The right hand XP-82 throttle quadrant during re-assembly. (image via Tom Reilly)

It’s that time again, and we have another of our monthly updates from Tom Reilly about his intrepid team’s efforts in restoring the sole surviving XP-82 Twin Mustang. Tom Reilly is a master craftsman, and the quality of the workmanship going into this project is clear for all to see. This update is based upon Tom’s words.

The left hand outer wing panel structure (image via Weezie)

Wings

Paul and Randall have completed the final back-drilling of all four top wing skins and riveted all of the ribs to the spars. Weezie and Paiden (the new guy) are finishing up riveting doublers (all 64 of them) on the top of each hat channel assembly located in the wing fuel tank bays.

Ayman, Jeremy, Tim and a part-time volunteer, Josh, have pre-drilled all the stringers, ribs, bulkheads and spar caps for the left outer wing panel,  a mirror image of their work on the right wing a couple of months ago. Very soon Paul and Randall will complete the final small tasks in the right wing prior to mounting it in the fixture, and they will then switch over to the left wing. Following that, Ayman and Tim will complete the coolant exit doors and fuselage ducting.

Time is getting closer for both outer wings to come off the center section and go into the permanent wing fixture for final drilling and riveting. Tom and his team will then rotate the Twin Mustang 90˚ to the right so they can begin attaching both aft fuselage extensions and the horizontal stabilizer.

English Wheel Parts

Casey Hill, English Wheel parts maker extraordinaire, completed two under canopy aft fuselage skins. They look magnificent!

Systems (Canopies and Coolant Tubes)

Weezie and Tom have completed both cockpit emergency canopy jettison systems.  There must be a mile of cables and pulleys for both of those systems to work, and precise set-up measurements must be followed to assure that each canopy truck releases simultaneously. Tim has completed the final tightening and clamping of all forward coolant tubing in both cockpits.

The right hand XP-82 throttle quadrant during re-assembly. (image via Tom Reilly)

Right-hand Throttle Quadrant

Ken Friend (volunteer), Weezie and Tom completed the right-hand throttle quadrant.

During the Alaska crash recovery in 2008, Tom stumbled over the fire-damaged remains of the right-hand quadrant.  Most of the aluminum parts were burned beyond recognition, but the key steel parts, arms, bushings and shafts survived. There are many changes between the right-hand and left-hand quadrants due to the different locations and through-firewall holes for the throttle and prop control rods. During the recovery, Tom looked at the throttle quadrant and made the decision that it was too damaged to load into the basket, but then had second thoughts a day later. He’s very grateful he decided to take it as some of these steel parts would have been very time consuming to duplicate. The team performed Rockwell testing on the hardness of the steel parts to determine that the fire had not permanently damaged them, and they all passed.

Machine Shops

One of the projects four sub-contract machine shops has been making magnificent progress on all of the remaining large and small parts that needed to complete the XP-82 project. There are still quite a number to finish, but the list is getting shorter each day.  Some of the key parts that were completed last month were the heat exchanger end caps, mounting rings, seat rail mounts and flap arms (that were pictured in last month’s news release).  With these parts completed, Martin Radiator is making good progress on our two heat exchangers.

Weezie, Tim and Tom have been installing the remaining countless small parts in the fuselages and center section that have been detailed and packed away for months in the storage container.

Heat exchanger end caps, mounting rings, flap arms and seat rail mounts. (Image via Tom Reilly)

Bumps in the Road – Firewall Dishpans

The dishpan is a stainless pan similar to a small kitchen sink that mounts the oil tank into the steel firewall.

The project had the two original XP-82 dishpans, one perfect and one severely damaged and an E model one that came with the Colorado parts find that was identical except for 2” in vertical height. After Tom started making a modification to add these two vertical inches, he realized that when the instrument panel cover was off, the welded modification would be obvious and he felt that was unacceptable. So Tom decided to press a new one.  It’s a very difficult job, but it can be done with a bit of care and skill.

That’s all for this month, and we must thank Tom very much for his update!

This article is based on the XP-82 Restoration Project January Newsletter and is reproduced here with the permission of Tom Reilly. Visit the XP-82 Restoration Project’s website for more information.

North American XP-82 44-83887 (U.S. Air Force photo)

“Time flies,” as they say, and hot on the heals of our January XP-82 restoration project update, Warbirds News now has the goods on what Tom Reilly and his team have been up to with their Twin Mustang prototype in February. This update is based upon Tom’s words. Go beyond the jump to read the details, and see the fascinating images of true craftsmanship.

Outboard Wings

Ayman and Randall working to get the holes drilled on the left-hand outer for skin installation. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Ayman, Tim, Paiden and Josh have completed all of the preliminary rib-to-stringer-to-spar drill-ups on the left-hand wing. They made all of the preliminary drill-ups with a reduced-size bit to allow a small amount of alignment adjustment, if needed, once the wings are in the assembly fixture.

Paul and Randall test fitting the leading edge skin on the right-hand outer wing panel. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Paul and Randall have completed the final preliminary drill-up of the right-hand outboard wing and are now fitting the two leading edge skins.

Paul checking the fit of the leading edge skins on the right-hand outer wing panel. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Wing Leading Edges

Weezie and Tom went to Thrust Aircraft in Albany, GA, to have the leading edges rolled on their Farnham roller, a special roller that will simultaneously roll two different leading edge curvatures on each pair of skins for each wing.

Tom and a technician from Thrush Aircraft inserting the sheet metal for the left-hand leading edge skin into the Farnham roller. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The left-hand outer wing panel leading edge skin part way through the rolling process at Thrush Aircraft. (photo via Tom Reilly)

A close-up of the leading edge skin in the Farnham roller. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Checking the shape of the leading edge wing skin against the template Tom took with him to Thrush Aircraft. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Aileron Controls and Fittings (Boosted / Non-boosted)

The XP-82 prototype came with non-hydraulic boosted aileron and elevator controls, unlike all subsequent B through H production models. The boosted controls assist with taking the control forces off of the pilot’s stick when the air speeds start getting up in the 400+ mph range. The Twin Mustang parts purchased from Alaska all had boosted aileron control fittings in the wings and ailerons. Tom’s team were able to save all four fittings (two hinge and two control) required in the four ailerons to use with the non-boosted XP system. (The two outboard ailerons do not require any individual aileron controls as they are both mechanically linked to the inboard ailerons.) The team are machining the non-boosted bellcranks and associated cable sectors required in both wings and these should be completed within a couple of months.

Center Section Fuel System

A glimpse inside the wheel well at the freshly installed fuel lines. The hoses lead into and from the grey-colored C-4 fuel strainer at the bottom center of the image. The silver-painted main undercarriage pintle can be seen just behind the left-most fuel line. (image via Tom Reilly)

Tom completed the fuel feed lines that run from the fuel shut-offs through the wheel-wells to the C-4 strainers, and then through a pair of fittings on each firewall to the engine-driven fuel pumps. He chose to use the later model Stratoflex 111 hose and 300 fittings due to their fire resistant construction. The original hose and fittings were a Mil-H 6000 non-reinforced hose with pushon nipple fittings that were not at all fire resistant. This is a safety improvement that Tom chose to do, but this modification could easily be changed back to the original style if desired for originality.

Machine Work

The sub-contractor machine shops are making excellent progress on the last number of items that needed for the center section and wings. Martin Radiator is also making good progress on the two heat exchangers.

Floorboards

The phenolic/carbon fiber floorboards are under manufacture in Florida using the molds Tom’s team made.

Components for the two tail wheel assemblies. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Tail Wheel Assemblies

The two tail wheel assemblies have passed NDI inspection. Tom built eight new 4130 steel tube mounting arms as the originals were rusted due to being in the weather for years. Although two of the four mounting lugs passed NDI inspection, Tom chose to have them re-machined due to some deep scratches. The only other tail wheel parts still requiring manufacture are the two yokes which hold the tail wheel, and the four small tail wheel gear doors as the originals were all severely corroded.

Push-Pull Control Rods

While in Florida having the tail wheel parts inspected, Tom had his welder extraordinaire in Titusville weld up many of the control rod ends to new 4130 steel tubing.

Additional Restored Components

A freshly restored set of rudder pedals. (photo via Tom Reilly)

A pair of freshly restored flap arms compared to a damaged original in the centre. (photo via Tom Reilly)

What A Find!

A group from LaGrange, GA flew in to look at the XP-82 project in February. While they were there, one of the men, James Mackey, contributed an original Twin Mustang Flight Manual that had the serial number of Tom’s XP-82 penciled in on the first page. Mackey told Tom that he acquired the manual from a fellow who was stationed at NACA Lewis in Cleveland, Ohio where the XP-82 was based during flight trials. What a find!

The original Twin Mustang manual gifted to Tom Reilly by James Mackey. Note the serial number for Tom’s XP-82 pencilled in on the top left of the page. (image via Tom Reilly)

Many thanks to Tom Reilly for contributing this month’s project update. Please visit www.xp-82twinmustangproject.com to learn more.

The leading edge skins on the outboard starboard wing are now in place. (photo via Tom Reilly)

WarbirdsNews has received the latest update from Tom Reilly on the XP-82 Twin Mustang under restoration in his workshop in Douglas, Georgia. We thought you’d like to see what they’ve been up to! Click the jump to find out more…

Wings

The right-hand wing leading edge skin is now completely riveted in place as are all of the internal close-out doubler plates in the left and right-hand wing forward spars. One of the team’s machine shops has completed the two aileron sector support boxes, and they are now fitted into the leading edge spars at the root end. The flat skins for the right-hand wing are part way through the drilling and dimpling process. Final riveting for the skins will take place once the wing is installed in its jig.

Riveting the right-hand wing leading edge skins. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Riveting the right-hand wing leading edge skins. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Aileron sector support boxes machined by one of the teams specialized shops. (photo via Tom Reilly)

One structural access panel installation on the top inboard leading edge of each wing had the team scratching their heads for a while. The factory drawings showed these access panels (XP all the way through the G models) right above the sector support boxes so one could gain access to the sector for adjustment. Without these access panels installed, one would have to remove the wing for final interior cable adjustments. However, countless pictures of other F-82s show no evidence of having the access panels installed. But the original XP-82 top wing skins showed clear evidence of the panel installation, so Tom made the decision to install them to preserve the airframe’s authenticity.

Note the position for the access panel in the wing leading edge (just to right of blue tape). (photo via Tom Reilly)

Another machine shop is hard at work manufacturing the aileron hinge points and non-boosted actuators. The sub-assembly work on the left-hand wing structure has now caught up with the right-hand wing, and the team has started preliminary leading edge and surface skin drilling with  reduced-size drill bits.

Left-hand wing skins during pre-drilling and dimpling phase. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Fuselages

With the canopy jettison systems complete, the team has now finished the sheet metal panels that cover the outside of the canopy rails. They all had  stepped joggles rolled into them to accept the lower edges of the canopy frames. The restoration crew needed specially shaped beading rollers to press in these joggles.

One of the canopies during the assembly phase. Note the complex joggle in the skins to make allowance for the plexiglass. (photo via Tom Reilly)

One of the canopies under assembly. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The team is currently assembling both windshield frames and their new bows. The have already finished installing the glass into one of the two canopy frames. The second canopy frame requires the installation of a little more internal skin structure and the new canopy bow before it can receive its glass.

