Aero-News: Quote of the Day

ANN's Quote of the Day usually derives from current news, though we reserve the right to pick quotes out of history that have a bearing on the day's events and issues.

Sometimes, you'll find them timely and in keeping with the content of the day's news... and sometimes, they'll just be thought-provoking.

Reader suggestions and comments are welcome... and if particularly intriguing, timely, or poignant, may themselves become future Quotes of the Day.

Let us hear from you, folks!

Aero-News Quote of the Day

"Our airplane, -83887, went to NACA (the predecessor of NASA) in Cleveland, Ohio, immediately after its first flight on April 15, 1945, sometime in August or September of 1945," Tom said. "It was a test bed for an eight-machine-gun center pod, underwing rockets, and a radar pod. It flew with NACA from mid-1945 until 15 December 1949, when it skidded off the side of an icy runway, buried itself in the mud, and bent the center section. The military said, 'Well, we don't need it anymore.' They already had a second P-82 so they simply scrapped it. A soon-to-be very well-known aircraft collector from Newbury, Ohio, named Walter Soplata found out about the slightly bent XP-82 before the military could scrap it and paid $300 for the airplane and hauled it to his Ohio farm."

Source: XP-82 Rebuilder, Tom Reilly, talking about part of the story that led to his magnificent recreation of a legendary XP-82, 'Twin Mustang.'

FMI: https://www.platinumfighters.com/xp-82