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Northrop P-61 Black Widow

posted by Jiri Wagner

The P-61 was the first US aircraft specifically designed as a night fighter. As large as a medium bomber, it was actually very maneuverable. The P-61 was first fielded in Europe but found greater use in the Pacific. The Black Widow replaced the interim Douglas P-70 and eventually equipped all 14 USAAF night-fighter units. The key to the P-61's success was the Western Electric SCR-720 airborne intercept radar.

The first recorded "kill" came on July 6, 1944, when 1st Lt. Francis Eaton (pilot), 2d Lt. James E. Ketchum (radar operator), and SSgt. Gary Anderson (gunner) intercepted and shot down a Japanese "Betty" bomber. P-61 crews accounted for 127 confirmed victories, including 18 V-1 "buzz bombs" in Europe. Four Black Widow crews became aces.

The last kill by a P-61 was made by Major Lee Kendall to whom "Lady in the Dark" was assigned. The nose art was commissioned by Major Kendall on Iwo Jima. Major Kendall, a recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, on August 15, 1945 while on CAP caused a Tojo aircraft to crash - the Japanese fighter crashed into the Pacific without a shot being fired. At that time Kendall was known as Captain Solie Solomon (look at document).

In 1946, 36 aircraft of a slightly modified design were built as the F-15 Reporter photoreconnaissance aircraft. P-61s were also used for ejection-seat tests and for a research program that studied the effects of thunderstorms on aircraft structures after the war. In 1946, a dozen P-61Cs were transferred to the Marines as trainers and were designated F2Ts. The P-61 was phased out of USAF service in 1952, and the last F-15 was retired in 1955

Only four P-61s are thought to exist today.
The first one, a C-model that never saw combat, is on display at the US Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson, in Dayton, Ohio.
The second is on display at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Washington DC.
The third is on display at, of all places, a park in China.
The fourth is currently (and slowly) being restored at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum at the Reading, PA, airport. It was discovered on a mountainside in New Guinea. Check out the museum's website for some great info this particular P61 and the ongoing restoration.