Northrop P-61 | The Widow And The Spy | The Black Widow
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.ย. 2024
- A look at the P-61 Black Widow, but also the P-82 Twin Mustang, and a rare upscaled original video.
The Northrop P-61 Black Widow is a twin-engine United States Army Air Forces fighter aircraft of World War II. It was the first operational U.S. warplane designed as a night fighter, and the first aircraft designed specifically as a night fighter.
Named for the North American spider Latrodectus mactans, it was an all-metal, twin-engine, twin-boom design armed with four forward-firing 20 mm (.79 in) Hispano M2 autocannon in the lower fuselage, and four .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns in a dorsal gun turret. Developed during the war, the first test flight was made on May 26, 1942, with the first production aircraft rolling off the assembly line in October 1943.
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Although not produced in the large numbers of its contemporaries, the Black Widow was operated effectively as a night fighter by United States Army Air Forces squadrons in the European Theater, Pacific Theater, China Burma India Theater, and Mediterranean Theater during World War II. It replaced earlier British-designed night-fighter aircraft that had been updated to incorporate radar when it became available. After the war, the P-61 was redesignated as the F-61 and served in the United States Air Force as a long-range, all-weather, day/night interceptor for Air Defense Command until 1948, and for the Fifth Air Force until 1950. The last aircraft was retired from government service in 1954.
On the night of 14 August 1945, a P-61B of the 548th Night Fighter Squadron named Lady in the Dark was unofficially credited with the last Allied air victory before VJ Day. page needed] The P-61 was also modified to create the F-15 Reporter photo-reconnaissance aircraft for the United States Army Air Forces and subsequently the United States Air Force.
In August 1940, 16 months before the United States entered the war, the U.S. Air Officer in London, Lieutenant General Delos C. Emmons, was briefed on British research in radar (RAdio Detection And Ranging), which had been underway since 1935 and had played an important role in the nation's defense against the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain. General Emmons was informed of the new Airborne Intercept radar (AI for short), a self-contained unit that could be installed in aircraft and operated independently of ground stations. In September 1940, the Tizard Mission traded British research, including the cavity magnetron, that would make self-contained interception radar installations practicable, for American production.
General Emmons returned to the U.S. with details of the British night-fighter requirements, and in his report said that the design departments of the American aviation industry's firms could possibly produce such an aircraft.
Specifications (P-61B-20-NO)
Northrop P-61B Black Widow 3-view drawing
Data from Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II, Northrop P-61 Black Widow.
General characteristics
Crew: 2-3 (pilot, radar operator, optional gunner)
Length: 49 ft 7 in (15.11 m)
Wingspan: 66 ft 0 in (20.12 m)
Height: 14 ft 8 in (4.47 m)
Wing area: 662.36 sq ft (61.535 m2)
Airfoil: Zaparka
Empty weight: 23,450 lb (10,637 kg)
Gross weight: 29,700 lb (13,472 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 36,200 lb (16,420 kg)
Fuel capacity: 640 US gal (2,400 L) internal and up to four 165 US gal (625 L) drop tanks
Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-2800-65W Double Wasp 18-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, 2,250 hp (1,680 kW) each
Propellers: 4-bladed Curtiss Electric constant-speed feathering propellers, 12 ft 2 in (3.72 m) diameter
Performance
Maximum speed: 366 mph (589 km/h, 318 kn) at 20,000 ft (6,100 m)
Range: 1,350 mi (2,170 km, 1,170 nmi)
Ferry range: 1,900 mi (3,100 km, 1,700 nmi) with four external fuel tanks
Service ceiling: 33,100 ft (10,100 m)
Rate of climb: 2,540 ft/min (12.9 m/s)
Time to altitude: 20,000 ft (6,100 m) in 12 minutes
Wing loading: 45 lb/sq ft (220 kg/m2)
Power/mass: 0.15 hp/lb (0.25 kW/kg)
Armament
Guns: ** 4 × 20 mm (.79 in) Hispano AN/M2 cannon in ventral fuselage, 200 rounds per gun
4 × .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns in remotely operated, full-traverse upper turret, 560 rpg
Bombs: for ground attack, four bombs of up to 1,600 lb (726 kg) each or six 5-in (127 mm) HVAR unguided rockets could be carried under the wings. Some aircraft could also carry one 1,000 lb (454 kg) bomb under the fuselage.
Avionics
SCR-720 (AI Mk.X) search radar
SCR-695 tail warning radar
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Really appreciate this video. My father flew the P-61B with the 418th Night Fighter Squadron in Okinawa from 1944-45. Still have his A-2 flight jacket. 🇺🇸
Bless him, and bless your family.
Thank you for his service and sacrifices in the war effort
And I still love the P-38.
@@roberthenderson8961
That was one fine aircraft also. It was developed early on to where we could use it effectively in the war effort. 🇺🇸
@@Dronescapes
Thank you for the kind words. He was a great father. I sure do enjoy your channel. Really good content. God bless ya. 🇺🇸
P-61 is one of my favorite WWII planes not to mention I think it was badass looking.
I always thought the P-61 was one of the best looking aircraft of the era.
Good choice
Yup, same.
One of my favorite planes!
My father was an armorer on the P-61 in the Philippines. I built an untold number of models as a child. Their squadron patch was an owl holding a Tommy gun and a candle, while wearing a sleeping cap. It was designed by Walt Disney studios.
I saw the one of the four known remaining aircraft at the Smithsonian a few years ago. Gotta say it was a very emotional experience. Just typing this it still is.
Love this. My grandfather was an engineer & general. Worked on the p61 design. Also the pby and a few other aircraft. One of the reasons I was interested in the p61 as a kid. I still have the model!