One of the new canopy bows under assembly. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The left-hand set of rudder pedals installed, and with cables attached. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The left-hand pair of rudder pedals are fully assembled and installed, along with their balance cables.
The throttle and prop quadrant cables that synchronize the left and right quadrants together are beginning to take shape as well.

Center Section

The newly completed control rods (welded and painted) that operate the forward spar uplock hook for the forward edge of the main landing gear door are installed.

The gear door control rods are now in their proper place. (photo via Tom Reilly)

One of Tom’s men completed the aileron trim gear box mounted on the left aft spar. It’s a very complex little structure with all kinds of bends and angles designed in it.

Gerald completed this deceptively complex piece of manufacturing for the aileron-trim gear box housing. (photo via Tom Reilly)

And that’s all for this month. Many thanks again to Tom Reilly for the update! You can learn more about the project on their blog HERE. Please be sure to check back with WarbirdsNews in early May for the next installation following the XP-82′s road to recovery!

Please click HERE for some of our previous updates.

WarbirdsNews has received the latest XP-82 Twin Mustang restoration update from Tom Reilly at his workshop in Douglas, Georgia. We thought you’d enjoy seeing what they’ve been up to! Click the jump to find out more…

Wings: Sheet Metal

The men have been making excellent progress on both wings. The majority of skinning and riveting for the forward top and bottom of the right-hand wing is now complete. All of the in-conduit wiring, pitot, and aileron cable tubing, and drop tank pressure and feed lines are now pre-installed in the right-hand wing.

The final structure set-up on the left-hand wing is now complete, and the preliminary dimpling, counter-sinking and skinning of the top skins is progressing well. Due to the spring/summer temperature fluctuations, the crew must check the washout, sweep and dihedral each morning when it is cool, and each afternoon as the temperature increases 30 to 40 degrees. The wings are in a jig to help prevent the temperature variations (expansions and contractions) from changing the set-ups as the exact dihedral and washout measurements must be within one-twentieth of one degree to allow the aircraft to fly “hands off”. With the dihedral and washout locked in to the required settings, the team completed the final reaming for the .3735″ lower wing-attach bolt holes on both wings. A reamer is necessary when precision cut holes are required, both in terms of circularity and size, as a normal drill bit will not suffice.

Freshly remanufactured XP-82 wing attach angle nut plate channels. Note the uneven nut plate spacing. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The XP-82′s wing-attach angles require nut plate channels for the bolts to fasten into due to the lack of access for tightening standard nuts. For some reason, North American chose to use nut plate channels with nonstandard spacing on the upper sides of the lower attach angles located in the fuel tank bays. None of the project’s original nut plate channels were repairable, and the non-standard spacing made it impossible to purchase replacements from any supplier as they are no longer manufactured. Therefore the restoration team had to manufacture their own nut plate channel strips.

Left-hand lower wing attach angle with nut plate channels riveted on. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Also, one of the team’s sub-contract machine shops is now close to completing the aileron sectors and mounting hinge points for both wings.

Canopy, Windshields and Glare Shields:

The second canopy glass has now been fitted into the freshly repaired canopy frame. Parts from three damaged canopies in the project were required  to repair and complete the right-hand canopy frame.

The damaged and corroded right-hand canopy frame. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Repaired right-hand canopy frame with fitted glass. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The right-hand glare shield was another story. The left-hand glare shield was relatively simple restore, as it was basically undamaged. The heavily damaged, right-hand glare shield required a major amount of repair and the splicing together of many re-pressed parts to complete an airworthy unit.

The newly-repaired right-hand glare shield. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The heavily damaged right-hand glare shield. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The project has finished manufacturing the two central pieces of 1.5” thick, bullet-resistant windshield glass, and is in the process of forming the four side glass side pieces to fit the windshield bows and glare shield frames.

The newly-manufactured central windshield glass for the left and right-hand cockpits. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Throttle Quadrant Cables:

One restoration team member is currently completing all of the cable hook-ups that simultaneously link both throttle quadrants together via cables that run through the center section from one cockpit to the other.

The original throttle quadrant. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The restored throttle quadrant with the cable hook-ups in place. (photo via Tom Reilly)

A detailed view of the throttle quadrant hook up connectors. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Inside Skins for Outboard Gear Doors:

Another workshop has built the tooling for pressing a set of skins for the serpentine-shaped outboard gear doors, and is getting ready to manufacture the parts for the XP-82.

Heat Treating:

The project took another batch of parts that needed heat-treating to Thrush Aircraft in Albany, GA, to be brought up to T-3 condition. Tom Reilly said the amount of special help Thrush has given towards the XP-82 has been priceless, and wishes to express his thanks to the company.

And that’s all for this month. Many thanks again to Tom Reilly for the update! You can learn more about the project on their blog HERE. Please be sure to check back with WarbirdsNews in early June for the next installation following the XP-82′s road to recovery!

Please click HERE for some of our previous updates.

Static lines in left-hand fuselage.

WarbirdsNews has received the latest XP-82 Twin Mustang restoration update from Tom Reilly at his workshop in Douglas, Georgia. We thought you’d enjoy seeing what they’ve been up to! Click the jump to find out more…

Fuselages

Fuel pressure, oil pressure, manifold pressure, airspeed and static lines along with the parking brake valve in the left-hand fuselage

The team is close to completing the hydraulic and instrumentation lines for the two fuselages. There is a massive tangle of these lines running through the center section up through the floors and to both instrument panels. Along with this multitude of aluminum tubing, the team has been synchronizing all of the levers on both throttle and propeller quadrants. The static lines (neutral air pressure) are now fully installed, and the lines run to three locations; two in the left and one in the right fuselage.

The hydraulic lines under the pilot’s floorboards that run among the coolant tubes have been difficult to reinstall in exactly the same way the prototype had them. In production airplanes, they ran in a much more logical order, not that duplicating the original has caused any problems the restoration team were unable to overcome.

The team has also completed all of the flap hydraulic lines that run from the center section’s trailing edge and attach to the flap hydraulic cylinders that are mounted on top of the center section underneath both fuselages. The flap lines run from the flap hydraulic selector that is mounted aft of the left-hand center section wheel well to the center of the gun bay, then aft to the rear of the center spar. They then split and two lines on each side run out to the retract cylinders that mount to the underside of both left and right fuselages.

North American Aviation had a unique way of installing flexible lines on both the two main retract cylinders and the two flap cylinders. Instead of having a swivel joint, they just bent the hydraulic line(s) in a 360 or 720 degree flex circle, depending upon the amount of flexure that each cylinder would exert on the line.

The coiled flexible hydraulic lines for the flap cylinder.

The aft spar hydraulic lines.

Reilly mentioned that there have been questions on the XP-82 website and Facebook page asking why they are using AN fittings. This is because for the XP-82 and all subsequent production versions of the F-82, North American used all AN fittings, replacing the Curtiss (A/C) fittings that the company used on all its previous products.

Curtiss on the left; AN on the right.

On the XP-82 Twin Mustang prototype, North American placed four static port holes in the fuselages during the development process to locate the optimal zero pressure area for installing the static ports on the production machines. Reilly’s group have duplicated these test static holes for the sake of originality.

One of the fuselage static ports.

Canopies and Windshields

Both canopies are now totally finished, and all of the canopy trucks are completed and ready to be installed. The two glare shields (pilot and, copilot) and armor center windshield panels are also now complete and just  awaiting the forming of the side glasses.

The freshly completed XP-82 canopies.

The two completed windshield assemblies and minus the glass side panels.

A newly machined canopy truck below an original.

Wings

There has been just about a full team effort to complete the two outer wing panels. The team has finished the riveting for the leading edge sub-assembly, and installed all of the aluminum lines. These lines consist of electrical conduit tubes, aileron cable guidance tubes, pitot lines, drop tank pressure and return fuel feed tubes, boost pump, liquidometer, strobe, tip lights and pitot heat conduit tubes. The bottom inboard skins on the right hand wing are now completed awaiting the closeout panels.

Every top and bottom skin on the left-hand wing is now completed with all of the dimpling, counter-sinking and edge fitting. Also close to completion are the left-hand leading edge and the four top wing skins for the left-hand wing which are being riveted this week.

Newly formed left-hand leading edge bow (bare metal).

Right-hand wing

Aluminum tubes and wiring in the left-hand wing leading edge.

Another view of the wiring and tubing installations in the left wing.

Subcontract Machine Shop

All of the aileron and flap hinges are well on their way to being completed, and the aileron sectors are also in process. The last large machine shop items to complete will be the four secondary engine mount structures. These pieces are shaped like a T platform and bolt to the Merlin engine mount pads. Although large, they are not complicated pieces to make.

Firewall

The large epoxy-cast tooling mold that the restoration team made a couple of months ago is now completed with its 1⁄2” steel welded containment structure to support the bottom and sides. Pressing the stainless steel into the mold, will require over 200 tons of pressure, but with the 1⁄2” steel structure surrounding the epoxy mold, the hydraulic press will not shatter the epoxy.

The welded steel containment structure for the firewall mold.

And that’s all for this month. Many thanks again to Tom Reilly for the update! You can learn more about the project on their blog HERE. Please be sure to check back with WarbirdsNews in early July for the next installation following the XP-82′s road to recovery!

Please click HERE for some of our previous updates.

Editor’s note: All photos via Tom Reilly, with much thanks!

As usual, WarbirdsNews has received the latest XP-82 Twin Mustang restoration update from Tom Reilly at his workshop in Douglas, Georgia. Here’s what they’ve been up to this month!

Wings/Center Section

The crew completed the left-hand leading edge and finally riveted it to the forward spar of the left-hand wing.

Final riveting of the left-hand wing top skins. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The remainder of the top inboard skins are now finished through their structural highshear riveting (special collared steel rivets through the wing-attach angles and stringers). On both wings, the crew has three of the four top skins completed along with the two lower inboard skins at the attach angles.

Reilly’s team chose to use the center section as the parent fixture for the attachment of the wing-attach angles, and the riveting of these upper and lower inboard skins to lock everything in place on sweep and dihedral. The two wings will come off during the second week of July and go into their fixtures for final adjustment, and to confirm the washout angles (the downward twist of the outboard section of the wings).

A lower view of the right-hand wing. (photo via Tom Reilly)

An upper view of the right-hand wing. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Hydraulic, Instrumentation and Brake Lines

The majority of the lines running along both cockpit floors, and up behind and through each firewall are now finished. Reilly noted that it has been difficult to duplicate the exact routing for each line as most of them were removed in the early 1950s during the disassembly of the fuselage from the center section. Reilly stated that his team was able to accurately determine the routing by locating the through-fittings in the center section floor, and the line mounts on each longeron. The drawings Reilly has only showed the routing for the P-82B and later model fuselages, although a number of them do have the same routing as  on the XP-82. The hydraulic tank which mounts to the firewall is now finished, including the fuselage suction feed/return, and pressure lines.

