There was no doubt that the XP-82 Twin Mustang was the star of the show at last week’s SUN ‘n FUN.
Warbird expert Frederick A. Johnsen captured this video of the plane in flight during the show:
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They went to all that trouble to Restore it, then don’t fix it so the Tail Wheels Retract
and they should have 2 people Flying it
I’m curious as to why you say there should be two people flying it? How many other twin engine land retracts air planes require a two person crew?
I agree, the tail wheels were locked in the down position to protect against tail wheel failure.
You see this on almost all the P-51H pictures.
Can somebody explain why the tail wheels are down? That seems not normal for retractable tailwheels when not in landing mode.
That is curious.
I thought they might have been stuck. It’s hard to tell if they had started to tuck into the belly on take-off because it is so far away. But at 3:17 (or so), in what appears to be mid-flight, they look fully deployed.
Malfunction? If they are on a separate switch from the front wheels (I have no idea), may the pilot just forgot?
Because the CG is behind the main wheels.
I’m not sure about the F-82, but many P-51s and F-51s were modified to fix the tailwheel in the down position. Gear doors were sometimes removed as well. I believe the reason was that the retract mechanism could get fouled by debris when operating on grass, dirt and mud runways and would cause the tailwheel to collapse on landing or remain stuck in the up position. Landing with a tailwheel up or unlocked causes a lot of damage to the rudder, fuselage and coolant door.
Just wow !
Watching it this morning was my moment of zen. Thanks!
Thanks, Fred. Great video. What an awesome airplane and reconstruction story behind it.