F-82 Twin Mustang (Squadron Signal 1608)

F-82 Twin Mustang (Squadron Signal 1608)

By Larry Davis, color by Don Greeg, Illustrated by Joe Swell. Soft cover, 50 pages. Pre-owned in good condition.
Squadron/Signal Publications issued a short series of their typical airplane guides called Mini in Action in a smaller format. This one describes the North American F-82 Twin Mustang, the last American piston-engine fighter ordered into production by the United States Air Force. Based on the P-51 Mustang, the F-82 was originally designed as a long-range escort fighter in World War II; however, the war ended well before the first production units were operational. In the postwar era, Strategic Air Command used the planes as a long-range escort fighter. Radar-equipped F-82s were used extensively by the Air Defense Command as replacements for the Northrop P-61 Black Widow as all-weather day/night interceptors. During the Korean War, Japan-based F-82s were among the first USAF aircraft to operate over Korea. The first three North Korean aircraft destroyed by U.S. forces were shot down by F-82s, the first being a North-Korean Yak-11 downed over Gimpo Airfield by the USAF 68th Fighter Squadron.