Left-hand cockpit prior to final Adel clamping. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Left hand cockpit prior to Adel clamping. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Hydraulic tank with new hydraulics disconnect. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Seats

The team has been restoring the seats, and the question came up about whether to use the original steel armor plate, or replace it with .437 (7/16”) aluminum plate for weight savings. Reilly has two original steel armor plate panels that can be easily welded, surface ground and repainted. He imagines that the decision will hinge upon whether the airplane comes in on its target weight and balance.

Original pilots seat head armor. (photo via Tom Reilly)

One of the project’s machine shops completed the two XP-82 non-boosted aileron hinge points. The
left-hand pair shows the two separated sub-components. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The left-hand aileron acme screw trim tab control box and bronze chain sprocket are now completed. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Parts Find

During the first week of June, Tom received a call from a man in Mint Hill, North Carolina, just south of Charlotte. The fellow had purchased a P-40 project from Ms. Janie Odgers, a family member of the late Dick Odgers who originally sold Tom Reilly the remains of a crashed F-82H out of Fairbanks, AK. Odgershad been too ill back in 2008 (when Reilly bought the F-82 parts from him) to travel to Anchorage to complete sorting the F-82 parts from the P-40 parts that he had in his warehouse. Brent VanDervort, whose business is a large hot rod fabrication facility, purchased the P-40 project along with a small cache of F-82 parts. Reilly made a trip to Charlotte in late June to examine what VanDervort had. As it turns out, he had a number of important parts that Reilly’s project was still missing; including four throttle quadrant cable quick disconnects and throttle handle, the pilot’s glare shield gun site mount, one leading edge .50 caliber gun barrel fairing and blast tube, and a number of other small pieces of gold. He declined Reilly’s offer to pay him, and simply said that these parts were supposed to have come to the project six years ago.

Such honesty is a rare commodity, and Reilly stated that, “if anyone is contemplating building a street rod, his company is Fat Man Fabrication, in Mint Hill, NC. One cannot believe the quality and the massive amount of different parts that his factory manufactures for the street rod business. Thank you, Brent!”

The last four NAA
throttle quadrant cable quick disconnects that we still needed to complete our cabling. (photo via Tom Reilly)

One of the six center section leading edge machine gun ports and .50 cal cooling blast tubes. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Pilot’s knurled throttle quadrant handle. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The XP-82 restoration hangar received a Special Visitor recently. Mr. Jim Sampson, a retired USAF Alaska F-82H pilot from 1946 to 1949, gave the team a very nice visit last week. As Reilly remarked, “Sampson is the youngest and most agile 93- year-old I have ever met in my life. He could remember flight details as if they were yesterday: i.e. air speeds, manifold pressures, climb rates, etc. He was very impressed with our restoration and promises to come back on a regular basis. Thank you, Mr. Sampson, for your USAF service.”

Former F-82 Twin Mustang pilot, Jim Sampson (l) and Tom Reilly (r). (photo via Tom Reilly)

And that’s all for this month. Many thanks again to Tom Reilly for the update! You can learn more about the project on their blog HERE. Please be sure to check back with WarbirdsNews in early August for the next installation following the XP-82′s road to recovery!

Please click HERE for some of our previous updates.

As usual, WarbirdsNews has received the latest XP-82 Twin Mustang restoration update from Tom Reilly at his workshop in Douglas, Georgia. Here’s what they’ve been up to this month!

Wings

Many of finer details and fittings for each wing are now coming together: flap and aileron hinges, drop tank pressure and feed lines, de-ice hot air discharge vents (14 of them!), countersinking the remaining lower skins, aileron trim jack screws, etc., etc.

Bending the fuel lines to shape. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Fuel lines are installed in the wings. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Paul and Randall riveting the hot air deicing vents into the wing. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The freshly finished wing panel showing the hot air deicing vents to full effect. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Vertical Stabilizers

Both vertical stabilizers are now finished with the exception of the side skins which must remain off at present in order to gain access for alignment and fitting during final assembly. The team has completed riveting the lower skins on for each vertical stabilizer. Both verticals await mounting to the horizontal stabilizer, and then the whole assembly will be ready for attaching to the aft fuselages. Reilly’s team has installed all of the trim tab (rudder and elevator) pulley brackets  along with all of the closeout panel, fairing and tip nut plates. They have also completed the alignment, final installation and riveting of the four rudder trailing edge hinge points for each vertical stabilizer. The two aft jack points are now fitted along with the gap seal extrusions in the vertical stabilizer-to-rudder bays.

Ayman working on one of the two vertical stabilizers. (photo via Tom Reilly)

One of the two wood-forming blocks for the vertical tip cap is also finished, awaiting the forming of two new vertical tip caps out of 5052-0 aluminum. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Vertical Stabilizers to Aft Fuselage Attachments

The special attach angles, all four of them, are now fitted to the aft fuselages. The team has drilled and reamed them for the attaching 5/16” and 3/8” nut plates and close-tolerance bolts. The team has flush-trimmed the excess skin overlap on both aft fuselages to accept the zero-tolerance butt-fit of the four vertical stabilizer side skins (two per tail fin).

The still unfinished attach angles for vertical stabilizers (in gray) on the rear fuselages. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Wheels and Tires

The new Michelin Air 32″ x 8.8” tires are now fitted to the new wheel rims. Reilly’s team had to manufacture two new inner-bearing and seal spacers using a lathe to cut them from a single aluminum billet. None of the original ones that came with the XP-82 project from Walt Soplata or the Alaska wreck site were salvageable due to deep rust pits. 

The main wheels are now ready to mount. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Heat Exchangers / Cooling System

One of the subcontractor machine shops has completed the remainder of the brass water neck and purge fittings that will be soldered on to the shell(s) of each heat exchanger. (For a size reference, the diameter of the large flanges is about 6”.) Another subcontractor has completed sewing the chafe straps (10) which protect the oil and glycol header tanks.

Heat exchanger fittings from one of the teams restoration shops. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Windshields

As mentioned in the previous news release, the two center windshield glasses are now complete and fitted into their frames. The four side glasses are with an aviation Plexiglass-forming company in Ohio. The team hopes to have them back soon.

Oil tank mount with the new anti-chafing straps attached. (photo via Tom Reilly)

And that’s all for this month. Many thanks again to Tom Reilly for the update! You can learn more about the project on their blog HERE. Please be sure to check back with WarbirdsNews in early August for the next installation following the XP-82′s road to recovery!

Please click HERE for some of our previous updates.

A color shot of the XP-82 back during its test flying days. (photo via Tom Reilly)

As usual, WarbirdsNews has received the latest XP-82 Twin Mustang restoration update from Tom Reilly at his workshop in Douglas, Georgia. Here’s what they’ve been up to this month!

August was an incredible month for accomplishments at the XP-82 restoration shop!

Wings Removed and Fuselages/Center Section Pivoted

August 15th saw the team turn the fuselages/center section assembly 90º to the south in the hangar. Reilly and his crew hoisted the aircraft using the factory-mounted, 45° lift points on the center section’s inboard sides, right against the fuselage lower longerons. These lift points (¾-16 threaded ports) were designed to bear the weight of the entire aircraft, including engines, so were more than capable of handling the incomplete XP-82. In fact, the team was able to lift the entire, balanced center section with both fuselages and engine mounts with just one man lifting and guiding each rear fuselage. The lift and pivot operation took roughly two hours to reposition the aircraft so it will eventually be able to slide out of the large south-facing hangar door.

After the lift and pivot, Reilly leveled the aircraft in pitch and roll to within 1/30th of one degree, about the thickness of a piece of cellophane. Reilly’s team manufactured two vertical steel support pipes to fit into the rear jack points, immediately forward of the tail wheel attach point. The design allowed them to be vertically adjustable. They also leveled both fuselages on the center section by using the factory shims. They then set about the process of finally attaching the fuselages to the center section longerons with the remaining six of twenty internal wrenching NASA bolts. (Longerons are the main beams that are the lower structural rails mounted in the bottom of both fuselages.)

Rotating the fuselage/wing center section 90 degrees in the hangar to enable the team to attach the tail section. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The outer wing panel jig is back inside the hangar again, following which they checked the wings for final washout and to make microscopic adjustments. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Verticals, Horizontal and Rear Fuselage Extensions

The following day the team installed all of trim actuators in each vertical and the horizontal, (three) and installed all the trim cable pulleys in each vertical.

Trim actuator gear inside the rear fuselage/tail section. (photo via Tom Reilly)

A close up view of the trim actuator gear inside the rear fuselage/tail section. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Reilly’s team then attached each vertical to its respective side of the horizontal stabilizer. They had to align and hold the verticals in a perfect 90º position in relation to the horizontal stabilizer. To achieve this, they used diagonal wires with turnbuckles to make the final tiny adjustments as the verticals are permanently held in place when the aft fuselages are high-shear riveted and bolted to the forward fuselages. A few days later, the team built a temporary cushioned wooden scaffold, and lifted the horizontal/verticals/aft fuselage sections up and forward to within ½” of their final attachment positions.

Attaching the vertical stabilizers to the horizontal stabilizer. (photo via Tom Reilly)

A view of the left vertical stabilizer attachment to the horizontal stabilizer. Note the cable and turnbuckle arrangement at the lower rudder hinge for making sure the parts were perfectly aligned with one another. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Offering up the rear fuselage/tail section to the main fuselages for final alignment and fitting. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Then came all of the final adjustments to make sure everything was properly aligned prior to drilling and reaming any of the attach holes for the fittings. There were eight exact measurements that had to be aligned:

1. The angle of incidence (the pitch up and down on the horizontal stabilizer in relation to the center section).

2. The alignment of the two vertical stabilizers (toe in, toe out).

3. The exact vertical measurements on the verticals in relation to the horizontal measured between the two top and two bottom rudder hinge points horizontally and diagonally.

4. The exact forward and aft dimension of the center section trailing edge to the leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer.

5. The left and right measurements on the aft fuselage extensions to the forward fuselages. This exact measurement is obtained by shaving the attach fittings of the horizontal stabilizer to the vertical stabilizer. We intentionally machined all four of them 1/32” thicker to give us extra material if we needed to make small adjustments.

6. The twist of both aft fuselage extensions to align the upper and lower attach points.

7. The vertical attachment of the aft fuselage extensions to the forward fuselage attach points.

8. The alignment of the dorsal fins with the leading edge of the vertical stabilizers.

Everything lined up perfectly. So then the team started final drilling and reaming all the attachment hardware for the high shear rivets.

The top skins for the outer wing panels are now riveted in place, and the panels removed from their jigs as seen here for the port wing. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Outboard Wings and Center Section

The restoration team completed riveting all of the outer wing panel top skins in place while the wings were still mounted on the fixture, along with one more bottom skin for each wing; locking the wings into their final shape.

Both wings are now off the fixture, and the team is completing the final riveting, and finishing the fuel cell stand-off angles.

The fuel cell standoff attachment angles in place on the wing. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Two of the restoration team members are fitting and installing the new aileron attach hinge point fittings. One of contract machine shops is making the final two outboard flap hinges.

A close up of one of the recently installed aileron attach point fittings for the outer wing panels. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The new inner and center aileron attach hinge point fittings are presently being installed on both wings.

The two inboard and outboard ailerons. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The final Adel clamping of the wiring harnesses in the center section is now close to completion along with the final attachment of the three wiring terminal strips in each wheel well. One of the project’s volunteers is sewing the canvas covers that shield and protect these wiring bundles and terminal strips from dirt and moisture thrown up by the rotating tires when the wheels are in operation. The center section nut-plate channels that attach the fuel tank close-out panels between the outboard wing and center section are also now finished.

