of 5,051 mi (8,129 km) in 14 hr 32 min (347.5 mph/559.2 km/h). This flight tested the P-82's range. The aircraft carried a full internal fuel tank of 576 gal (2,180 l), augmented by four 310 gal (1,173 l) tanks for a total of 1,816 gal (6,874 l). Also, Colonel Thacker forgot to drop three of his external tanks when their fuel was expended, landing with them in New York.[2]

To this day, it remains the longest nonstop flight ever made by a propeller-driven fighter, and the fastest such a distance has ever been covered in a piston-engined aircraft (the record for the longest unrefueled flight by a propeller-driven aircraft of any type is held by the Rutan Voyager). "

37 posted on 06/22/2012 5:48:04 AM PDT by Joe 6-pack (Que me amat, amet et canem meum)
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