One of a Kind, Back in the Air — The XP-82 Twin Mustang
今日は日曜日...
アメリカの往年の名機、更にRareな Twin Mustang...
英語の習慣化の題材でした ‼︎
“A lot of people assume that NAA (North American Aviation) simply took two P-51 Mustangs and slapped them together — this couldn’t be farther from the truth. In fact, there are less than a handful of parts that are interchangeable between a P-51 and the P-82 Twin Mustang. The elevator trim wheel, the canopy crank; the stick grip is the same but not the bar; the horn on the bottom of the rudder and the rudder trim tab hinges; and the hydraulic accumulator and half the tail wheel. I’m not talking about nuts and bolts and pulleys. I’m talking about specific parts. When I took on this project over 10 years ago, I figured it would take four to five years and X number of millions of dollars to complete. After I read Edgar Schmued’s (NAA designer of the P-51 Mustang) book I realized I was way off. The NA-73 (P-51 Mustang) took 204,000 engineering hours to complete to the first flight. The XP-82 took 1,470,000. Seven times as much. I guess I should have read the book first. But we’re almost done, and although it’s been a long road, this restoration has been nothing short of magical, and I know thousands of people who can’t wait to see the XP-82 fly again.” — Tom Reilly