Newly machined forward and aft door lock bell crank mounts for the main gear doors. (photo via Tom Reilly)

New wheels and tires are now installed on the main gear legs. (photo via Tom Reilly)

And that’s all for this month. Many thanks again to Tom Reilly for the update! You can learn more about the project on their blog HERE. Please be sure to check back with WarbirdsNews in early September for the next installation following the XP-82′s road to recovery!

Please click HERE for some of our previous updates.

As usual, WarbirdsNews has received the latest XP-82 Twin Mustang restoration update from Tom Reilly at his workshop in Douglas, Georgia. Here’s what they’ve been up to this month!

September was another incredible month for accomplishments at the XP-82 restoration shop!

Righthand aft fuselage extension. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Tail Sections: For the majority of the past month, most of the crew has been focused on the final alignment and attachment of the aft fuselage extensions, the vertical stabilizers and the horizontal stabilizer. The initial lineup went perfectly, but the fine adjustments down to a precision of .010″, or 3 times the thickness of a cellophane sheet, seemed to have taken forever. However, everything is now permanently aligned and attached, and the team has started the final fitting and riveting of the side skins.

Lefthand aft fuselage extension. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The pulley brackets for all of the primary controls (elevator and rudder), and secondary (trims) are now completed and awaiting final installation along with the four side skins. All four of the elevator and rudder mount castings and associated matching bell cranks are in place.

Elevator push rods. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Pulley brackets in the right hand inboard tail section. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Pulley brackets in the right hand outboard tail section. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Elevator and rudder bellcrank castings in place. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Both dorsal fins are well on their way to completion. Reilly’s team had to make a few ribs and attachment parts, but the alignment and installation of the dorsals went smoothly.

Just some of the many hundreds of tail gear components. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Two other team members have been restoring the multitude of tail wheel gear parts. One cannot believe how many moving parts are in the XP-82’s tail wheels: retraction, extension, steering, oleo, tail door opening and closing, etc. Virtually all the parts needed attention and overhaul to bring them back up to airworthy condition.

Some of the tail gear fittings for the Twin Mustang. Note the original milling marks on the nearer example salvaged from the XP-82, which was adapted from a P-51H by the North American Aviation design team. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Tail wheel oleos. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Canopies, Trucks, Opening/Closing Cranks, Windshield Side Glasses: Both canopy hand cranks are finished and installed. Both canopies are ready for installation. All four windshield side glasses are nearing completion. Tom Reilly expects to have them onsite within a week for routing, trimming and final installation. Even though they look similar to the P-51 series, these canopies and windshield glasses are nowhere close in shape or dimension.

The two recently finished canopy cranks. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Outboard Wings: The work on both outboard wings has slowed as the team is awaiting completion of the last of the aileron and flap hinge points which, following their installation, will allow the close-out of the four bottom rear skins. The remainder of these parts are due within the next two weeks, which should coincide with the team completing the riveting for the tail sections.

Outboard aileron hinges. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Main Gear Door Opening/Closing Hook Mechanisms: The restoration team has received the final forgings for the main inboard gear doors. These parts hold the multitude of push/pull rods that control the positive lock/unlock hooks, which keep the doors securely closed during flight. They will all undergo installation this coming month.

Freshly remanufactured forgings from Advanced Manufacturing Concepts for the main gear door opening/closing hook mechanisms. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Gun Mounts: The six aluminum gun mounts are now completed and awaiting installation in the center section.

The aluminium gun mounts freshly machined by Peres Pattern. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Inboard Flap Hinges: Both center section flap hinges are now aligned and permanently installed.

Right hand flap hinge installation. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Coolant Exit Doors, Header Tanks: Casey Hill, English wheel forming wizard, is due in Douglas this week to complete the forming of the two complicated interior coolant exit door skins. Also, both coolant header tanks are now installed, one in each rear fuselage.

The coolant header tank. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Outboard aileron hinge bearing mounts (left) and outboard flap push rods (right). (photo via Tom Reilly)

And that’s all for this month. Many thanks again to Tom Reilly for the update! You can learn more about the project on their blog HERE. Please be sure to check back with WarbirdsNews in early November for the next installation following the XP-82′s road to recovery!

Please click HERE for some of our previous updates.

As usual, WarbirdsNews has received the latest XP-82 Twin Mustang restoration update from Tom Reilly at his workshop in Douglas, Georgia. Here’s what they’ve been up to this month! October saw some major milestones achieved in the XP-82 restoration!

Aft Fuselage Extensions/Dorsal Fins

The final microscopic alignments and attachment of the aft fuselage extensions are complete, along with all of the primary and secondary flight control pulley brackets, many phenolic cable guides and the tail wheel attachments. The team is now into fitting the two dorsal fins on the top of the aft fuselages where they flare into the vertical stabilizers.

Some of the many phenolic cable guides which run throughout the aircraft; these being in the rear fuselage. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Additional examples of the many phenolic cable guides in the rear fuselage. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Forming the skin for one of the dorsal fins. (photo via Tom Reilly)

One of the dorsal fins under installation – note the skin piece from the previous photo being test fitted. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Canopies and Windshields

Both canopies are now permanently fit and attached. The canopy jettison systems are fully adjusted so that all three releases on each canopy release simultaneously. Both windshield frames and glare shields are now trimmed and permanently fitted, and await the four windshield side glasses. A second team is also attaching the fairings that fit underneath the aft section of both canopies. These fairings seal the canopies to the fuselages as the canopies roll forward.

The windscreen and canopy for the right hand fuselage in place. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Tom Reilly and another engineer fitting the left hand canopy. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Tom Reilly and another engineer fitting the left hand windscreen. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Aileron Hinges

Fitting the ailerons to the XP-82′s wings is proceeding smoothly. This required the re-manufacture of new aileron hinge fittings on the four ailerons – the Twin Mustang has four ailerons, while the P-51 has just two – and all new hinge points that mount on the wings. Reilly’s team also had to machine the new gap seal extrusions that are on the upper and lower skins on the trailing edges of the aileron bays. Also, both of the outboard flap hinges are now complete. The engineers are fitting them on each wing.

Fitting the ailerons. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Outboard flap hinges. (photo via Tom Reilly)

One of the newly manufactured aileron fittings. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Another view of one of the newly manufactured aileron fittings. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The two aileron actuating forks are also now complete, and the last remaining items the team is waiting on for aileron controls are the four cable sectors, with two mounted in each wing. The sectors are the control wheels holding the aileron cables that move the ailerons up and down.

The newly fabricated aileron attachment forks. (photo via Tom Reilly)

One of the two heat exchangers from Martin Radiator which recently arrived at the shop for installation. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Gun Mounts All twelve gun mounts are now installed.

The gun mounts are now all fully installed in the wings. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Another view of the gun mounts in the wings. Note the bays for the ammunition boxes at the top right. (photo via Tom Reilly)

And that’s all for this month. Many thanks again to Tom Reilly for the update! You can learn more about the project on their blog HERE. Please be sure to check back with WarbirdsNews in early December for the next installation following the XP-82′s road to recovery!

Please click HERE for some of our previous updates.

As usual, WarbirdsNews has received the latest XP-82 Twin Mustang restoration update from Tom Reilly at his workshop in Douglas, Georgia. Here’s what they’ve been up to this month!

Aft Fuselages:

Part of the team has completed riveting all of the little hard-to-get-to places on both aft fuselages. They are now concentrating on completing both dorsal fins.

One of the XP-82′s two dorsal fins under reassembly. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Systems

Excepting the completion of riveting work for the aft fuselages and dorsals, the remainder of the team has been working on finishing the multitude of systems and small-to-complete jobs.

Center Section Gear Door Hooks

The up-lock mechanism for activating the gear door up-lock hooks is quite complicated with the amount of moving parts that it has, but very dependable. The mechanism is controlled by one hydraulic cylinder on each side mounted on the forward spar for the forward hook, and then transitioning all the movements through a number of bellcranks, push rods and levers to actuate each aft hook mounted on the center spar. Two team members have spent the entire month locating each casting (ten) that holds the bellcranks, etc. These bellcranks and mounts are all interwoven with the hydraulic lines and wiring harnesses. Pictures of the completed systems will be in next month’s update.

A pulley fitting from the Emergency Unlock Release mechanism. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Emergency Up-Lock Releases

In the XP-82, and all subsequent models, there are landing gear up-lock emergency releases controlled by a pull handle, one in each cockpit, that will unlock the main and tail gear and allow the gear to free fall without hydraulic pressure to the down position and positive lock. These back-up safety factors are in place in the event of battle damage to the hydraulic system or the normal gear down actuation system.

There is an incredible number of pulleys in both wheel wells changing the direction of the cross-ship pull cables and releases. The NAA engineers who designed these complex gear door hook and emergency release systems deserve to take their hats off and take a bow.

Rudder-elevator bellcrank forgings in position. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Control Cables

All of the primary and secondary flight control cables, chains, pulleys, bellcranks, push rods, etc., are now installed with the exception of the final completion of the trim and balance cables, which will be completed this coming week.

Elevator trim tab sprocket and adjustment chain. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The sprocket and it’s adjustment chain for the rudder trim tab adjustment system. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Trim tab hinge blocks freshly re-manufactured from 7075-T6 aluminum, and with new bearings installed. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Rudder and Elevator Trim Tabs

The installation of the hinge blocks, new bearing mounts with new bearings, and three trim tabs is now completed. Finding the New Old Stock needle bearings for the bearing mounts has been a challenge, but Reilly thinks he has bought every last one that was available in the world. He replaced the magnesium needle-bearing mounts and machined new ones out of 7075-T6 aluminum, giving a much higher safety factor due to numerous known in-flight, trim tab failures.

Both rudder trim tabs are now installed. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The elevator trim tab is also now installed. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Elevator

The team has completed the remaining items on the elevator, i.e., elevator control arms (two), counter weights, close-out panels and the final fitting of the elevator trim tab. The team has needed to add small counterbalance weights to the trim tab arms to offset the additional mass of the newly-manufactured trim tab fittings which Reilly had made from 7075-T6 Aluminum instead of the original, much lighter magnesium material.

Note the right hand side elevator control arm with the counter weights attached to offset the increased weight of the trim tab fittings due to their being remanufactured from 7075 aluminum, instead of the original, much lighter, magnesium alloy. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Note: All aircraft control surfaces must be precisely balanced as per the factory data so that the control surfaces, i.e., rudder(s), elevator(s) and aileron(s), does not flutter in flight like a flag on a pole in a heavy wind. Inflight control surface flutter can be extremely dangerous. Thus the balance calculations must be perfect.

Aileron Hinge Points

The four specially machined aileron hinge points are nearing completion at one of the project’s sub-contract machine shops. These are the main hinge point attaching-and-actuating fittings that connect the ailerons to the wing trailing edges.

These fittings should arrive soon, and will be installed during December or January.

