Beauty and the Beast

[Ripsnort]

Check Zeno's link out: http://www.zenoswarbirdvideos.com/MoreP-61Stuff.html

Heavily armed and stealthily clad in an
              all-black paint job, the Widow was highly successful when it saw
              action, assisting in turning back the German advance at the
              "Battle of the Bulge" and accounting for the last two air-to-air
              victories of WWII.        
Type:           Fighter
Crew:           3
Armament:       four 20mm cannon,
                four .50 cal machine guns in optional dorsal turret

Specifications:
        Length:         49' 7" (15.11 m)
        Height:         14' 8" (4.47 m)
        Wingspan:       66' (20.12 m)
        Gross Weight:   35853 lbs (16260 kg)
        Max Weight:     35855 lbs (16260 kg)

Propulsion:
        No. of Engines: 2
        Powerplant:     Pratt & Whitney R-2800
        Horsepower:     2100 hp each

Performance:
        Range:          1200 miles (1932 km)
        Cruise Speed:   275 mph (442 km/hr)
        Max Speed:      425 mph (684 km/hr)
        Ceiling:        46200 ft (14081 m)      



[This message has been edited by Ripsnort (edited 08-04-2000).]

[ra]

Now post a picture of beauty.    


ra

[gatt]

Man, she's ugly  

 

[indian]

Hey Drip!! How did it account for the last two victories did 2 crash or what. Man its ugly.    

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Tommy (INDIAN) Toon
Indians Home page were links to help pages can be found.
Indian's Homepage

[Ripsnort]

Okay smart asses!  When (and if) you got married, has your wife looked as good as  she did her wedding day!?!  

Lanc:ugly ,but beautiful
F4U:ugly, but beautiful
B17:Ugly,but beautiful
Typhoon:Ugly but beautiful

P61 would fit right in!

[Hamish]

I agree with Rip, she's a Beaut, especially if she's got 4x20's/4x.50's pounding away at a buff's fuselage under the light of the moon  


BRING THE P-61 to AH


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Hamish!
 

[This message has been edited by Hamish (edited 08-04-2000).]

[Nashwan]

The speed of 425mph was only achieved by the P61C, which entered service in July 45, and never saw action during the war.
The P61s that did see action had a top speed of around 370mph.

[CavemanJ]

I'm hopin for the P-61B Time's a Wastin, which was from the second half of the B production run, with the dorsal turret put back on after a little rework to reduce buffeting problems when it was traversed.

[Torque]

daddy is it going to have babies?????

[flakbait]

 

Joe Baugher's U.S. Military Aircraft

P-61B

The P-61B was the next production version of the Black Widow. It was basically similar to the P-61A version, but
introduced numerous improvements and refinements that were suggested by operational experience in the field.

The P-61B version of the Black Widow introduced the improved SCR-720C A/I radar. The P-61B had an eight-inch longer
crew nacelle. The A-model's hydraulically-operated main landing-gear doors which had experienced reliability problems in
the field were replaced by mechanically-operated doors. The P-61B introduced split main landing gear doors. The split
main-gear doors allowed the aft three-quarters of the doors to close back down again after the gear had been extended,
preventing mud, rocks and other debris from being thrown up into the wheelwells during takeoffs or landings. A main landing
gear down-lock emergency release was introduced, which allowed the pilot to release the locks in an emergency even if the
entire hydraulic system malfunctioned. A safety latch was added to the main gear hydraulic valve handle to eliminate the
possibility of the pilot inadvertently retracting the gear while the plane was on the ground.

One way of visually telling the difference between a P-61A and a P-61B was by an readily-noticeable access panel which
was added behind the radome on the P-61B.

The B-model had a bigger and better heater system for the crew, and it had automatically- operated lower engine cowl flops,
oil-cooler air exit flaps, and intercooler flaps. The oil tanks were mounted inside the engine nacelles instead of inside the outer
wings. A taxi lamp was added to the landing gear strut. The aileron trim tabs were deleted, and a built-in fire extinguisher
system was added.

Operational crews in combat theatres as well as training squadrons in the USA determined very early on that the Black
Widow pilot needed to have night-vision binoculars in order to see his target. These were introduced on the B-model.
Night-vision binoculars consisted of a combination of 5.8-power night glasses and an optical gunsight. In place of the circle
and the dot of light in his regular gunsight, there was a horizontal row of four illuminated dots in the gunsight of the binoculars.
The pilot lined up these dots with the wing of the target aircraft he was sighting on, and if he knew the type of aircraft he was
looking at, he could easily determine its range and quickly calculate a firing solution. Night binoculars were later retrofitted to
many P-61A already in the field.

Starting with the P-51B-5-NO production block, the SCR-718 radio altimeter was replaced with an APN-1 low-altitude
altimeter.

Starting with the P-61B-10-NO block, an APS-13 tail-warning system was added. Some P-61As and many early P-61Bs
were retrofitted in the field with the APN-1 and APS-13 systems. The B-10 production block also introduced underwing
pylons for four 258-gallon drop tanks or four 1600-pound bombs

The P-61B-15-NO reintroduced the dorsal turret (General Electric Type A-4), the buffeting problem caused by earlier
turrets having by now been largely corrected.

The P-61B-20-NO used the General Electric Type A-7 turret with a revised fire-control system.

