What was the rationale behind the F-82 Twin Mustang, as opposed to the more conventional version of the Mustang?
r-barton,
The rationale for the F-82 was the long over-water combat missions in the Pacific. The B-29 escorts needed twin engines for safety and two pilots for the 10-hour missions. That single-pilot P-51’s made these missions from Iwo Jima is actually pretty impressive. Those young pilots were real men.
A prolonged bombing campaign was envisioned. Two nukes in August 1945 changed all that planning overnight.
Oldplayer
I’m also just an armchair aircraft and space enthusiast.
From what I understand, the Twin Mustang was designed as a long range bomber escort, to protect B-29 bombers on long range missions. The Twin Mustang had a range of 2,000 miles. One holds the record still for distance traveled un-refueled by piston powered aircraft. It took off, in 1947, from Hawaii and flew to New York in 14 hours, without refueling.
The Twin version was longer than the regular Mustang and had extra fuel tanks.