Canopies/Windshields/Aft Fairings

The team has made the final adjustments to both windshield bows so they match the mating canopy bows. The windshields both have their central glass panels permanently installed now, and are awaiting the delivery of the four side panels shipped from the contractor’s fabrication shop this past week. Final fitting of these side glasses will be finished by the end of December. A picture of the completed windshield assemblies will be in next month’s news release.

The completed left-hand, under-canopy fuselage fairing. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The aft canopy fuselage fairing located under the canopy is now completed for the lefthand fuselage, and the right-hand fuselage example is nearly done as well.

The partially completed right-hand, under-canopy fuselage fairing. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Brakes

The P-82 series has an incredibly complicated and unique braking system, making replacement parts nearly impossible to acquire. Reilly recovered one main brake caliper out of the Fairbanks scrapyard parts. It had been exposed to the weather for fifty plus years, and appeared to be in terrible shape. However, a couple of weeks ago, Reilly decided to take it apart to expose the internal hydraulic pistons just to look at their condition. To his surprise, all three of the caliper hydraulic cylinders and bores were in perfect re-buildable condition.

An original Twin Mustang brake caliper. The project needs an additional example for the other wheel. (photo via Tom Reilly)

This leaves the project with only one caliper to come up with. Pat Harker has machined new ones for his F-82E in Anoka, Minnesota, and Reilly will talk to him about acquiring a newly manufactured one from his stock.

Additional Newly Manufactured Parts:

Newly machined aileron sector controls. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Newly machined flap push rods. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Newly machined flap push rod forks. (photo via Tom Reilly)

And that’s all for this month. Many thanks again to Tom Reilly for the update! You can learn more about the project on their blog HERE. Please be sure to check back with WarbirdsNews in early December for the next installation following the XP-82′s road to recovery!

Please click HERE for some of our previous updates.

As usual, WarbirdsNews has received the latest XP-82 Twin Mustang restoration update from Tom Reilly at his workshop in Douglas, Georgia. Here’s what they’ve been up to this month!

Center Section

All the gear door castings and link rods are now installed with the exception of the two aft door hooks and hook mounts that Reilly expects to receive any day now. Gear door up-lock casting mounts, hooks, bell cranks and push rods are pictured in numerical order starting on the front spar.

Left-hand wheel well, forward gear door up-lock hook mounted on forward spar. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Left-hand 90 degree door uplock bell crank mounted on forward spar. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Center gear door up-lock mount with one push rod coming from forward spar and one push rod going to the middle spar. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Aft gear door up-lock mount with push rod coming from center gear door mount. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Both emergency gear up-lock release mechanisms are now installed with their associated cable runs. These uplock releases can be operated independently by either pilot through a common cable to release the gear doors and up-locked landing gear by a pull handle mounted under each instrument panel. The main undercarriage will then gravity-fall to down-lock position.

The emergency gear up-lock release mechanisms are now installed and cables run. (photo via Tom Reilly)

All of the 3/32 stainless steel cables that run through the center section from each throttle quadrant are now installed and rigged. These sixteen cables, eight running from each side, synchronize the throttle and prop control levers mounted in each cockpit. Also, the six one-inch diameter five foot long control rods that transfer and synchronize the elevator and aileron movements between both pilots are now installed (pictured below the cables).

Control Rods and 3-32 Cables. (photo via Tom Reilly)

And at last, the two remaining (out of 20) fuselage-to-center-section attach fittings are now permanently installed. Each fuselage is attached to the center section with ten huge NASA bolts fastened down through and into barrel nuts mounted in fittings attached to the forward, middle and aft center section spars.

One of the twenty fuselage-to-center section
attach fittings. Note the large NASA bolt in the center. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Canopies

The final installation and rigging of the opening and closing crank and cable mechanisms for each canopy are now completed. (Two of the very few parts in the -82 that are the same as a P-51.) Both under-canopy aft closeout skin panels and phenolic rub strips are now completed and installed.

The canopy hand crank inside one of the cockpits. Both of these are now installed, along with the associated cabling. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The canopy closeout phenolic rub strips are now in place on each canopy rail. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Aft Fuselages

All of the rudder, elevator and balance trim cables are now run through numerous pulley banks, installed and up to tension. As you can see, they aren’t that easy to get to!

The myriad control cables for the rudder, elevator and trim along with their installation hardware and pulleys are now fitted. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Tom Reilly’s hands adjusting the tension on one of the many rudder/elevator/trim control cables a rear fuselage. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Tom Reilly buried chest deep in one of the aft fuselages adjusting control cabling. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Both rudder lower side skins (four) and tail light receptacles are now completed. Both lower rudder boots that were mashed beyond recognition are now back to final shape and fit, awaiting special English wheel rollers to roll out the final small dents.

Restored rudder lower fin and light receptacle. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Dorsal Fins

Both dorsal fins are well on their way to completion. All of the parts are remade and fitted, and just awaiting final riveting.

Running one of the dorsal fin skins through the English wheel to shape it for use. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Clecoing in one of the dorsal fins in place following manufacture. (photo via Tom Reilly)

One of the dorsal fins clecoed in place. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The team has restored the fuel check valves as well.

Fuel check valves, before restoration. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Fuel check valves after restoration. New nipple fittings are on order. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Wings – Flaps – Ailerons

The remaining flap hinges, mounts, bell cranks and arms have now been machined, painted and await installation.

Various restored/remanufactured flap hinges, bell cranks and arms awaiting deliver. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The aileron combination sector/arm/hinge mounts (25 in all, with 23 pictured below) have all been delivered to Reilly’s team from two of their subcontract machine shops. Reilly’s team are currently fitting them.

Aileron pieces fresh from the manufacturer. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Tail Wheel Retract/Extension Mechanisms

The restoration team has just started to get into full swing sorting out what is still required for the tail wheel assemblies. The majority of the steering parts that were originally magnesium didn’t survive the sixty years outdoors very well. Therefore Tom Reilly has contracted two machine shops to start the duplication process for all of the parts still required.

And that’s all for this month. Many thanks again to Tom Reilly for the update! You can learn more about the project on their blog HERE. Please be sure to check back with WarbirdsNews in early February for the next installation following the XP-82′s road to recovery!

Please click HERE for some of our previous updates.

As usual, WarbirdsNews has received the latest XP-82 Twin Mustang restoration update from Tom Reilly at his workshop in Douglas, Georgia. Here’s what they’ve been up to this month!

Final fitting the ailerons and flaps to the right wing. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Wings/Ailerons

The final fitting for the aileron and flap hinges on the right wing is almost complete. Having to remake most of the aluminum parts for the XP non-boosted aileron system has been a challenge, but successfully met. Reilly expects that similar work on the left-hand wing will go a lot more smoothly now that all of the “re-invention of the wheel” has been completed on the right-hand wing.

Left-hand ammo bay door without the top skin. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Right-hand ammo bay door. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Gun bay door. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Center Section Gun and Ammo Door Covers

Three team members have been repairing the original doors and pressing new replacement hat channels for the three removable covers that close out the armament section and the left and right ammo bays in the center section. This task should be completed by the middle of February.

Four gun mount castings and two tail wheel shock strut attach fittings. (photo via Tom Reilly)

One of project’s contract machine shops has completed the remaining four gun mount castings for the aft gun mount position, and the parts are now installed in the aircraft. Also, one of Tom Reilly’s friends has collected .50 caliber cartridges and links to be installed in the ammo bays for authenticity. Reilly also just received notice that the gun barrels he traded for have been shipped to his workshop.

Back drilling dorsal from
inside rear fuselage. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Dorsals

Two team members have now completed the set-up fitting and drilling of the dorsal fin(s) parts. All the final riveting on these dorsals should be finished by mid-February.

Over the six years restoring this XP-82, Reilly’s team has gone to extreme lengths to keep it as original as the day it came out of North American’s Inglewood plant. One modern modification Reilly did choose to implement though is one that absolutely will not show. He asks the question, “Have you ever seen any aircraft, whether a Cessna or a P-51, that didn’t have its dorsal fin bent by someone pushing on it while trying to reposition the tail of the aircraft on the ramp?” The answer is of course “NO!”… There is always some bright spark who dents an aeroplane this way. Therefore Reilly decided to PRC glue (attach) reinforcing 7075 T-6 aluminum plates in between the ribs internal in the dorsals and then fill the voids with structural foam. This hidden mod will dramatically strengthen delicate dorsals from dents by ground handlers inadvertently pushing on them.

When both the dorsals and gun/ammo bay door jobs are completed, the entire sheet metal team will begin the final riveting of the lower aft skins on both wings.

Many Small Jobs Have Been Completed

The restoration team is starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. A multitude of small tasks are being completed; some of which are itemized below.

1. Most of the steel push/pull rods forward and aft of the firewalls for the prop and throttle quadrants have been welded. (photo via Tom Reilly)

2. Two new old stock high tension ignition booster coils, used to generate additional amperage through the magnetos for starting, are now completed. (photo via Tom Reilly)

3. Two hydraulic cylinder barrels, one tail oleo strut had to be chromed and a second aluminum door up-lock cylinder had to be anodized. (photo via Tom Reilly)

4. The two rudder pedal arms for the right-hand cockpit are now completed and they, plus the two hydraulic cylinders, are in FED EX coming to us. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Seats

The restoration team is well into the final assembly of both seats. Reilly is amazed at how many moving parts each seat requires to allow the up/down and fold-back positions so one pilot could sleep more comfortably on long missions, although “comfortable” must surely be graded on a sliding scale.

Pilot Elevator Bell Crank Control

One of the most difficult parts that had to be manufactured by one of the sub contract machine shops for the XP-82 was a T-shaped bell crank which synchronizes the pilot’s and co-pilot’s elevator stick movements together. The project owns two original bell cranks, one of which was salvageable, but the second had severe magnesium corrosion which was beyond its limits. This new “T” bell crank will be delivered to the project and installed in the left-hand cockpit by mid-February.

The elevator bell crank under manufacture. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Windscreens

Both windscreens are coming along well. All four side glasses and both center bullet-proof panels are now fitted and edge-routed. Within another two weeks both should be completed, PRC-sealed and awaiting final installation.

Routing the edges of the Plexiglas side panels for mounting in the windscreens. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Tom Reilly screwing down the sheet metal strips fastening the wind screen panels in place. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The windscreens in their present state; very close to completion. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Fuel Tanks & Submerged Engine-Driven Pumps

Reilly has contracted with a fuel tank manufacturing company in Eagle River, WI to manufacture the six fuel tanks for the XP. This same company manufactured these same tanks for Pat Harker’s “E” Model restoration. While at Harker’s, Tom Reilly looked at his tanks, and found the workmanship to be  excellent. He expects to have these tanks completed and delivered to Douglas, Georgia by this summer. In the meantime, Reilly has sent off the six fuel pumps, four submersibles and two engine-driven, for inspection and overhaul. All six pumps were new old stock, but they still need to be reworked by an FAA-licensed overhaul facility for new bearings, seals, etc., to come back with overhauled serviceable tags.

Larry Kelley, famous for his B-25J ‘Panchito’, has graciously contributed six new old stock liquidometers (fuel gauge sending units) for the project. Since the beginning of the XP-82 project, Larry has donated countless items for the restoration, including a pitot head. Larry Kelley has been friends with Tom Reilly for many years, and this long-term generosity is not unusual, but still much appreciated.