I remember getting a Revell Plastic model kit of a P61 when I was a kid, still my favourite fighter still have the model in box. One day I’ll build it lol
I know this is absolutely WILD but am i the only guy that has always wanted to get one of those PBY Catalina boat planes and like essentially turn into like a boat home that i can fly away with anytime?? How awesome would this be? I wonder if anyone has done anything of the sort? The Catalina is definitely big enough for a bachelor if done correctly and nice of course.
Interesting idea if you can afford the maintenance & fuel costs.
I always wanted to do the same, but in a Grumman Goose.
Built and painted this plane as model twice - it was a expensive model.
Love this plane...
👍
the initial treating area was here in Orlando , Florida but later moved to California to be closer to Northrup....
I got found a P61 on Mount Cyclops in Italian Jaya,Indonesia. It was completely intact and is now being rebuilt by MAAM IN The USA.
Good video, lots of interesting information.
That twin Mustang is pure magic 🪄🐎
I don't know why people think it's ugly. I think she is beautiful 😍
If I had the $ and it could be located, I'd buy and restore this airplane. Second choice would be a PBY Catalina; restore it to flying condition and pimp out the interior. Epic.
Good choices
Yeah, I'd love any old warbird, just watched the Kee Bird B29 doco, so tragic I cried for them...,
for fun tho an F111 would be a great toy :)
You know they're making new Catalinas now, modernized, right? :D Love the thought of more of those around!
A fascinating and a very innovative airplane. Unfortunately its speed and altitude performance were disappointing despite these innovations. It probably would have helped if the aircraft had an exhaust driven second stage supercharger instead of the 2-speed mechanical 2nd stage blower. And in my personal opinion designing it for a 3-man crew was unnecessary and cost too much in performance. The gunner and the stepped cockpit that let him look over the pilot increased weight and drag. Without this unnecessary crew position the upper guns could have just been locked to forward-firing for offensive use by the pilot, and unlocked for defensive use by the radar operator/gunner, saving weight and drag. Other night fighters of the war with two man crews offered better performance on less horsepower.
There was a one on one flight competition between the P-61 v. The Mosquito held in Britain in early 1945. The P-61 beat the Mozzie in every parameter. The Brits insisted the results were kept secret. Fact. The P-61 also gave a P-38 fits in mock combat trials in the US. amazing plane.
Yeah right! Pull the other one.
@@ultimobici. Pull it yourself, you azzhole.
@@ultimobici. hmmm... your emotions vs statics and field test reports. These results are highly verifiable. Grumpies don't know them but experts do.
No it didn't, by the time the P61 was fully developed in speed and altitude performance the War was over...Although not developed as a night fighter the Mossie, as in most rolls it played it excelled...Also the Luftwaffe's HE 219 Owl was far superior, but like the Northrop design it arrived to late to make any significant difference...The P61 has nothing like the same operational history as the De Havilland design...
@@brianperry I wasn't referring to operational history, just one on one performance trials.
TY-Good first attempt night fighting aircraft. Turret caused buffeting, later deleted. Not yet on par with the best German night fighters. Better than adapted designs.
I always thought the p-61 looked very voluptuous
Good one, Dronie!
Idk how people think this plane is ugly. Unconventional, sure. Ugly? No.
My mother was a riveter on the P61 Black Widow during the war.
That is cool.
Thank you.
I remember my brother putting this model together when I was maybe 8 or 9 and thinking it was one of the coolest airplanes I had ever seen, his models got me fascinated with with the air war of WWII and at a young age I knew more about it then any of my teachers in school. Truly the greatest generation, this world is screwed if it happens again...... pretty sure the kid that identifies as toaster oven and shits in a litter box won't do us very well.
FCK YEAH, SCARES ME TOO... :/, oops, caps lock..
I've always had an interest in this plane as a curiosity tbh. Ordered when needed but finally flew as redundant.
I always thought the P61 was an ugly airplane but over the years its unique look has grown on me.
Yoooooo I love submarines and aircraft
Thanks!
Thank you!
I use to play in one of those when I was 10 years. One one parked at an airport near me. Got many mission in it playing pilot.
Very intrigued by the German "shrage musik", spelling ?, the upward firing night fighter armament ??
15:52 you mention red cockpit lights......correct me if wrong, but that was normal for all aircraft I believe.....for night flying
You catch me unprepared, but since the channel is full of experts, I am sure someone will answer you
Red lighting is great for preserving night vison, but destroys color perception, which makes it hard to read cockpit instruments and maps. I would use it if success depended on seeing an enemy aircraft in the dark, but not for normal night flying. Some military aircraft I flew had a red filter for the aimable spot lighting, but as I recall the instrument lights were all white.
It seems like there's an elephant in the room. Why has no one has ever mentioned how much the p61 looks like the p38?
U think so?
Niestety brak polskich napisów. Szkoda.
It was a dismal failure and completely outclassed by the DH Moscuito. Even the USAAF in Europe requested the Mozzy and the nickname was because the FW190 and the BF-110 owned the night sky and many failed to return from missions.
🇺🇸👍👍👍
Is that Ronald Regan ?
You mean that guy that was gasing up the plane in the video? No but I think it might have been the narrator.
HEY BRIT NARRATOR, THIS PLANE ISNT UGLY
Of course it is UGLY, Wake up !!
Really? Considerd ugly? First time I saw her, love at first sight. Although I thought the Widow looked better proportioned with the gun turret mounted.
Ugly…sheesh. If I was assigned to night fighter, I’d have been clawing to the head of the line to get assigned to this beauty. Some people’s taste. May as well call the YF-23 ugly then.
There's nothing ugly about this ass kicking warbird . It's the most sinister & evil looking warbird in the entire war .
I really want to know what idiots thought the P61 was "ugly"?