The Black Widow night fighter used its on-board radar only to plot intercept courses when pursuing enemy aircraft. Once
having used closed with his target, the pilot of the Black Widow sighted his prey by eye and used a conventional optical
gunsight to fire his guns at the enemy. Operationally-practical radar-directed airborne fire control was still many years in the
future. Nevertheless, there were some experiments with the Black Widow in which automatic airborne fire control was tried
out. The P-61B-25-NO was a block of seven experimental aircraft which were fitted with a Western Electric APG-1
gun-laying radar which was coupled with a General Electric remote-controlled turret system. The radar fed data into an
analogue computer, which in turn directed the turret guns onto the target. One P-61B-15-NO was also modified in this
fashion, and the first six P-61B-20-NO aircraft were also modified to this configuration. All of these aircraft were tested by
the Air Proving Command at Elgin Field, Florida and at the night fighter training establishment at Hammer Field in California.
However, I don't think that this innovation ever made it to the field.

During 1945, 16 P-61Bs were converted to P-61Gs for weather reconnaissance. All armament was deleted.

To quote Rip: GIMME!!!!

Flakbait

[Rendar]

The P-61C could be a "Perk Plane".

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Rendar

[flakbait]

Rendar, the P-61C would not be a perk plane since it didn't see service. By the time it was produced the war was more or less over. The major variants that did see service were the A and B models. Here's the specs on the P-61A as taken from Joe Baugher's Page:

 

The P-61 was quite docile despite its size. Full control of the aircraft could be maintained with one engine out, even when fully loaded. The plane could be slow-rolled into a dead engine, a maneuver which would ordinarily have been suicidal.

P-61A-1-NO 42-5496 was supplied to the RAF for tests. It was in British hands between March 21, 1944 and February 22, 1945. The RAF was not too enthusiastic about its performance, and never bothered to order any Black Widows for its own use, finding that the night fighter version of the de Havilland Mosquito was more than adequate for the task at hand.

The P-61A-5-NO production block introduced a change in engines. These planes were powered by a pair of 2250 hp R-2800-65 engines, replacing the 2000 hp R-2800-10s. Maximum speed was 322 mph at sea level, 355 mph at 10,000 feet, and 369 mph at 20,000 feet. Range (clean) was 415 miles at 319 mph at 20,000 feet and 1010 miles at 224 mph at 10,000 feet. Range with maximum external fuel was 1900 miles at 221 mph at 10,000 feet. An altitude of 5000 feet could be reached in 2.2 minutes, and 15,000 feet in 7.6 minutes. Service ceiling was 33,100 feet. Weights were 20,965 pounds empty, 27,600 pounds normal loaded, and 32,400 pounds maximum. Dimensions were wingspan 66 feet 0 inches, length 48 feet 11 inches, height 14 feet 2 inches, and wing area 664 square feet.

The P-61A-10-NO production block had a pair of water-injected R-2800-65 Double Wasps. This model was the first to carry the shiny-black paint job which was to be the trademark of the Black Widow. Previous production P-61As had conventional olive-drab paint jobs. 120 P-61A-10-NOs were built. 20 of these were modified prior to delivery by the addition of a pylon on the outer wing panels to carry either a pair of 265 gallon fuel tanks (later 310 gallon tanks were fitted) or a pair of 1600-pound bombs.These planes were redesignated P-61A-11.

Armament was 4x 20mm cannons in the belly, and 4x .50 caliber M2 machineguns in a dorsal turret. Over half the P-61A aircraft built had this turret removed due to airframe buffeting. Turrets were either removed at forward shipment facilities or in the field.

The differences between the P-61A and the P-61B are listed in my previous post.

Flakbait

[Dune]

Appearing as it did late in the war, only four P-61 pilots achieved ace statas, three in the ETO and one in the Pacific Theater. 1st Lt. HermanE. Ernst, assigned to the 422nd Night Fighter Squadron, became an ace in the predawn of 2 March1945, when he executed a "triple play". Teamed with his radar observer, 1st Lt. Edward H. Kopsel, Ernst lifted his big fighter off the runway of strip A-78 in Belgium at 0348 hours and contacted "Nuthouse" ground control. Directed by "Nuthouse", Ernst closed to 400 feet on an Me 110. Opening fire, he scored several hits on the fuselage and the 110 snapped violently to the right. Almost immediately Ernst and Kopsel were vectored to a second target, which proved to be a Ju-87 Stuka dive-bomber. Closing to 500 feet, Ernst opened up with the four belly-mounted 20-mm cannon and the Stuka went straight down into the ground. Three minutes later, "Nuthouse" called out a third target. Kopsel picked it up on his airborne radar at two miles and guided Ernst in until he made a visual sighting of another Ju-87, 1,000 feet dead ahead.

   
- Painting by Roy Grinnell at  http://www.maam.org/p61art/p61art2.html


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Lt Col Dune
X.O. 352nd Fighter Group
"The Blue Nosed Bastards of Bodney"

"Credo quia absurdum est." (I believe it because it is unreasonable)
- The motto of the Republic of Baja Arizona

[This message has been edited by Dune (edited 08-11-2000).]

[SpyHawk]

Anybody have any pics of what the radar operators station looked like?

I'd also like to see what the radar picture looked like while tracking a target.

Thanks a bazzillion to anybody who can post 'em!

[StSanta]

 

Okay smart asses! When (and if) you got married, has your wife looked as good as she did her wedding day!?!

Rip, tell your wife I think she is more beautiful than ever, and has a rare combination of sensuality, grace and eloquence that all other women lack.

 



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StSanta
JG54 "Grünherz"
"If you died a stones throw from your wingie; you did no wrong". - Hangtime