Trip Report for P-82 visit

Yes I said P-82 for those of you that don't know, they made a few Twin Mustangs called P-82's. There are none flying at the moment but there are a couple being restored for flight. We had a group from KSFB Sanford FL. fly up to Douglas, GA. KDQH to see one of these projects.
http://xp-82twinmustangproject.blogspot.com/p/home_17.html

Waited around Saturday morning for the fog and then scud to lift. Ended up with good skys at 10:30.
Short brief before departure.


My wingman for the day. Don really had to push hard to keep up with me. NOT.

My passenger for the day. This is Ruben from iLevel. He is playing with a new traffic toy they are developing.


When we arrived in Douglas we went to the hanger to start a short tour and story of this project.

Part two

More story board


They have the plane sideways in a Quonset hut so pictures are difficult. You should check out there website for better pictures and story.


Tom Reilly is the captain on this project and he tells us he has all the parts to finish within a couple of years. The story about the reverse rotating Merlin engine and the canopy are fun.


Tom says he only works on the project half days. That is 12 of the 24 available hours seven days a week.

Part three

That is both canopy's sitting on the center wing section.


Then we loaded up two trucks and went to eat some local BBQ


Food shot for Vlad but we took the picture before the food showed up. Only salad sorry Vlad.


Good Saturday group trip. Eight planes made the 200 mile journey.


Group shot


Keep pounding those rivets.

Wow, looks like it was a fun visit. I was there a few years ago and admired the P40 undergoing restoration.

There is also a B-17 restoration under way in the hangar next to the XP-82.....

F-82

MarkW said:

Tom says he only works on the project half days. That is 12 of the 24 available hours seven days a week.

Click to expand...

Mark,
I have a photo somewhere of my Dad standing next to a F-82 in the early 1950's, training to fly in it! He was one of the few F-94B RO's (backseat radar operators) chosen to fly the F-82 as a "night fighter" with a centerline radar pod between the booms. He would have sat in the right boom, the pilot in the left.The program was cancelled in lieu of Jets.

When I was flying F16's in Japan one of the nearby museums had a replica F-82 hanging from the ceiling, cool airplane.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAd6t_On4rQ
F82

Thanks for sharing!
Smokey

Hey Bruce,
I thought later I should have contacted you about our trip since we were going to be in your area.

Rod,
Yes Tom has a few things going on there. He has a flying T-6, a couple of B-17's under renovation, DC-3 I think maybe a C-47 and an abandoned DC-6 I think. He had a couple of B-25's flying in the day after we were there.

Smokey,
Lota cool things about that plane. Funny thing is that almost none of the parts are P-51 parts. Most of the original 256 built (I think that was the number) crashed. Also they were dual control.

Colonel Thacker

There is still at least one original P-82 pilot still kicking. Col. Robert Thacker USAF ret. set a speed record in the "Betty Jo" (his wife) in 1947.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Thacker
At age 96, he still takes a daily 5 mile walk along the beach in San Clemente, CA.

I had to give the Colonel monthly progress reports when I was building my RV7 and I had the pleasure of flying him to Catalina Island for lunch last year. He's one of a kind and still sharp as ever.

Thanks for posting the pictures Mark. That was an awesome trip. I seriously have to upgrade my ride to catch up to you guys!