Douglas P-70
The P-70 was developed, in 1942, from the Douglas A-20 "Havoc" for use by the
Army Air Corps to fill an urgent need for a night fighter until the first scheduled
deliveries of the Northrop
P-61 "Black Widow" in
1943.
The British first used the modified
A-20 as a
night fighter (Havoc II) and met with some success. The AAF followed suit and modified an
A-20 by installing radar and four 20mm cannon in a fuselage pod. The glass nose section of
the A-20 was simply painted black in a P-70.
When the
P-61 deliveries began, the P-70s were gradually
taken out of combat service and used primarily as trainers.
| General characteristics P-70 |
| Primary function |
Nightfighter |
| Power plant |
Two Wright R-2600-11 radial engines |
| Thrust |
2x 1,600 HP |
2x 1,193 kW |
| Wingspan |
61.3 ft |
18.69 m |
| Length |
47.6 ft |
14.50 m |
| Height |
17.6 ft |
5.36 m |
| Wingarea |
464 sq ft |
43.11 sq m |
| Weight |
empty |
16,045 lb |
7,278 kg |
| max. |
21,283 lb |
9,654 kg |
| Speed |
329 mph |
529 km/h |
| Ceiling |
28,250 ft |
8,611 m |
| Range |
1,060 miles |
1,706 km |
| Armament |
4x 20mm cannon |
| Date deployed |
1942 |
| Number converted |
240 |
Jirka Wagner (If you find
some photo, send it to me, please)
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