F-82T Twin-Turbo-Mustang

[rickshaw]

F-82T Twin-Turbo-Mustang

 

In 1968, Cavalier Aircraft owner/founder David Lindsay began developing a highly modified version of the Cavalier Mustang for use as a counter-insurgency aircraft. Cavalier initially mated a Rolls-Royce Dart 510 turboprop to a Mustang II airframe. This privately-funded prototype was also intended for the same CAS/COIN mission that the Mustang II was built for. The Turbo Mustang III had radically increased performance, along with an associated increase in payload and decrease in cost of maintenance, and was equipped with Bristol ceramic armor to protect the engine, airframe and pilot. Despite numerous sales attempts to the United States Air Force, neither the US military nor any foreign operators purchased the Turbo Mustang III.

 

Seeking a company with mass production capability, the Turbo Mustang III, renamed the "Enforcer," was sold to Piper Aircraft in late 1970. Cavalier Aircraft Corp. was closed in 1971 so the founder/owner, David Lindsay, could help continue develop the Enforcer concept with Piper. In 1968 with a $US12 million appropriation from Congress, Piper built two new Enforcers, giving the new prototypes the designation PA-48. These aircraft were evaluated by the USAF, but flown only by Piper test pilots.

 

In 1971, Piper built two Enforcers by heavily modifying two existing Mustang airframes, fitting them with Rolls-Royce Dart turboprop engines along with numerous other significant modifications. One airframe was a single seat (called the PE-1 and FAA registered as N201PE), the other a dual-control aircraft (the PE-2, registered N202PE). Prior to the Pave COIN evaluation, N202PE was lost in a crash off the Florida coast on 12 July 1971 due to flutter caused by a Piper-modified elevator trim tab. Although the Enforcer performed well in the 1971–1972 Pave COIN test flown by USAF pilots, Piper failed to secure an Air Force contract.

 

However, the CIA seeing a use for a cheap, easily "deniable" aircraft with better performance than the other aircraft that it was flying as part of its "secret war" in Indochina latched upon the Enforcer and purchased two dozen of them. Employed over the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos, the enforcers performed well. "Dutch" Landersby who was in charge of the covert CIA manufacture of the Enforcers was looking for something with even better performance. He decided to see what he could find at the Davis-Monthan "Boneyard" where many old USAF aircraft were stored, after they had been declared obsolescent. While poking around in a dry, dusty back corner of the vast storage facility he came across a line of F-82 "Twin Mustangs". It was like a brilliant light bulb had gone off in his head and so the Twin-Turbo-Mustang was born. Its excellent endurance, high economy and heavy payload made it ideal for interdiction duties along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, helping to stop the ravening Communist hordes destroy Democracy in South East Asia.

 

This Twin-Turbo-Mustang was the last surviving example after the Communist Pathet-Lao over ran Vientiane. Flown personally by Prince Prince Bong Bang of Champussak, he was able to fly out of the capital to Bangkok. It carries his personal symbol, the Black Panther on the fuselage sides. When it was discovered several years later in a hangar, interestingly the Royal Lao Air Force roundels on each fuselage side were found to removable. It was then found that as part of the CIA deniability campaign, the symbols were frequently changed to confuse Western pressmen.

 

 

 

[mg]http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/9697/1001878e.jpg[/img]

 

 

The Model

 

Made from the Heritage Aviation Piper Enforcer Turbprop powered model, using two of them, coupled with a Monogram F-82 kit. I handed the exhausts to make them less visible to SA-7 missiles, both exhausts now pointing inwards on the model. The decals came from a generic set of Combodia/Laotion/Thailand which I purchased on Ebay.

Edited July 8, 2017 by rickshaw