One of the six Liquidometer fuel gauge sender units donated to the XP-82 project by Larry Kelley. (photo via Tom Reilly)

A pitot tube head which Larry Kelley donated to the XP-82 project. It mounts under the right wing, and is used to measure air speed. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Electrical

The fuel control box has now had the last of the remaining switches, lights, terminal strips, fuel-quantity gauges, etc. completed. This box will be installed in the left-hand cockpit, below the instrument panel and just between where the pilot’s two knees would be. It is a complex electrical panel which controls the boost pumps, fuel shut-offs, cross-feed valves, and it comes with original, unique, illuminated tracks which light to show the pilot the direction in which the fuel is being routed.

The top face of the fuel control box, with all of the gauges, switches and placards installed and wired in. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The wiring inside the fuel control box gives an indication of just how complex the restoration project is, and how talented the team is accomplishing it! (photo via Tom Reilly)

Coolant Exit Door Motors

Both new old stock coolant exit door motors are now installed along with their wiring harnesses and limit switches. These coolant motors, which actuate the opening and closing of the coolant exit doors, are thermostatically controlled to regulate the airflow through each radiator for engine cooling.

The coolant exit door motors. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Those of you who have been following the progress of the XP-82′ restoration know that the project is entering its final stages. Reilly is working hard to have it finished within an 18-month deadline. As a result, he has sadly decided to change the update schedule from once an month to once every six months. He has concluded that this will save him 3 to 4 days a month in newsletter preparation time that he can apply directly to the restoration. The next report therefore will probably come sometime this June or July. While we at WarbirdsNews are sad to hear this, as we’ve loved the regular updates like all of the rest of our readers. It makes complete sense though, and we can all be patient for the next time we get to see how things are progressing. We thank you for everything you and your team do Tom Reilly, and wish you full speed ahead!

Many thanks again to Tom Reilly for the update! You can learn more about the project on their blog HERE. Please be sure to check back with WarbirdsNews in July for the next installation following the XP-82′s road to recovery!

Please click HERE for some of our previous updates.

While we hadn’t expected to have a progress report on the XP-82 until June, WarbirdsNews is thrilled to have received the latest Twin Mustang restoration update from Tom Reilly at his workshop in Douglas, Georgia (Check out the XP-82 website HERE). We’ve actually got kind of a bumper report here for you all, including details from both February and April which we will share sequentially….. Enjoy!

February’s Report

Right hand wing showing the control surfaces in final assembly. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Wings

The preliminary fitting and set-up of the ailerons, aileron and flap hinges has now been completed on the right-hand wing. It has been an extremely difficult and time consuming job converting the Alaskan “H” model boosted ailerons back to the non-boosted XP-82 systems. The “E” thru “H” model ailerons are basically the same as the XP’s, but all of the hinges and mechanisms that operate the ailerons are completely different. There was a lot of “brain burn” and many engineering hours that a number of team members had to exhaust to make this boosted-to-non-boosted system work. Reilly reckons it was one of the most difficult jobs on the entire XP-82 restoration. The systems are completed and work perfectly, which gave the the XP-82 crew a real feeling of accomplishment.

Dorsal fin approaching final assembly. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Tail Section/Dorsals

The final fitting and riveting of the two dorsal fins is now completed. Both formed, welded and removable access dorsal fairings are also completed and undergoing final fitting.

Center gun bay door. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Center Section Gun and Ammo Bay Doors

The right-hand ammo bay door is now completely finished and fitted. The left-hand ammo bay door is awaiting only one leading edge extrusion to be riveted in place for completion. The large central gun bay door is awaiting cad plating of the two latch mechanisms. Reilly’s team had to manufacture one complete latch mechanism assembly in-house as they were only able to recover one salvageable assembly from the Alaska impact site. When this plating is finished, the latches will be installed and then the upper and lower skin riveting can be completed. All about a one day job.

Right hand ammo bay door (near) and the left hand unit to the rear. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Gun bay door latch mechanism. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Fuel Systems

All six  fuel pumps (four in-tank submerged boost pumps and two engine driven pumps) have been overhauled and shipped back to Douglas.

The four submerged boost pumps (top) and two engine driven boost pumps (bottom). (photo via Tom Reilly)

The Twin Mustang Team was able to purchase four new fuel necks, New Old Stock from a surplus dealer, however they did require being shortened vertically and re-welded to fit the XP-82 hat channel vertical measurements. They are now at the cad plating facility, but should be back within a week.

New Old Stock fuel necks. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The team has the three cardboard fuel tank patterns completed and these will be shipped to the fuel tank manufacturing company in Eagle River, Wisconsin to use in the remanufacture brand new tanks. The team thankfully only had to make three of the six tanks, as the tank company can mirror image the patterns for the opposing side. These tank patterns took a lot more time than planned, because the team had to duplicate exactly the complex shapes inside the wings and center section. The team is now into laying out all of the fuel feed, vent and drop tank(s) pressure/fuel lines. North American ran these lines inside each fuel tank bay, so the tanks had to be shaped to allow their passage.

Cardboard fuel tank patterns. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The team also had to manufacture the fuel scupper pots and drain lines to which the four fuel caps and mounts attach. A scupper is a pot that collects and dumps overboard any fuel spilled during fueling so that the wasted fuel does not enter the wing between the tank and the wing structure creating a fire hazard.

The two fuel check/flapper valves are almost complete, and awaiting the four bronze flappers being machined by one of the outside machine shops. These two check valve assemblies direct the fuel to each engine when either tank boost pump is running and do not allow the fuel to transfer to another fuel tank. The term for this is “cross feed” to the engine and not “cross flow” to another tank. Reilly was able to salvage these two complicated check valves from the Colorado parts, but had to have the four internal flapper valves remachined.

Gear door uplock cylinders. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Gear Door Up-Lock Cylinders

The new hydraulic piston/shaft has been assembled inside the new hydraulic cylinder barrel and is awaiting installation.

Engine/Propeller Test Runs

Tom Reilly talked with Mike Nixon recently. Nixon’s company, Vintage V-12s, overhauled the project’s two Merlin engines. Reilly discussed the logistics of whether to send the Twin Mustang’s two Merlin engines back to California for test-cell runs, or run them while mounted on the XP-82 aircraft itself. Nixon told Reilly that he would prefer to come to Georgia and run them in on the airframe. That way all of the systems, i.e., fuel, oil, coolant, propeller, etc., etc., would be checked out at once. This will save the project a substantial amount of money by not having to ship the engines back to California for the test run(s) and then in turn back to Georgia. The only thing necessary is to to ship the two empty engine cans (2,000 lbs. each) back to California. Reilly told Nixon to put them on Delta as carry-on luggage — he said he would try.

Windshields/Canopies

The team is just getting ready to start the final completion of the two windshield assemblies. Reilly decided to pull the team off the windshields to complete the dorsals, gun and ammo bay doors and fuel tank patterns for sub-contract timing reasons. Both canopies have now been completed on opening and closing, elevation, pitch and rotational alignment for a couple of months. These alignments had to completed first to allow the final alignment of all the windshield parts to fit each forward canopy bow.

Rudder pedal assemblies. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Rudder pedal adjustment rods. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Rudder Pedals, Mounting Arms and Elevator “T” Forging

Both right-hand cockpit rudder pedals, arms and adjustment rods are now completed and being installed. The elevator “T” forging that arrived back from the machine shop last month has had the new “DD 6” bearings pressed in and is also now being installed in the right-hand cockpit. With these pedals, arms, adjustment rods and elevator “T” forgings installed, all of the controls in both cockpits will now be completed.

And now for the April Update…

It seems that we can work on some specific systems for months, and it never seems to get done. Well, this month quite a few of these endless jobs got completed.

Tom Reilly working on the windscreens. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Windshields

Both are now completed with all their glass panels installed with PRC (epoxy) edge sealants and mounted on each fuselage. The last thing that needs to be completed is the special rubber seal inside the windshield bow that seals the canopy to the bow when the canopy is closed.

The ailerons being fitted to the right outer wing panel. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Paul Randall working on the left hand aileron. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Aileron hinge fitting. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Ailerons

Both skinned ailerons and bell cranks on the right-hand wing are now complete and final-fitted on all of their hinges. Both ailerons (two per wing) and all the mechanisms operate as smooth as silk. The final fitting of the two main XP attach fittings in the left-hand ailerons is now complete. As mentioned over the past few months, the fitting of the remaining aileron hinges is progressing quite rapidly as the “reinvention of the wheel” was completed on the right-hand wing. Designing, manufacturing and final fitting the new non-boosted XP hinge points to the boosted “E” model ailerons was quite a brain-burn. Two of Reilly’s lead sheet metal crew took on the challenge and made the tasks look simple. He expects both left-hand ailerons to be completed mid May, and then the final skinning for the bottom of each wing will begin.

Some of the complex tubing formed by a volunteer named Gerald. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Gear Door Retract/Door Up-Lock Hook Cylinders

Mounting of the overhauled cylinders with their coiled flex aluminum lines was a very difficult fit, not allowing anything to rub. Both are now completed.

Fuel Tank Feed & Vent Lines/Tubes

These tubes are projected to be complete by mid May. Two team members spent two weeks forming patterns out of malleable tubing that were sent out with the new tubing (multiple sizes of 5052-0) to be formed. These tubes must be formed (bent) with a special mandrel machine bender or they will kink. Reilly purchased a mandrel bender a year ago that hadn’t been assembled or used for years. This is a very large heavy manually operated bending machine that is 15’ long and weighs more than a thousand pounds. Tom Reilly loaned the machine and all of its forming dies to Gerald, a project volunteer, who lives in Mississippi. Gerald is a retired Naval officer, radar expert and a EC-121 (Connie), P2V Neptune and P-3 Orion crew and driver (pilot). He spent weeks repairing all of the parts of this machine (lots) and is now forming all of the fuel feed and vent aluminum tubing.

Seats for the XP-82 project. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Seats

Reilly’s team assembled the pilot and copilot fold-back seats. (Each seat can fold back and the rudder pedals disconnect to slide forward so either pilot could sleep on long missions.) These went together quite quickly as all of the parts were detailed and awaiting assembly these few months.

Drawing of the tail wheel mechanism. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Tail wheel forks and assembled parts. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Tail Wheel Assemblies

Two team members have started on the two massively complicated tail wheel retract assemblies. There are literally hundreds of moving parts in these retractable and steerable units. Fortunately, Reilly now has almost all of the parts, and two machine shops are completing the last few missing items.

Pressing the interior skins for the coolant exit doors (photo via Tom Reilly)

Coolant exit doors. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Coolant exit doors. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Coolant Exit Doors

Reilly got the two interior skins for the exit doors pressed. They were a very difficult pressing because each had a combination of concave and convex shapes, making them very challenging to form on an English wheel. Reilly’s team has now fitted them to the internal framework and exterior skins, and has test-fitted both to their respective fuselage coolant exit door tunnels. He expect both of these to be completed and mounted by this summer.

An Egg Model of the F-82!!! (photo via Tom Reilly)

And that’s all for the moment. Many thanks again to Tom Reilly for the update! You can learn more about the project on their blog HERE. Please be sure to check back with WarbirdsNews in early June when we hope to have the next episode following the XP-82′s road to recovery!

