Length: 10"
WingSpan: 12.5"
Code: NC09075

Based on the P-51 Mustang, the F-82 was originally designed as a long-range escort fighter in World War II, however the war ended well before the first production units were operational, so its postwar role changed to that of night-fighting. Radar-equipped F-82s were used extensively by the Air Defense Command as replacements for the P-61 Black Widow night fighter. During the Korean War, Japan-based F-82s were among the first USAF aircraft to operate over Korea. The first three North Korean aircraft destroyed by U.S. forces were shot down by F-82s, the first being a North-Korean Yak-7 downed over Gimpo by the USAF 68th Fighter Squadron.

Initially intended as a very long-range (VLR) escort fighter, the F-82 was designed to escort B-29 Superfortress bombers on missions exceeding 2,000 mi (3,219 km) from the Solomons or Philippines to Tokyo, missions beyond the range of the P-38 Lightning and conventional P-51 Mustangs. Such missions were part of the planned U.S. invasion of the Japanese home islands, which was forestalled by the surrender of Japan days after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

In October 1943, the North American Aircraft design team began work on a fighter design that could travel over 2,000 mi (3,219 km) without refueling. It consisted of a two-fuselage design, somewhat similar to the experimental German Messerschmitt Bf 109Z "Zwilling". Although based on the lightweight experimental XP-51F, which would later become the P-51H Mustang, it was actually an entirely new design. North American Design Chief Edgar Schmued incorporated two P-51H Mustang fuselages lengthened by the addition of a 57 in (145 cm) fuselage plug located behind the cockpit where additional fuel tanks and equipment could be installed. These were mounted to a newly designed center wing section containing the same six .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns as a single-engine Mustang, but with more concentrated fire. The outer wings were strengthened to allow the addition of hard points for carrying additional fuel or 1,000 lb (454 kg) of ordnance. The two vertical tails were also from the XP-51F, but incorporated large dorsal fillets for added stability in case of an engine failure. The aircraft had a standard landing gear with both wheels retracting into bays under each fuselage center section.