Monday, January 7, 2019

31 December 2018




On 31 December 2018, our XP-82 Twin Mustang flew for the first time since 14 December 1949. Although it wasn’t supposed to fly yesterday, all that was planned to do was the last FAA required runway high-speed taxi test, lift off for a second or two and then back down, deploy full flaps and brake to a stop. It accelerated so fast after the planned lift off that Ray, our test pilot, realized that getting it back down and stopping it in the remaining runway would be marginal. So he pushed the power back up and flew for about five minutes. 
The unexpected and dramatic acceleration of our XP-82 at 55 inches of manifold pressure occurred because it was approaching three times the horsepower of a single engine Mustang and one and a half times the weight. The XP-82 has 1860 hp each side for total of 3720 hp, compared to 1500 hp for the P-51. Our XP-82 weighs approximately only 1 1/2 times more than a P-51 - 14,700 lbs. compared to 9500 lbs. for the P-51. 
The very short gear-down flight showed zero airframe squawks, hands-off no trim required, with all engine temps and pressures normal. 
This wonderful test flight came after a 10.5 year restoration encompassing 207,000 labor hours. Many thanks to Ray Fowler, our test pilot, and all of the men and women that made this restoration possible. Thank you, Tom Reilly.



23 comments:

  1. Eccezionale siete gente meravigliosa...

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  2. Wow that is incredible! So happy for all of you that have played a part in bringing the Twin Mustang back to life!

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  3. Wow, So exciting and congratulations to the whole team on such a historic event. I hope a video is posted soon. . I can't wait to see this airplane fly with my own eyes.

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  4. Very cool. Great job and so exciting to see this. You just made a lot of vets and aircraft enthusiast so very happy.

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  5. Congratulations to all who made this happen!

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  6. Wow. Just Wow. What a performance!

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  7. Bravo! Magnificent! I can't wait to see the first air-to-air photos.

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  8. This is really quite a milestone! What arrangements need to be made to schedule a visit? Do you have any further flight testing on the schedule currently?

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  9. Absolutely magnificent!!! I never thought I would live long enough to see this happen. Your build work, attention to detail and test protocol has been flawless and the result speaks mega-volumes. Have the video cameras rolling the next time she goes up. This is also the stuff that makes great documentary films. I can easily envision your plane and the C&P Aviation F-82 flanking B-29s "Doc" and "FiFi" in the relatively near future.

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  10. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  11. Now that i have a profile, Good Job Tom Reilly. Good Job.

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  12. I'm in Sydney Australia, I've been following the project online for a few years now. this is my first time I've commented, what you have done Tom is extraordinary. Good Job Mate. Good Job. Next time im in your part of the world ide like a ride in the non drivers side. gunningm@ozemail.com.au

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  13. Congratulations
    That's a sweet sounding ship!!!
    Greg

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  14. Thank Tom Reilly and the rest of the team. I love u all😚😚😚😚

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  15. Awesome!! I love to see historic warbirds brought back to full operational status. Talk about a labor of love. I can't even begin to imagine how much that would have cost if non-donated skilled labor had been used. Wikipedia states that these aircraft cost roughly $215K to build in the very late 1940's. I'm betting that wouldn't even be a decent start to what a paid restoration would have cost! πŸ‘

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  16. Can't stop watching the videos of that first flight. What an incredible aircraft, looks fabulous on the ground, and even better in the air. Your blog has been and still is by far the most captivating online restoration story I have followed. Thank you all, congratulations from Holland and I hope I will see you and the XP-82 do what you do best sometime soon!
    Best regards, Rik VanderBroeck, Landgraaf, The Netherlands

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  17. Tom, I've been around you too many years. I watched you work your magic on Corvets first ... then planes.
    Nay-sayers don't know your focus like I do. Congratulations buddy. Rick

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  18. An amazing accomplishment. Congratulations to you and your team of aircraft artisans~

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  19. Wow just way to Kool!!!! And the story about how you went about to ding parts is amazing. Congratulations

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