The Northrop P-61 Black Widow is a testament to the ingenuity of the Americans during World War II, it was the first plane in the U.S. to search out enemy aircraft and destroy them in pitch-black darkness and inclement weather. In an extremely short period of service, the Black Widow managed to leave its deadly mark across multiple theaters: the European, Mediterranean, Pacific, and China-Burma-India theaters.
It was born to the dire need of the Battle of Britain and the London Blitz. The P-61 came into being after the Luftwaffe shifted to night bombing raids during this conflict. The inability of the Royal Air Force to satisfactorily intercept these night attacks brought out the need for a night fighter. It is in response to this that the U.S. Army Air Corps initiated the creation of what is now known as the P-61.
On January 30, 1941, Northrop received a contract to develop this night fighter. It had twin tail booms and rudders, which made the aircraft stable during close-quarters engagements. The aircraft was of considerable size. It was given a large fuel load and twin big engines. Its armament changed over time for four 20 mm cannons, belly-mounted, while on the ventral fuselage, there was a powered turret, remotely controlled with four .50 cal machine guns. The trio included a pilot, a gunner, and a radar observer/gunner; any of the three could operate the machine guns.
At the same time, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was developing the airborne radar set, without which the P-61 would never have become so instrumental. The SCR-520 radar set, tested in a Douglas B-18 in 1941, would not be ready until early 1942. The Army’s enthusiasm for the XP-61 led to another contract on 10 March 1941 for 13 service-test YP-61s. Even before these aircraft flew, Northrop received orders for 410 production machines. Test pilot Vance Breeze first flew the aircraft on May 26, 1942, and despite its size, this Black Widow was a real fighter.
The P-61 combat debut took place just after D-Day in June 1944. First envisaged as a defensive interceptor, it quickly took on an aggressive role, conducting deep penetration raids into German airspace, bombing and strafing trains and road traffic. In the Pacific Theater, the P-61s arrived about the same time, where they could effectively counter Japanese night bombers. On the night of June 30, 1944, the first P-61 kill occurred, when a Mitsubishi BETTY was downed.
One of the most famous P-61s was “Lady in the Dark,” which had the distinction of scoring the final two aerial kills of World War II without ever firing its guns. On the night of August 14-15, 1945, it pursued a Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa into the sea. The next night, forcing a Nakajima Ki-44 Shoki to crash, it ended its combat career.
The P-61 was redesignated as the F-51 post-war, continuing in service until 1954. Only four P-61 Black Widows exist today. Three are located in the United States and one in China. The aircraft at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, the National Air and Space Museum, is a P-61C-1-NO, serial number 43-8330. This particular Black Widow flew in cold-weather trials in Alaska and the National Thunderstorm Project in Florida, which helped me learn about thunderstorms and their effects on aeronautics.
The P-61 Black Widow, equipped with unique radar technology and heavy armament, has turned into one of the most important pages of the history of military aviation, a real embodiment of continuous efforts toward technological superiority that took place during the most difficult period of modern history.