North American XP-82 Twin Mustang 44-83887 on a test flight over the Sierras in 1945.

WarbirdsNews has received the latest XP-82 Twin Mustang restoration update from Tom Reilly at his workshop in Douglas, Georgia. Here’s what they’ve been up to this month!

Center Section

Two team members completed the last of the hydraulic and instrument line hookups, i.e., final brake, pitot, static, vacuum, and electrical conduit lines. They also completed the installation of the last missing hydraulic component, a relief unloader valve. This component signals the engine driven hydraulic pump to go into neutral when there is no hydraulic demand on the system, i.e., gear or flaps requiring hydraulic pressure.

One of the newly-installed hydraulic fittings. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Reilly was able to find a number of the hydraulic valves online. Two were listed as “used – as removed” for $50 each, with new ones in the range of $1500 each. He bought two used ones and when they arrived, they were obviously new units that had never been installed. The sellers listed them “as removed” to avoid any liability issues. We still had to take one apart and re-“O”-ring and reseal it just for a safety factor.

Tom Reilly (r) with Ayman installing the phenolic rub-strip for the flap. (photo via Tom Reilly)

A close-up view of the phenolic rub strip. (photo via Tom Reilly)

A side-view showing the phenolic rub strip mounted on the wing trailing edge, demonstrating how it seals the gap between wing trailing edge and flap. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Center Section Flap/Gap Seal

The final fitting of the phenolic upper gap seal rub strip is now completed. The installed flap in the retracted position is designed to rub its upper stainless steel rub-skin against this phenolic strip to stop any inflight air flow from the lower center section to transition through the leading edge to the top of the flap skin, creating an undesirable aerodynamic condition.

Installing the elevator. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Installing the elevator. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Elevator

The final fitting of the elevator mounted on the back of the horizontal stabilizer has now been completed. We are in the middle of adding the extra lead balance weights to the elevator arms to counter balance the additional weight of the aluminum trim tab hinge fittings. We replaced the original magnesium fittings with ones made from 7075 T-6 aluminum for an additional strength safety margin. The original magnesium fittings have been known to fail, creating fatal accidents.

A pair of the newly-manufactured fuel tanks. (photo via Tom Reilly)

A newly-manufactured fuel tank. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Fuel Tanks

The six newly-built fuel tanks, holding 600 gallons total, are now complete and will be delivered in June from their manufacturer, Eagle Manufacturing Corporation/The Custom Shop in Eagle River, Wisconsin. Reilly was very impressed by the quality of these tanks, which were custom-built for the project.

Right hand small aileron hinge. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Right hand aileron hinge. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Left hand aileron hinge. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Aileron Hinges / Bell Cranks / Wing Trailing Edges

All of the aileron hinges and associated bell cranks/arms/mounting points are now complete and have finished being installed. Now that the ailerons and all of their mounts are completed, two team members have started on the wing trailing edges in the aileron and flap bay areas. These upper and lower wing trailing edge skins must be precisely fitted so that the ailerons and flaps slightly rub against them to create a gap seal (similarly to the center section flap).

The newly manufactured up-lock forgings and rods. The original, corroded example can be seen on the extreme right. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Subcontract Machine Work

One of the machine shops working for the XP-82 project has delivered the four gear door up-lock forgings. Reilly was able to recover only one original, though severely corroded example, but it was good enough to create a pattern from. These were extremely complicated pieces to machine, but came out perfectly.

The frame-work for the coolant exit doors. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Coolant Exit Doors

Something as simple as fitting some newly-pressed, internal skins to the original frame work sure became an issue which took a substantial amount of time to resolve. The fit of the new parts was oh-so-close, but not close enough, and it took two team members the majority of May to get these two doors correctly assembled.

Newly manufactured fuel vent lines (along with some original pattern examples). (photo via Tom Reilly)

Fuel Vent Lines

Reilly’s team is heavily into the installation of all the fuel feed and vent lines in each wing and center section. They expect to have all of these lines fitted by mid-June. The six new fuel tanks can then start to be installed.

Many thanks again to Tom Reilly for the update! You can learn more about the project on their blog HERE. Please be sure to check back with WarbirdsNews in July for the next installation following the XP-82′s road to recovery!

Please click HERE for some of our previous updates.

WarbirdsNews has received the latest XP-82 Twin Mustang restoration update from Tom Reilly at his workshop in Douglas, Georgia. Here’s what they’ve been up to this month!

Wing Trailing Edges

The final trimming of the upper and lower skins on both wing trailing edges is now completed. These trailing edges hold extruded stiffeners that act as a secondary gap seal for the ailerons. The primary gap seal is a full-length sewn rectangular canvas panel that attaches to both the trailing edge spar, and the leading edge on each aileron. This gap seal stops the airflow from the lower airfoil of the wing up through the leading edge of the aileron. If allowed, this airflow would disturb the effectiveness of the aileron. The wing crew has these trailing edge extrusions completely fitted on the left-hand wing, and the fitting is almost completed on the right-hand wing.

Inboard wing flap hinge and lower trailing edge flap bay ribs. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Aileron extruded stiffeners (noted by the arrows). (photo via Tom Reilly)

Fuel Tanks, Vent Lines, and Fuel Tank Liners

The beautifully made fuel tanks have arrived from Eagle River Custom Shop located in Eagle River, WI. They fit perfectly. The final fitting of the fuel tank liners involves matching all of their multiple access holes for the fuel pumps, liquidometers, vent lines and fuel feed lines to the existing holes in the center section and wings. The fuel vent lines in both outboard wing bays are complete and the vent lines in the center section fuel tank bays will be installed when the final mandrel bending is completed this July.

Vent lines in the right hand aft fuel cell bay. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Tail Wheel Retract and Steering Mechanisms

Two of the subcontractor machine shops have been busy making numerous tail wheel assembly parts to replace the original unsalvageable components. They still have about twenty five items left to complete. Once delivered, the restoration team will start on the final assembly of both tail wheel retract assemblies.

Tail wheel fork and associated parts. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Coolant Exit Doors, Tunnels, and Radiators

The sheet metal crew has completed both coolant exit doors and fitted them into the tunnels. As mentioned in past news releases, these exit doors, even though they appeared very simple to repair and duplicate, have caused significant problems due to numerous skins having compound bends in three different directions. The team has also installed the right-hand radiator.

The original framework for one of the exit doors. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The restored frame for one of the exit doors. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The two completed exit doors; one shown upside down. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Side view of the right-hand radiator. The reflection is from a temporary piece of protective plexiglass. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The aft view of the right-hand radiator installed in the doghouse structure. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Rudders

Both rudders are now completely installed along with the multitude of trim cables and chains. The synchronization between the pilot and co-pilot rudder trims is accomplished by numerous cables and chains that run through the horizontal stabilizer and then attach to each rudder jack screw assembly; one mounted in each vertical stabilizer.

Tom Reilly inspecting the freshly-installed, right-hand rudder. (photo via Tom Reilly)

A view of both rudders in their proper place! (photo via Tom Reilly)

Merlin Engine Installations

The team is getting very close on the engine installation schedule for both engines to come out of their sealed, nitrogen-filled containers to see the light of day again. One of the contractor machine shops is in the process of fabricating the twelve required Dynafocal vibration-insulating mounts. These mounts are very close to, but not the exact dimensions as the P-51 Mustang series. Tom Reilly has found a company that makes aircraft mounts that has also agreed to pour (actually force feed the molten rubber) into the newly machined Dynafocals mounted in mold housings. When these twelve Dynafocals are completed, the restoration team will install both engines in their associated mounts.

Original engine Dynafocal mount in its exterior aluminum housing. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Note: Reilly’s XP-82 Twin Mustang, #44-83887, was the first XP-82 to fly. On its initial test flight, the counter-rotating left-hand turning engine was mounted on the left-hand fuselage, and the right-hand turning engine was mounted on the right-hand fuselage. This arrangement created an upward sweep of the propellers’ wash over the center section, creating an aerodynamic stall (loss of lift). The aircraft struggled to fly due to the loss of lift over the center section. It is a well known fact, proven in countless photos published by North American, that #44-83887 made only one flight with the props upsweeping. Before the second flight, the engineers at North American decided to swap everything firewall forwards from left to right, and vice versa to create a down sweep that cured the center section stall situation. All of the remaining 271 Twin Mustangs built, had their engines installed with the right-hand turner on the left-hand fuselage and counter-rotating left-hand turner on the right-hand fuselage. Reilly’s team will install the engines and propellers this way as well–with the right-hand turner on the left-hand fuselage and left-hand turner on the right-hand fuselage.

A picture of #44-83887 prior to its first flight with the left-hand turner on the left-hand fuselage and the right-hand turner on the right-hand fuselage with upsweeping props. This propeller configuration is what created the unacceptable stall situation during the initial test flight. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Many thanks again to Tom Reilly for the update! You can learn more about the project on their blog HERE. Please be sure to check back with WarbirdsNews in August for the next installation following the XP-82′s road to recovery!

WarbirdsNews has received the latest XP-82 Twin Mustang restoration update from Tom Reilly at his workshop in Douglas, Georgia. Here’s what they’ve been up to this month!

Minor Change of Priorities
Tom Reilly and his team were planning on finishing the cockpit wiring during July. However, after witnessing the rapid progress the wing sheet metal crew had made on both wings, Reilly chose to complete the fuel tank liners and vent tubes instead so as not to hold them up on completing the skinning for the aft bottom of both wings. These lower wing skins had had to be left off to allow access to install the tank liners and vent tubes. With those final parts now in place, the wing crew has now started on the lower skinning and flap bays.

Four large boxes of foam filler panels for the fuel cells. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Fuel bladder (tanks) close-out panels with the liquidometer (fuel level sender) and fuel neck and cap. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Wing Trailing Edges

All wing trailing edges and aileron hinge points are now completed and permanently riveted to the structure.

Trailing edge reinforcement. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Outboard Wing Flaps

The sheet metal crew has now started manufacturing both outboard flaps from scratch. Reilly had both original flaps from the Alaska wreck site, but not one piece on either flap was usable for anything other than a pattern sadly.

Outboard wing flaps under construction using all-new material. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Another view of the outboard wing flaps under construction. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Fuselage Internal Fuel Vent Lines

The bending and installation of the many fuel vent lines in the areas behind the aft cockpit wall and forward of the radiator are now completed for each fuselage. Each of these fuselage fuel vent line assemblies has large vertical and horizontal loops designed into them to prevent accidental discharge (loss) of fuel during inverted flight maneuvers. Fitting and installing these tubes was a difficult and time consuming process, but both fuselages are now fully furnished.

Fuel vent tubes after forming. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Installed fuel vent lines. (photo via Tom Reilly)

One left and one right combination generator/spark plug blast (cold air cooling) tubes. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Fuel Feed Lines

All of the special mandrel-formed fuel feed lines from the tanks to the center section check valves and continuing forward to the fuel shut-offs are now completed and installed.

Left-hand fuel feed lines and check valve installed. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Right-hand fuel feed lines and check valve installed. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Wiring

The crew is now finishing the last minute to-do July items and when finished, they will begin completing the final wiring hookups in the firewall/cockpit/instrument shelf areas in both cockpits. This will start sometime in mid-August.

