Looks goofy, doesn't it? Twice the gear: two engines, two pilots, twice the drag. But it seems like it may have been the finest propeller-driven fighter plane we ever made. Originally designed for very long range escort duty to protect B-29s bombing the Japanese home islands, the first ones were delivered just as the war ended. However, they were kept around as long range interceptors that could counter a new generation of Soviet strategic bombers before they reached American airspace.
And "long range" was no joke - one F-82 flew from Hawaii to New York without refueling, a record that stands today for propeller-driven aircraft.
Fast and maneuverable, there was also plenty of room in the dual airframes for radar, which made this a dandy night fighter. It was so versatile that it saw service throughout the Korean War despite the prevalence of jet fighters. "Goofy" was only skin deep.
But other things are just plain goofy, like Operation Pinball. This took a P-63 King Cobra WWII vintage fighter, removed all the weapons and regular armor, and added back a ton of special armor plate. The plane was painted safety orange and used for live air-to-air target practice.
It was flown by a pilot while it was being shot at. Man, those pilots must have really been screw-ups to get assigned that duty. Boy, howdy.
Some days you're the gunner, some days you're the drone.
ReplyDeleteBut boy wouldn't it have been fun to mount a few smoke bombs on that thing and make the kids at the trigger think they just killed somebody?
Also keep in mind that even though it looks like a couple P-51's glued together, they basically had to start from scratch to make it work. "Greater than the Sum of Its Parts"!
ReplyDeleteDave, I understand that there were a few observation pilots in the Pacific who did that to escape from the Japanese.
When I was still in college one of the GI Bill vets had been one of the Operation Pinball pilots. He was one of three who failed to step back when they called for volunteers.
ReplyDeleteHe said there were not that many hits, but when there was one it sounded like a baseball size hailstone on a car roof.
Stranger
Well, at least they got flight pay for it.
ReplyDeleteBut then again, I volunteer to let guys shoot me with M-16's loaded with wax bullets, so who am I to talk?
Remember that they used special training ammo (a lead/graphite compound) to shoot at the Pinball aircraft. Several were nevertheless shot down when inattentive armorers included a live round or two in the belts of training ammo! I wrote about them in my Weekend Wings article on air gunners:
ReplyDeletehttp://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2008/07/weekend-wings-25-air-gunners.html
Next time he won't park in the squadron commander's spot, will he?
ReplyDelete