Aircraft Market Place

By:      Norm Goyer

The British Short Empire flying boat was modified to carry a Mercury four engine mail plane part way on trans Atlantic crossings.

The British Empire in the 1930s was huge, spreat out over many continents where a number of smaller colonies and countries owned and governed by the British Government located in England. The need for quicker travel than what was currently available by steamship was a major problem. The Short four engine Empire flying boats did have transcontinental range, such as from England across the Atlantic to South America. The problem was the passenger load and freight allowance would be mostly consumed by gasoline and oil for the four large radial engines. There had to be paying revenue in order for the flights to be possible if not profitable. Short engineers knew that it took more horsepower to lift an airplane into the air than to keep it in the air once it was at altitude. The plan was to modify the Empire flying boat to act as an aircraft carrier for a smaller Short Mercury four engine flying boat which would have two crew men, and could easily carry payload such as passengers, mail and packages to far off destinations.

The large eight engine seaplane composite was used for a short time by the British in flights to Canada and Egypt.

The Short-Mayo composite project comprised of the Short S.21 Maia,  which was a variant of the Short  Empire flying-boat fitted with a trestle or pylon on the top of the fuselage to support the Short S.20 Mercury. Although generally similar to the Empire boat, Maia differed considerably in detail: the hull sides were flared and used an expanded lower fuselage called “tumblehome“. The Empire had vertical sides but the Maia needed the wider bottom to increase the planeing surface (necessary for the higher takeoff weights); larger control surfaces; an increase in total wing area from 1,500 sq ft to 1,750 sq ft. The engines were mounted further from the wing root to clear Mercury’s floats and the rear fuselage was swept up to raise the tail plane relative to the wing. Like the Empire boats, Maia could be equipped to carry 18 passengers. Maia first flew (without Mercury) on  July 27, 1937, piloted by Shorts’ Chief Test Pilot, John Lankester Parker.

The upper component, Mercury, was a twin-float, four-engine seaplane crewed by a single pilot and a navigator, who sat in tandem in a fully enclosed cockpit. There was capacity for 1,000 lb of mail. Mercury’s flight controls, except for elevator and rudder trim tabs, were locked in neutral until separation. Mercury’s first flight, also piloted by Parker, was on 5 September 5,1937.

As planned all eight engines were used during combined flight but the controls of Mercury were locked. The airfoil designs of the two aircraft were such that Mercury’s wings were carrying the major part of the air load at the speed and height chosen for separation. Safety locks prevented separation until this speed and height were reached and both pilots had an unlocking handle, both of which had to be pulled to cause release.

The very large double seaplane did make a successful flight to South America, breaking many records for long distance over the ocean flights.

The mechanism that held the two aircraft together allowed for a small degree of movement. Lights indicated when the upper component was in fore-aft balance so trim could be adjusted prior to release. The pilots could then release their respective locks. At this point the two aircraft remained held together by a third lock which released automatically at 3,000 lb. The design was such that at separation Maia would tend to drop while Mercury would climb.

The first successful in-flight separation was carried out from the Shorts works at Borstal, on  February, 6, 1938, Maia piloted by Parker and Mercury by Harold Piper. Following further successful tests, the first transatlantic flight was made on July, 21, 1938 from  the west coast of Ireland, to Montreal, Canada, a flight of 2,930 miles.  As well as Mercury’s payload, the launch aircraft Maia was also carrying 10 passengers and luggage. Mercury separated from her carrier at 8 pm to continue what was to become the first commercial non-stop East-to-West transatlantic flight by a heavier-than-air machine. This initial journey took 20 hrs 21 min at an average ground speed of 144 mph. The Maia-Mercury composite continued in use with Imperial Airways, including Mercury flying to Alexandria, Egypt, in December 1938. After modifications to extend Mercury’s range, it subsequently established a record flight for a seaplane of 6,045 miles from Dundee in Scotland to Alexander Bay, in South Africa between 6 and 8 October 6 to 8, 1938.

• Crew: 2 (pilot and navigator/radio operator)
• Payload: 1,000 lb (454 kg)
• Length: 51 ft (15.5)
• Wingspan: 73 ft (22.2 m)
• Height: 20 ft 3 in ^[14] (6.17 m)
• Wing area: 611 ft² (56.8 m²)
• Empty weight: 10,163 lb (4,614 kg)
• Loaded weight: 26,800 lb ()
• Max. takeoff weight: 15,500 lb (7,030 kg)
• Engines: 4 Napier Rapier VI 16-cylinder “H-block” piston engines, 365 hp each
• * Normal composite launch weight: 20,800 lb
• Record composite launch weight: 26,800 lb

Performance

• Maximum speed: 212 mph
• Cruise speed: 195 mph
• Range: 3,900 mi
• Wing loading: 33.6 lb/sq ft
• Extended range: 6,100 mi (Cape flight)

• Crew: 3
• Capacity: 18
• Length: 84 ft 11 in
• Wingspan: 114 ft
• Height: 32 ft 7½ in
• Wing area: 1,750 ft²
• Empty weight: 24,745 lb
• Loaded weight: 38,000 lb
• Engines: 4 Bristol Pegasus XC radial engine, 919 hp each
• *Takeoff weight (composite): 27,700 lb
• Performance
• Maximum speed: 200 mph
• Range: 850 mi
• Service ceiling: 20,000 ft

By:      Norm Goyer

The F-82 was built due to a need for a long range fighter bomber.