Engine Installations

The special rubber engine Dynafocal mounts that are under manufacture for the project by an outside shop are nearing completion. When these are done, both engines will come out of their sealed cans and go on the airframe. This will happen by late August or September at the earliest.

Radiators

Both radiators are now permanently installed. The final fitting of the four radiator coolant tubes in each side must wait until the final small-to-do tasks in the bays forward of each radiator are completed. If these tubes were installed now, there would be no human access to either bay.

Tom Reilly wotking on the radiator installation. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Left-hand radiator pictured in the foreground with the righthand radiator to the rear. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Newly machined tail wheel gear door hinges. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Carburetor mixture linear actuators (fuel mixture on/off)

These were the last two firewall-orward parts needed and were proving extremely difficult to find. Thankfully, Larry Kelley (owner of B-25J Panchito), found two New Old Stock examples and generously contributed them to the XP-82 project.

The linear actuators which Larry Kelley kindly provided to the team. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Many thanks again to Tom Reilly for the update! You can learn more about the project on their blog HERE. Please be sure to check back with WarbirdsNews in August for the next installation following the XP-82′s road to recovery!

North American XP-82 Twin Mustang 44-83887 in 1945

WarbirdsNews has received the latest XP-82 Twin Mustang restoration update from Tom Reilly at his workshop in Douglas, Georgia. Here’s what they’ve been up to this month!

Fuel Cells and Liners

The restoration team has finally completed the fuel cell test-fittings. They spent quite a bit of time positioning all of the fuel scuppers (overboard fuel drains), fuel necks, fuel caps, and liquidometers in the openings on the outboard wings and center section. All of the fuel vent lines were completed by the end of July and they had to temporarily install the fuel tanks and liners in each of the six positions to confirm that the tanks lined up properly with each fuel filler, feed and vent line.

Fuel Scupper. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Installing the right hand wing fuel tanks (205 gallons total). (photo via Tom Reilly)

The left hand 95 gallon center section tank (600 US gallons total) in its place. (photo via Tom Reilly)

One of the more complicated fuel vent jobs involved manufacturing the inverted fuel vent plenum with the back-flow check ball assembly. The team copied the original, corroded one as exactly as possible. All the final fuel bladder installations should be completed by the end of October. Reilly reckons that they must have put in about three months of solid work to get all of the fuel system fitting perfectly!

The inverted fuel vent plenum with its associated back-flow check ball assembly. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Outboard Flaps

Both outboard flaps will be completed at the end of next week. They were a relatively simple build with no hidden ‘gotchas’. The original top skins for the outboard flaps were made from .025″ aluminum sheet. However, when the NACA test pilots walked off the trailing edge of the wing, their footprints dented the upper skins (even though it says “NO STEP”). Reilly chose to increase the thickness of the upper skin to .040′ to cure this footprint denting problem in case any future pilot exited the aircraft off the back of the outboard wing.

Paul and Randall riveting the outer skins to one of the flaps. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The flaps in position on the wing. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Outboard Wings

Now that the outboard flaps and fuel cells have been final-fitted, the completion of the lower wing skinning can commence. The lower skins on the wings were intentionally left off to allow access for the final fuel tank alignment and fitting. The lower skinning of both outboard wings should be completed by the end of September.

Electrical

The final hookups of all the primary and secondary electrical wiring will started on September 1st. Most of the fuselage wiring has been final-terminated to all of the terminal strips located on the shelves forward of the instrument panels. All of the numbered and labeled wiring harnesses from the center section, wheel wells and outboard wings have been pulled to the shelf locations and now await hooking up to the terminal strips. Reilly expects to have the majority of the electrical systems completed within a month.

An example of just how much effort is involved in assembling the wiring on a complex aircraft such as th XP-82. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Engines and Propellers

All twelve Merlin engine-mounting Dynafocals and attaching horseshoes and plates have been completed by the contractors and delivered to the project in Douglas, Georgia. These have been one of the more difficult machining tasks to complete. It would have been simple if the team could simply have bought twelve P-51 mounts, but the Twin Mustang units were slightly different in outside dimension and lengths. On October 1st, the two Merlins will come out of their nitrogen-filled cans and be permanently installed on each engine mount. Both disassembled propellers will be trailered to MT Propeller’s Stateside facility (it’s a German company) located in DeLand, Florida. They will assemble both props and call Tom Reilly upon their completion so he can arrange for their pickup.

Four horseshoe mounts on the left with the mounting plates to the right (assembled with temporary hardware). (photo via Tom Reilly)

One of the two mounted rotating beacons that Larry Kelley (owner/pilot of B-25J Panchito) contributed to the XP-82 project. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Ayman Installing scupper drain lines in the center section fuel bays. (When hired on, one wonders whether  he knew he was signing up for THIS!?). (photo via Tom Reilly)

Many thanks again to Tom Reilly for the update! You can learn more about the project on their blog HERE. Please be sure to check back with WarbirdsNews in October for the next installment in the story following the XP-82′s road to recovery!

A color shot of the XP-82 back during its test flying days. (photo via Tom Reilly)

WarbirdsNews has received the latest XP-82 Twin Mustang restoration update from Tom Reilly at his workshop in Douglas, Georgia. Here’s what they’ve been up to this month!

Wings/Ailerons/Flaps

The final skinning and completion of the lower part of both outboard wings is now complete. The sheet metal team is doing the final fitting and riveting of the last outboard wing bulkhead. This outboard bulkhead holds the structural 10-32 nut plates that the wing tip attaches to. The drop-down pitot mast (airspeed indicator) has been test-fitted and completed. It is now at the cad plate shop and expected back any day now.

The sewing of the fabric gap-seal canvas is being completed. These fabric gap-seals create a barrier so that the airflow over and under the wings will not be able to transition through the gap between the aileron and the trailing edge of each wing.

Randall and Aymen working on the wing… note how one of the men is actually inside the wing bucking the rivets. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Finishing up the riveting on the final outboard wing bulkhead. The wing tip attaches at this station. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The completed outer wing panel. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Fuel Tanks/Fuel Systems

Now that the wing skinning is complete, the four outboard tanks can now be permanently installed. The fuel capacity is 205 gallons total for each outboard wing, and there is a 95 gallon tank in each side of the center section, giving a total fuel capacity of 600 U.S. gallons. All of the fuel feed and fuel vent lines, along with the cross-feed check valves are now permanently installed along with the electrical conduits and internal wiring that run through or near the fuel tank bays, i.e. boost pumps (four) and liquidometers (six).

Electrical

The electrical team has been hooking up all of the electrical connections in both cockpits. They are about two-weeks away from completion, and at that time, Reilly’s team can put power on the ship and final-check each system. When the electrical system is final-checked and accepted, then the restoration team will install the completed instrument panels with their OHC (Overhauled Condition) instruments.

Left Hand pilot’s side electrical shelf partially completed with the temporary tie wraps prior to lacing cord. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The fuel control box, which controls everything to do with fuel, i.e. boost pumps, fuel gauges, fuel shut-offs/cross-feed valves and drop tank(s), is now electrically bench-checked, completed and ready to be installed. This will be happen once the final testing of all the other circuits has been successfully proven.

The rear face of the fuel control box. (photo by Tom Reilly)

The front face of the fuel control box, showing the two unique fuel gauges. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Engines

The left-hand engine is now permanently installed, with the right-hand engine being installed next week, and all of the overhauled accessories will be installed in their respective positions on each engine, i.e. generators, governors, tach generators, fuel and vacuum pumps. Both overhauled engines came from Vintage V12s with the overhauled carburetors mounted.

The left hand Merlin engine is now mounted to the airframe. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Another view of the left hand engine in its mounts. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Engine Cowlings

The sheet metal crew has started duplicating the ribs for a pair of right-hand upper and lower engine cowlings.

Some of the ribs coming together for the upper and lower engine cowlings. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Newly machined radiator coolant neck identical to the original cast one. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Newly machined aft up-lock latch hooks and trunnions for the main landing gear doors. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Many thanks again to Tom Reilly for the update! You can learn more about the project on their blog HERE. Please be sure to check back with WarbirdsNews in October for the next installment in the story following the XP-82′s road to recovery!

WarbirdsNews has received the latest XP-82 Twin Mustang restoration update from Tom Reilly at his workshop in Douglas, Georgia. Here’s what they’ve been up to this month!

Engines and Accessories

Both engines are now permanently installed with all of their overhauled accessories mounted, minus one vacuum pump and one generator. Both of these items should be at the shop and installed next week.

The engines in their mounts. (photo viaTom Reilly)

The engines are also sporting their exhaust stacks now as well. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The MT propellor governors are now in position as well (note the arrow). (photo via Tom Reilly)

Also, both MT Propeller governors are installed. One MT Propeller hub and spinner backing plate has been test-fitted on the port engine prop shaft. It has a microscopic mechanical interference issue with a small governor screw and feather fitting which should be fixed easily with a little deeper countersink for the screw and fitting.

One of the propellor hubs test fitted on the port engine. (photo via Tom Reilly)

MT Propeller Blades (8) and Hubs (2)

Tom Reilly is making arrangements with MT Propeller in Germany for both propellers to be delivered to the company’s U.S. base of operations in DeLand, Florida. One of their German propeller technicians will assemble both four-bladed propeller units and Reilly will then haul them back to his shop in Douglas, Georgia on a factory-provided propeller trailer.

Belly Scoops, Dog Houses, Radiator Seal Frames & Induction Trunks

All of these components have been restored for some time now, and this past week the restoration team took them out of storage and test-fitted them on the aircraft. The process went smoothly with only a minor amount of trimming and alignment necessary.

Test fitting the starboard engine scoop. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Test fitting the port belly scoop, dog house and radiator. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Test-fitting the left hand forward induction trunk. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Another view of the left hand induction trunk test-fitting. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Guns & Ammo

Reilly spoke to the machine shop completing the XP-82′s .50 caliber replica guns and received assurance that they should be completed sometime in mid-November. A machine gun buyer/seller contacted Tom Reilly and told him that he will be bringing all of the loaded ammunition, heads and primers (less powder), sometime in December or January.

Cowlings – Firewall Forward

Three restoration team members have started to fit the cowling skins on all of the completed cowl ribs that they finished prior to their get together. The team is having some fitting difficulties with the new cowl skins that they had made four years ago. But with some additional English wheeling they should fit properly. Reilly is an expert on the English Wheel, a special roller machine used to form compound curved skins.

The forward windshield close-out panel in place. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Newly-formed engine cowling interior ribs. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Newly-formed engine cowl Dzus fastener rails. (photo via Tom Reilly)

The Fuel Control box and 90% of the wiring is now installed and hooked up in the left hand cockpit. (photo via Tom Reilly)

Main landing gear door hinge retract forgings newly machined for the XP-82 by Jeff Friend. (photo via Tom Reilly)

As must now be clear to everyone, the XP-82 is really starting to take shape and look like an airplane again. Reilly says that the shipping containers are becoming more and more empty every day with all of the completed parts being installed on both fuselages.

Many thanks again to Tom Reilly for the update! You can learn more about the project on their blog HERE. Please be sure to check back with WarbirdsNews in October for the next installment in the story following the XP-82′s road to recovery!