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Hmmm..do you like low flying aircraft?....then here ya go!

Tracer

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Guy I'll see what I can do about the audio. Till then, I found this video of the only flying North American Twin Mustang, the XP-82 at last years Oshkosh Fly-In. They're not real low passes, but some very nice low altitude flyby's.
 
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Another Ahab

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Guy I'll see what I can do about the audio. Till then, I found this video on the only flying North American Twin Mustang, the XP-82 at last years Oshkosh Fly-In. They're not real low passes, but some very nice low altitude flyby's.

Nice, Tracer! !Thanks for the vid!

Did these things ever see action?

Wonder what the whole idea was, reconnaisance or something?!

Guess I'll have to heed the helpful ColdWarrior and go look it up...
 

Tracer

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Nice, Tracer! !Thanks for the vid!

Did these things ever see action?

Wonder what the whole idea was, reconnaisance or something?!

Guess I'll have to heed the helpful ColdWarrior and go look it up...
Ahab, they arrived to late to see action as long range fighter escorts in WW2, but were used as day/night fighters, as well as recon and photo op in the Korean War. They are also credited with the first 3 kills of the Korean War. After the Korean War, the single seat P-51H, went to National Guard Units, and the XP-82 went to the scrappers. There are 4 XP-82s preserved today, out of the 272 built.
 
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Tracer

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Ahab, the P-38 Lightning had a central cockpit between the engine booms. Here is a pic of the P-38s offspring the XP-58 Chain Lightning, which made it's first flight in 1944. Only one was built due to problems with the aircrafts 24 cylinder Allison V3420 engines. A good engine, but not in this aircraft. It was a reliable backup engine for the B-29 Superfortress, incase the Wright R-3350 failed. Which it almost did.XP-58 Chain Lightning.jpg24 Cylinder Allison V3420 .jpg
 
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Tracer

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Thanks, Tracer!

Wonder out of all the pilots who flew these:

- Wonder how many preferred flying from the 1) Starboard canopy, versus the 2) Port canopy?

You know?! Just curious.
Ahab, I'm not sure about individual pilot preferences. But, I am a natural lefty so I would prefer the port side seat. I think they call it left eye dominant?
 

Another Ahab

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How about low flying without propulsion.
Glide ratio same as the space shuttle 4:1
A Cessna or a 747 is like 16:1
Make a decision.
Good stuff, frank8003. Thanks!

If you ever want a good read try Pegasus Bridge by Stepehn Ambrose:

- History of the British operation the night of June 5/ June 6, dawn before D-Day in Normandy.

- Glider operation whose pilots pulled it all off in the darkness

- Navigation was by wristwatch countdown from release (they were flying totally blind essentially).

- Not all made it. But the operation was sucessful: keeping Wehrmacht armor off the beaches).

Amazing story.

Check it out:

https://www.amazon.com/Pegasus-Bridge-June-6-1944/dp/0671671561
 
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