p61

[scott66]

+ 2 

 

[Zacherof]

What Criteria? again it is/should be known, Hitech has no "Criteria" or "Rules" for aircraft inclusion. just what they seem to want to add or add to a vote for us to choose. i believe they do read the forums and choose based on whats popular or case with the M-18 the most asked for.

So back on topic. I would love to see the P-61 added. its a great airplane. its got 4 20mms and is late war. +1.

 
Also had 4 .50's in a babette, although some models had it removed to increase stability

[Windycty]

P-61 is a sexy beast  +1   

[5PointOh]

Here's some more information for you Sir.

SPECIFICATIONS
for B-model, unless otherwise noted



PRIMARY FUNCTION: Night Fighter
CONTRACTOR: Northrop Aircraft Inc. of Hawthorne, California
UNIT COST: $170,000
CREW: Pilot, Radar Operator, and Gunner
FIRST FLIGHT: May 21, 1942 (XP-61)
SERVICE DELIVERY: May 1944 (P-61A)
FIRST OP MISSION: July 3, 1944 (Europe)
FIRST KILL: July 6, 1944 (Pacific)
TOTAL PRODUCED: 706 (all variants)
ENGINES: Two Pratt & Whitney R-2800-65 Double Wasp 18-Cylinder engines rated at 2,250 hp
WING SPAN: 66 Feet
LENGTH: 49 Feet, 7 Inches
HEIGHT: 14 Feet, 8 Inches
MAX. SPEED: 369 MPH
HEIGHT: 14 Feet, 8 Inches
EMPTY WEIGHT: 20,965 lb
MAX. T.O. WEIGHT 34,200 lb
SERVICE CEILING: 33,100 Feet
MAX. RANGE: 1,350 Miles,  (1,900 miles ferry)
RATE OF CLIMB: 2,090 Feet Per Minute
ARMAMENT: Four 20 mm Hispano M2 cannons, four Browning M2 .50 caliber heavy machine guns,
 6,400 lb of bombs or rockets








That should get the you a good start...

[scott66]

and then some lol...

[Traveler]

Saw service, got kills, no reason I can see not to have it. +1

Where?

[Karnak]

Where?

Where what?

It saw service in the Pacific and European theaters and got kills in both.

[5PointOh]

Where?

Per USAAF.net:

Altogether, the 422d NFS flew 1,576 sorties in France and Germany, with official credit for 48 German aircraft destroyed (including 5 V-1s), 5 probably destroyed, and 5 damaged. Its crews also claimed to have damaged or destroyed 448 trucks, 50 locomotives, and 476 railroad cars. Six of the nine American night aces of the war came from the 422d: Pilots Paul A. Smith, Herman E. Ernst, and Eugene D. Axtell and R/Os Robert E. Tierney, Edward H. Kopsel, and Robert F. Graham, each with five kills. A distinguished unit citation testified to the squadron’s success. The 425th NFS tallied 14 more kills (including 4 V-1s), with 1 probable and 2 damaged. These 62 claimed kills pale in comparison before the more than 20,000 aerial victories Americans claimed in the daylight against Germany, but the two night fighter squadrons claimed that 55 percent of their airborne radar contacts resulted in visual contacts and 68 percent of these were shot down. The Black Widows were not always successful, but they could be as deadly as their namesakes.

Seems like the 61 was credited with kills to me...here's a list of all squads using the P-61:

Wartime units using the P-61 included:

6th Night Fighter Squadron, Seventh Air Force. Received Black Widows in May 1944. Served in Guadalcanal, New Guinea, Saipan, Iwo Jima. Inactivated February 1947 and reactivated as 339th All Weather Squadron.

414th Night Fighter Squadron, Twelfth Air Force. Received Black Widows in December 1944. Served in Algeria, Sardinia, Corsica, Italy, plus detachment to Belgium. Inactivated August 1947 and reformed as 319th All Weather Squadron.

