"NASM's Black Widow is a P-61C-1-NO, U. S. Army Air Forces serial number 43-8330. Northrop delivered it to the Army on July 28, 1945. "
"The P-61 Black Widow was the first United States aircraft designed from the start to find and destroy other aircraft at night and in bad weather. It served in combat for only the final year of World War II but flew in the European, Mediterranean, Pacific, and China-Burma-India theaters.
Black Widow crews destroyed 127 enemy aircraft and 18 robot V-1 buzz bombs ."
"Northrop test pilot Vance Breeze flew the aircraft on May 26, 1942. Although the Black Widow was nearly as large as a medium bomber,
it was a true fighter. The only prohibited flight maneuvers were outside loops, sustained inverted flight, and deliberate spins.
"Combat operations began just after D-Day (June 6) and the Black Widows
quickly departed from their original role as defensive interceptors and became aggressors. They flew deep into German airspace, bombing and strafing trains and road traffic and making travel difficult for the enemy by
day and at night. "
source: National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution
http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/aircraft/northrop_p61.htmDeliveries of the initial production series aircraft, the P-61A, began in October 1943, and these became operative the following year. The were used in both the Europe and Pacific theaters.
Beginning in August 1944, the first of the second version, the P-61B (450 built) was delivered. In this B version the aircraft’s already powerful armament was increased with the installation of wing supports capable of carrying four 1,602 lb bombs, or supplementary fuel tanks.
The last version, the P-61C, strengthened above all in engine power with the Pratt & Whitney R-2800-73’s which were supercharged and rated at 2,839 hp. Only 41 of the this version were built, out of an order for 517.
source:
http://www.qsl.net/n3yqh/WWII/p61.htmSpecifications for P-61B:
Type: 3 seat night fighter
Powerplant: two 2,000hp Pratt and Whitney R-2800 Double Waso radials
Performance: Max speed 366mph;
20,000ft in 6.8 minutes; range 1,350miles.
Armament: Four 20mm cannon and four .50-calibre machine guns
