Despite looking like two P-51 Mustangs welded together, in reality, it was an entirely new design, far removed from previous twin boom craft (i.e., P-38 Lighting). Mainly, it required designing a plane where both pilots were offset from the aircraft’s center line.
Various versions of the P-82 could be equipped with an array of different munitions and armaments, including gun pods filled with as many as fourteen .50 caliber Browning having machine guns. Underwing hardpoints allowed the plane to carry thousands of pounds of bombs, High Velocity Aircraft and air-to-surface rockets, and even external fuel tanks to further its range. One sortie would have it flying as a long-range escort or reconnaissance plane, while the next as an attack bomber, rocket fighter, or interceptor.
Ironically, the Twin Mustang never saw any actual World War II combat because North American Aviation couldn’t deliver any planes until early 1946, when the war was already over. However, its adaptability let it flourish during the Korean War and became the first American plane to shoot down North Korean aircraft — three to be exact — on June 27, 1950.
For instance, instead of a co-pilot or navigator, the F and G versions carried a radar operator. In fact, Air Defense Command put radar equipment into the F-82Gs and began using them as night fighters instead of the retiring Northrop P-61 Black Widow.
While 500 of the P-82s were ordered, North American only made about 250. The P-82 Twin Mustang was the last American piston-engine and propeller-driven fighter purchased by the Air Force.
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