The Northrop P61 Black Widow is a twinengine 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.

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Named for the North American spider Latrodectus mactans, it was an allmetal, twinengine, twinboom design armed with four forwardfiring 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.

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 Britishdesigned nightfighter aircraft that had been updated to incorporate radar when it became available. After the war, the P61 was redesignated as the F61 and served in the United States Air Force as a longrange, allweather, 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 P61B 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 P61 was also modified to create the F15 Reporter photoreconnaissance 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 selfcontained 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 selfcontained interception radar installations practicable, for American production.

General Emmons returned to the U.S. with details of the British nightfighter requirements, and in his report said that the design departments of the American aviation industry's firms could possibly produce such an aircraft.

Specifications (P61B20NO)

Northrop P61B Black Widow 3view drawing
Data from Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II, Northrop P61 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 R280065W Double Wasp 18cylinder aircooled radial piston engines, 2,250 hp (1,680 kW) each
Propellers: 4bladed Curtiss Electric constantspeed 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, fulltraverse upper turret, 560 rpg
Bombs: for ground attack, four bombs of up to 1,600 lb (726 kg) each or six 5in (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
SCR720 (AI Mk.X) search radar
SCR695 tail warning radar

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