If the F-82 made it in World War II--what roles would it have had (ETO or PTO).

[BarnOwlLover]

This is in addition to its anticipated use as a long range escort fighter. We know that the USAAF/USAF developed night fighter variants post war, and at Elgin AFB, one was fitted with a large camera pod under the center wing. But, again, that was post war (1948 in fact), and was only done as an experiment. That said, the F-82 was designed from the start to carry that pod (or variants of it) when desired for cameras, extra machine guns/cannons, or radar. That dated back to it's very conception essentially.

So what roles would've/could've been envisioned for World War II had it entered service in say 1944 or even '45? Even given that the Allies capturing Iwo Jima and Okinawa did largely fix the escort fighter issue for B-29s in the PTO.

 

[SaparotRob]

I still see it as a long range escort fighter in the pacific. That much endurance and fire power makes it a natural. I did give some thought to its loiter time and the capabilities that would bring to fighter sweeps. A much improved P-38, if you will. That's if your time frame stretches far enough back for it to be in service to at least a week before D-Day.

Full disclosure: No research was done at all in the formation of my opinion.

 

[PAT303]

I'm just going to say for me it's a silly idea, make DH Hornets if you want a good twin.

 

[SaparotRob]

I'm just going to say for me it's a silly idea, make DH Hornets if you want a good twin.

But they ain't North American Aviation. I like the Hornet but as a hopeless romantic, I'd prefer the Whirlwind.

 

[MIflyer]

Note that the performance of the P-61A/B was not adequate in terms of speed and range and that resulted in the P-38M night fighter, which was better in some respects but judged in the field to be not superior enough to the P-61 to be put into service. A night fighter Merlin P-82, equipped with the SCR-720 radar, would have been by far the best night fighter of WWII. And it might have looked like the attached illustration, which really does not show a Korean War F-82F but something more like the P-82C model.

 

[BarnOwlLover]

In World War II in addition to a night fighter, I would've made a pretty good recon aircraft and an interdictor as well.

 

[BarnOwlLover]

I'm wondering if it made World War II, what the P-82C/D would've looked like when fully modded as a night fighter rather than a R&D plane (namely with flame dampened exhaust).

 

[Alan Stevens]

This is in addition to its anticipated use as a long range escort fighter. We know that the USAAF/USAF developed night fighter variants post war, and at Elgin AFB, one was fitted with a large camera pod under the center wing. But, again, that was post war (1948 in fact), and was only done as an experiment. That said, the F-82 was designed from the start to carry that pod (or variants of it) when desired for cameras, extra machine guns/cannons, or radar. That dated back to it's very conception essentially.

So what roles would've/could've been envisioned for World War II had it entered service in say 1944 or even '45? Even given that the Allies capturing Iwo Jima and Okinawa did largely fix the escort fighter issue for B-29s in the PTO.

What is the technical name of its middle wing?

 

[BarnOwlLover]

Now how well would it have done in the role of escort fighter, though it wasn't really needed in Europe during World War II.

 

[BarnOwlLover]

A couple of things where the F-82 might have been useful in the ETO: If it operated in conjunction with B-29s on the so-called shuttle missions, those could've been done as round trip missions depending on range. And the night fighter version might have been used for ground attack during bad weather during the Battle of the Bulge (I believe that P-61s were used in a similar role because its radar was able to track targets on the ground).