415th Night Fighter Squadron, Twelfth Air Force. Received Black Widow in March 1945. Served in Italy, Corsica, France, Germany. Inactived September 1947.

416th Night Fighter Squadron, Twelfth Air Force. Received Black Widow in June 1945. Served in Italy, Corsica, France, Germany. Inactived November 1946 and redesignated 2nd Fighter Squadron (All Weather).

417th Night Fighter Squadron, Twelfth Air Force. Received Black Widow in April/May 1945. Served in Italy, Corsica, France, Germany. Inactived November 1946.

418th Night Fighter Squadron, Fifth Air Force. Received Black Widow in September 1944. Served in New Guinea, Philippines. Inactivated February 1947 but reactivated August 1948 as 4th All Weather Squadron.

419th Night Fighter Squadron, Thirteenth Air Force. Received Black Widow in May 1944. Served in New Guinea, Philippines. Inactivated February 1947.

421st Night Fighter Squadron, Fifth Air Force. Received Black Widow June 1944. Served in New Guinea, Philippines. Inactivated February 1947. Reactivated august 1948 as 68th All Weather Squadron.

422nd Night Fighter Squadron, Ninth Air Force. Received Black Widow May 1944. Served in England, France, Belgium, Germany. Inactivated September 1945.

425th Night Fighter Squadron, Ninth Air Force. Served in England, France, and Germany. Inactivated August 1947.

426th Night Fighter Squadron, Fourteenth Air Force. Received Black Widow September 1944. Served in India, China to protect B-29 bases from attack. Inactivated November 1945.

427th Night Fighter Squadron. Served briefly in Italy then moved to India, Burma, China. Received Black Widow in August 1944. Inactivated October 1945.

547th Night Fighter Squadron, Fifth Air Force. Activated March 1944 with P-61. Served in New Guinea, Philippines, Ie Shima, Japan. Inactivated February 1946.

548th Night Fighter Squadron, Seventh Air Force. Activated April 1944 with P-61. Served in Saipan, Iwo Jima, Ie Shima. Inactivated December 1945. Reactivated in 1969 as the 548th Combat Training Squadron. Still in service.

549th Night Fighter Squadron, Seventh Air Force. Activated May 1944 with P-61. Served on Saipan, Iwo Jima. Inactivated February 1946.

550th Night Fighter Squadron. Activated June 1944. Received first Black Widows January 1945. Served in New Guinea, Philippines. Inactivated January 1946.

[scott66]

Good job 5point

[Volron]

Beaufighter before either F7F or P61.

Not really interested in a main arena full of late war monsters that flew for 1% of the war when there are planes not yet included that had a much larger impact and flew 400 times as many missions.

So why not both the Beaufighter AND the P-61?  No wrongs with that, eh?

But I would have to agree if there were only one that we would get now.  Beaufighter would be first.

[1sum41]

+1

[TOMCAT21]

+1

[Arlo]

"PRIMARY FUNCTION: Night Fighter"

"ARMAMENT: Four 20 mm Hispano M2 cannons, four Browning M2 .50 caliber heavy machine guns,
6,400 lb of bombs or rockets"

Is it just the dress that everyone wants to pay perks in the LWMA to dance in?

[5PointOh]

There are others in AH that have 20mm that are not perked.  Not that I'd care if it was perked, or not I'm just saying.

[SmokinLoon]

Remember how the Me410 was the battle cry of some people?  It was added and it is good for 1 thing: killing bombers.  Not intercepting, not ground pounding, not dogfighting, etc.  Just killing bombers.  The Me410 handles like a pig at all speeds.  I guess my point is this P61 may be all the same, meaning lots of hype and it looks good on paper but when it comes to taking the time to learn the plane most players will go back to their P51D and go about as they were. YMMV

So no.  There are LOTS of other aircraft that made a larger imprint in WWII than the P61 that deserve to be added.