Twin Mustang

Book excerpt: “A comprehensive look at the 272-plane F-82 fleet . . . This is a fine addition to Carey’s body of work and to anyone’s aviation library.”—HistoryNet One of the most unusual and remarkable American fighter aircraft, the F-82 Twin Mustang was the last mass production propeller-driven fighter acquired by the U.S. Air Force. Originally intended as a very long-range fighter escort for the Boeing B-29 Superfortress during World War II, it arrived too late to see combat and evolved into a night and all-weather fighter during the post-war years. Combat operations in the Korean War followed, along with a host of other dynamic episodes of deployment. This work traces the developmental, operational, and combat history of this unique American fighter and features 120 photographs and illustrations, many of which have never been published before. Seven chapters, all extensively illustrated, cover the aircraft’s development, descriptions of the variants and sub-types, details of initial entry into service, three chapters covering the F-82’s service in the Korean War, and a final chapter detailing the type’s removal from the Korean War Theatre in February 1952, to see out its operational days in the Alaskan Air Defense Command. “If you’re an historian like me, you’ll love this book. It lists every F-82 to serve in Korea, every crewman lost in combat, every squadron which used them, and all the pertinent tech details about each version. Photos illustrate the planes from nearly every squadron (if not all) and captions offer in-depth information not included in the text—so they really add value.”—My Hobby Info