During the closing days of World War II, it was evident to the Army Air Force Generals that a long range fighter bomber was needed in order to reach further targets or to escort large bombers whose range far outdistanced the current crop of fighters. This realization probably grew from the planning stages for dropping the “bomb” on far away Japanese cities. The aircraft which came to mind was the outstanding service record of the North American P-51 Mustang. Would two Mustangs bolted together be twice as good as two single Mustangs. Even if it was only 1.5 times better than a solo Mustang, it could do the job. Thus the Twin Mustang or P-82 was born. Within a few short months the Air Force changed designation and the P-82 became the F-82. Pursuits were obsolete, fighters were more appropriate.  however, the war ended well before the first production units were operational, so its postwar role changed to that of night-fighting.

The aircraft was used in Korea as a night fighter. It shot down the first plane of the conflict.

The most significant event which triggered the brass to order a production run of the F-82 was the introduction by Russia of an exact copy of the Boeing B-50 which Russia demonstrated at an International Aviation Demonstration in 1947. Why would the Soviets start building their version of a B-50 designed by Boeing as a specific long range bomber capable of carrying atom bombs? Did it mean that Russia had also manufactured their own version of the atomic bomb? The USA could not ignore this event. Our Air Force needed a long range bomber escort immediately. The F-82 was ordered into production as the USSR was indeed expected soon to have nuclear weapons, The introduction of the Soviet Tu-4 (B-50) was a shock to US military planners, since it meant that the US mainland might soon be vulnerable to nuclear attack from the air.

The F-82 was also used with the Strategic Air Command as a long range bomber escort.

Until jet interceptors could be developed and put into service, the Twin Mustangs already built, were seen as an interim solution to SAC’s fighter escort mission for its strategic bomber force and could also serve as an all-weather air defense interceptor. Radar-equipped F-82s were used extensively by the Air Defense Command as replacements for the Northrop P-61 Black Widow night fighter. 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 by the USAF 68th Fighter Squadron. The illustrious career of the Twin Mustang, the last piston powered fighter ever ordered by the Air Force, was starting to gather momentum.

The most famous F-82 is Betty Joe" on display at the AF Museum in Dayton, Ohio. It flew nonstop, non refueling, from Hawaii to NYC. The record still stands for its category.

The Twin Mustang was also pressed into service as a long range bomber escort with the Strategic Air Command. Check out the movie Strategic Air Command with Jimmy Stewart, outstanding aerial footage of the long range bombers during actual missions along with scenes shot just for the movie. You’ll enjoy this one.  The sheer size of the Soviet Union dictated that a bombing mission would be a 12-hour affair, there and back, from bases in Europe or Alaska, most of it over Soviet territory. Also the weather, which was bad enough in Western Europe, would make bombing missions impossible over the Soviet Union between October and May. With no long-range jet fighters yet available to perform escort missions for the strategic bomber force, the mission of the 27th FEW was to fly these long-range missions with their F-82E Twin Mustangs. These aircraft had a range over 1,400 mi, which meant that with external fuel tanks it could fly from London to Moscow, loiter for 30 minutes over the target, and return, the only American fighter which could do so. It also had an operational ceiling of 40,000 ft, where it could stay close to the bombers it was designed to protect. The first production F-82Es reached the 27th in early 1948, and almost immediately the group was deployed to McCord AFB, Washington, in June where its squadrons stood on alert on a secondary air defense mission due to heightened tensions over the Berlin Airlift. Meanwhile the F-82s were becoming almost indispensible in Korea but the heavy flying schedule had taken its toll on the airplanes. The fact was that when F-82 production ended in April 1948, no provision had been made for an adequate supply of spare parts, as the aircraft was not expected to remain in operational service once jet-powered aircraft were available. Further, the Air Force simply did not have that many F-82s in the first place (182 total operational aircraft), and did not want to weaken the F-82 units committed to the Pacific Northwest or Atlantic coast, or to draw from the 14 F-82Hs in Alaska. Fortunately the new jet fighters finally arriving in Korea had brought the war to a close. The last need for the F-82 Mustang was over. This “make do” airplane really performed well and did get the job done.

Specifications for F-82-G

• Crew: 2
• Length: 42 ft 9 in
• Wingspan: 51 ft 3 in
• Height: 13 ft 10 in
• Wing area: 408 ft²
• Empty weight: 15,997 lb
• Max. takeoff weight: 25,591 lb
• Engines:  Allison V-1710-143/145 counter-rotating liquid-cooled V12 engines, 1,380 hp takeoff each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 482 mph (400 kn,) at 21,000 ft
• Range: 2,350 mi, 1,950 nmi,
• Service ceiling: 38,900 ft

Armament

• Guns: 6 × .50 in (12.7 mm) Browning M2 machine guns
• Rockets: 25 × 5 in (127 mm) rockets
• Bombs: 4,000 lb