Only Example Of The Experimental Airplane Is At Wittman Regional Airport
Tom Reilly's highly anticipated XP-82 is finally here at Oshkosh, and just in time to help EAA celebrate 50 years in Oshkosh. During 1943 with a world war raging on all fronts, the Allied military planners knew that to gain supremacy over the Axis they needed to hit the enemy's industrial targets deep inside of both Europe and Japan before they could concentrate on any invasion planning. The B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators in Europe already had the range, but fighters like the P-38 Lightning and P-47 Thunderbolt could only escort them so far before having to turn back, leaving the bombers unprotected. The XP-82 was the answer.