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USAF will attempt to reclaim F-82

Air Classics, Nov 2003

Stunning turn of events concerns the ex-CAF Twin Mustang

The USAF Museum has announced it "will pursue every option available" to get back the NM F-82 Twin Mustang once held by the Commemorative Air Force. Museum officials charge that the CAF ignored warnings about trading the rare fighter to Jim Fry in exchange for the ex-Museum of Flying P-38 Lightning. The CAF also traded the wreckage of P-38 Scatterbrain Kid II along with the damaged Twin Mustang. The USAF had conditionally donated the F-82 to the CAF in 1966. The aircraft was on outside display at Lackland AFB and a crew from the CAF made it airworthy and flew the machine to the then-CAF headquarters at Harlingen, Texas.

More Articles of Interest: F-82: Twin Mustang in combat; CAF Twin Mustang/lightning deal concluded; Artifacts disappear at USAF Museum; Luftwaffe aircraft beneath Schoenefeld Airport?; F-82G

In defining the transaction, USAF Museum director Maj. Gen. Charles Metcalf stated, "A conditional donation enables the receiving entity to take possession of the aircraft with the requirement that it return tbe aircraft to the USAF should it no longer wish to retain possession.

"In 2001, the USAF Museum became the USAF's executive agent for the more than 2000 aircraft and other aerospace vehicles on static display worldwide, of which the F-82 is one," said Metcalf.

"The CAF violated the terms of the agreement by transferring the aircraft to a private party and failed to submit the proper notification that it wished to relinquish possession. Museum officials learned of this transaction through a popular aviation publication (Editor's note: Guess which one?) and sent a certified letter to the organization to remind it of the stipulations of their original agreement and that such a transaction constituted a violation of terms."

The USAF Museum also charges that the CAF, "proceeded with the transaction despite assurances by the head of the CAF that he would resolve the issue with the organization's board of directors."

On 29 August, CAF executive director Bob Rice issued the following statement to members: "I want to bring you up to speed on a matter that the CAF has been working on for some time. It has to do with the trade of the CAF's F-82 for a flyable P-38. The CAF originally acquired the F-82 from the USAF. It was donated to the CAF by the USAF in 1966.

"You may know that the F-82 has not flown since sustaining a hard landing in 1987. When the opportunity became available in 2002 to trade it for a pristine flyable P-38, approval was granted and the trade consummated.

"Subsequent to the trade, the CAF and USAF have been in communication regarding the terms of the original donation document. It essentially is a 'contract' dispute. I want you to know that the CAF is working diligently and forthright with the USAF to bring this matter to an amicable conclusion. Assignment of the P-38 to a CAF unit has been placed on hold until this matter is resolved (Editor's note:The P-38 is currently in a CAF Southern California Wing hangar at Camarillo, California)."

This is a complex issue and includes changes in USAF Museum policy going back to the late 1990s. On 14 February 2001, Essam Al-Ridi testified for the prosecution in the US District Court in New York's Southern District that in 1993 he purchased a NAA T-39A Sabreliner - previously owned by the USAF Museum - for Osama bin Laden.

Al-Ridi, a pilot, testified that bin Laden planned to use the Sabreliner to transport Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. Al-Ridi also testified that the Sabreliner transported members of bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network. However, the aircraft had a short life - it ran off a runway and impacted a sand bank.

Ascher Ward, a well-known vintage aircraft broker, obtained the Sabreliner (along with several other examples) in a trade with the USAF Museum for a vintage aircraft. He then sold the T-39A to Al-Ridi at a time when, according to Ward, "we were friends of Osama's and we were giving him everything."

Ward also said that the Sabreliners were utilized for navigational trainers but some were also used for transporting USAF personnel. "Al-Ridi said he was going to use it for transporting executives - trying to get charters with it."

Metcalf said the T-39A was exchanged "totally within USAF rules" at the time but those rules changed in 1997. Metcalf went on to state that individuals obtaining trade aircraft must obtain an end user's certificate which will certify where the aircraft is going and who will use it. Also, there is a background check of the potential user by the Defense Logistics Agency.

This unfortunate event has a number of problems. First, in 1966 the F-82 was on outside display at Lackland AFB with no protection from the elements. In fact, there was another F-82 on display at the same location and it is still there. The CAF obtained the aircraft and made it flyable but because of mechanical difficulties it seldom flew. The 1987 "hard landing" at Harlingen was actually more of a crash - the two CAF pilots stalled the aircraft at about 50-ft and impact with the runway caused considerable damage, some of which was never repaired. Over the years, the aircraft was shuttled to different locations and its final CAF resting place was in San Diego, California, but that unit did not have the resources to restore the plane (which would probably cost well over $1,000,000) and when Mr. Fry became interested in the machine, exchanging the damaged F-82 and wrecked P-38 for a flying P-38 seemed a logical trade for the CAF. We will keep reporting on this situation as facts become available. Thanks to the Dayton Daily News for providing details.

USAF will attempt to reclaim F-82

Air Classics, Nov 2003

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