WIX Archives

I presume these have been recovered?

Posted by Tony on Sun Apr 07, 2002 06:51:30 AM

Twin Mustang

The article by Margaret Moen concerning the F-82E Twin Mustang restoration (see the "Enduring Heritage" department) in the January 2001 issue was of special interest to me. While I was stationed at Elmendorf Air Force Base in 1953-54, serving as a staff sergeant with the Alaskan Air Command, the last seven existing F-82s flew in from the States on their final mission. They ceremoniously flew around the field, and the entire base turned out to watch them land.

Those same aircraft were later disassembled and pushed into the base dump by a bulldozer at the north end of the field between Elmendorf and Ft. Richardson. They are probably still there under tons of other discarded military waste. Our depot electronics maintenance shop managed to recover numerous operable radio receivers that were removed from a radar field trailer before it was also pushed into the dump. Someday this spot, along with others on bases all over the world, may become treasure troves for future aviation museum curators.

H.L. Richards
Springville, Ala.

Send letters to: Aviation History Editor, PRIMEDIA History Group, 741 Miller Drive., Suite D-2, Leesburg, VA 20175, or e-mail to AviationHistory@thehistorynet.com. Please include your name, address and daytime telephone number. Letters may be edited.




Follow Ups: