While a slew were netted for production, the end of the war signified the end of the Black Widow line (for the most part) leading to a cancellation order of 476 unbuilt units after VJ-Day. Some 41 C-models were still produced while some were further developed into a dual-control, two-seat trainer as the TP-61C. Two XP-61Ds existed with turbosupercharged R-2800-14 series radials - intended for improved high altitude operations - but were dropped from production contention when the C-model finally hit the assembly lines and engine issues for the "D" pushed the project back some. As such, no official production P-61 "D" models existed.
The XP-61D had reported performance specifications of 430 miles per hour top speed, a cruising speed of 315 miles per hour, a rate-of -climb of 2,500 feet per minute, a service ceiling of 43,000 feet and a range of 1,050 miles. Power was supplied through 2 x Pratt & Whitney R-2800-77 series engines of 2,100 horsepower with 2,800 horsepower attainable via War Emergency Power (WEP).
Other Widows
The XP-61E became another pair of prototypes designed as daytime long-range escort fighters intended to assist flights of Boeing B-29 Superfortresses in bombing the Japanese mainland. These Widows were built sans the dorsal turret and featured a crew of two in a tandem seating arrangement under a large blown canopy glass. Other features included additional fuel tanks and a nose-mounted battery of 4 x .50 caliber machine guns while the original 4 x 20mm cannons in the ventral position were retained. The rear radar operator's position was taken up by the extra fuel tanks to improve range. Though achieving first flight on November 20th, 1944, this version was cancelled with the end of the war. The XP-61F was a conversion attempt of the P-61C to an XP-61E standard. As the XP-61E was cancelled, so too was the XP-61F along with it. The P-61G were sixteen modified Widows used in meteorological research.
The XP-61E had reported performance specifications of 376 miles per hour top speed; a service ceiling of 30,000 feet, a rate-of-climb of 2,500 feet per minute and a range of 2,250 miles. Power was supplied from 2 x Pratt & Whitney R-2800-65 engines of 2,000 horsepower.
The Widow Reporter
The F-15A "Reporter" was developed from the first abandoned XP-61E prototype and became a dedicated photo-reconnaissance platform. The crew of two was made up of the pilot and his camera operator with tandem seating under a single-piece bubble-type canopy. The forward airframe was stuffed with six cameras (replacing the radar system of previous models) and power was supplied through 2 x Pratt & Whitney R-2800-73 radial piston engines of 2,800 horsepower as found on the C-models. The F-15A appeared as the initial XF-15 prototype (approved by the US Army) and followed by a XF-15A pre-production system converted from a C-model. One hundred seventy-five F-15As were under order since June 1945 but the end of the war - and subsequent contract cancellation in 1947 - limited production to just 36 units. These later served under the designation of RF-61C as part of the new United States Air Force (established in 1947). The designation of P-61 ("P" for "pursuit") was dropped in favor of F-61 ("F" for "fighter") beginning on June 11th, 1948. The unarmed F-15A reconnaissance models were produced by Northrop in 1946.
Reporter specs included a top speed of 440 miles per hour, a cruising speed of 315 miles per hour, a service ceiling of 41,000 feet and a range of 4,000 miles.
Walk-Around
Despite the use of the word "fighter" in its general categorization, the P-61 Black Widow was a large aircraft to say the least. Power was derived from a series of Pratt & Whitney radial (air-cooled) engines of increasing output fitted into two tail booms making up the engine nacelles and empennage. The tail booms sported vertical tail fins aft (the fins almost triangular in shape) and were connected to one another via a spanning plane containing the horizontal stabilizer. The crew (two or three personnel depending on the model), radar system and primary armament (usually the four-gun dorsal turret and four forward-fixed ventral cannons) were all contained in a central elongated gondola. The radar system was maintained in the extreme forward portion of the nose cone assembly allowing for easy access by ground personnel. The stepped cockpit housed the pilot and the gunner to his rear. The gunner was afforded a good commanding position up and over the pilot. The radar operator was situated in a aft cockpit to the extreme rear of the gondola, completely separated from the other two men. The forward cockpit was heavily framed (oft-referred to as "greenhouse") but still offered adequate views. Considering the night time operations of the craft, the drawback wasn't too great for pilot and crew. The undercarriage consisted of two large main landing gears (single-wheeled) under each engine nacelle and a single-wheeled nose landing system - all were fully retractable with the nose wheel recessing rearwards into the cockpit floor and the main gears recessing backwards into their under-nacelle positions. Wings were straight and shoulder-mounted with slight dihedral outboard of each engine and a relatively straight leading edge with a forward swept trailing edge. The engines powered four-bladed propeller systems and were fitted to either side of the fuselage gondola.
The dorsal turret (when installed) was a product of the General Electric Company and made use of a gyroscopic fire control computer. Operation could be accomplished by the gunner (in the middle cockpit) or the radar operator (in the aft cockpit) as both had access to the same aiming controls and applicable sighting instrumentation. Additionally, the turret could be fixed (locked in place) forward to be fired along with the 20mm cannon armament by the pilot. Traverse was 360-degree rotation with up to 90-degree elevation. The turret contained a battery of 4 x .50 caliber Browning M2 air-cooled heavy machine guns (the center guns slightly offset higher than the outer two guns) along with about 560 rounds of 12.7mm ammunition per gun.
Armament was further complimented by the aforementioned 4 x Hispano M2 20mm cannons fitted to the ventral fuselage, fixed to fire forward and operating with 200 cannon rounds to a gun. In all, this made the Black Widow a true killer of the night skies for a single burst from such a collection could easily damage - if not destroy - vital components of enemy fighters and bombers with equal lethality.
To enhance the use of the P-61 platform, it was later utilized in ground attack sorties. As such, four hardpoints (a pair inboard of the engines and a pair outboard) could accommodate up to 1,600lbs each consisting of external ordnance of various types. Additionally, the wings could serve as a springboard for HVAR 5-inch high-explosive rockets. A centerline fuselage hardpoint on some models could also field a 1,000lb bomb.
Generally, delivered production Widows replaced the interim Douglas A-20 Havoc and Douglas D-70 night-fighters (essentially modified A-20s) as well as British aircraft in service with American forces. The P-61 proved a vast upgrade for these crews.
Widows over Europe
Black Widow groups headed for Europe were trained on P-61A and YP-61 models out of Orlando, Florida before being shipped across the Atlantic to bases within the British mainland. Once there the Widow took to the night sky only to find the occasional action, most often times against slower, already damaged fighters and bombers. For the most part, missions proved a long, boring and dark affair but the tension ratcheted substantially when the enemy was located.
Widows there were called to tackle Hitler's revenge/terror weapons used against London, these coming in the form of Fiesler V-1 "Buzz Bombs". These unguided rockets could be launched from locations within German territory against targets across the North Sea. They were truly effective as the terror weapons they were intended to be but the resolve of the British people proved larger than Hitler's dark vision. By the end of the Widow's time over Europe, some nine V-1 rockets were confirmed destroyed by P-61 crews.
By this time, there were nary a few enemy aerial targets hovering about Germany and her territories, essentially providing little purpose for the P-61's presence in the theater. To make the most of the situation, the US Army employed the P-61 as ground attack "night intruders" to affect enemy targets by use of the powerful cannon armament and excellent handling qualities. The Widow played an increasingly important ground attack role in that way and especially so during the pivotal Ardennes Offensive (the "Battle of the Bulge") which saw these aircraft flying in support of Allied forces nearly round-the-clock and attacking "targets of opportunity" such as locomotives and trucks as well as concentrations of German troops. The Widow proved a most-feared opponent for these hapless Germans on the ground and many (those who survived her wrath) lived with the memories of seeing this mighty black beast coming down out of the sky. In the end, the Widow produced three aces with each kill being equally shared amongst the entire Widow crew. Not bad for an aircraft that had little in the way of targets to shoot down. In all, P-61 actions across Europe proved more or less a success for the Black Widow. No P-61 was lost to enemy action in the theater. Crews operating along the Mediterranean received their Widows much to late in the war to even register a single kill.
Widows in the CBI Theater
Widows in the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater of War were somewhat more fortunate in having to patrol the most territory of all other Widow crews. However, as Japan reeled in her forces in defense of the homeland, there proved to be less targets for CBI Widow crews to intercept.
Widows Over the Pacific
The Pacific Theater is where the Black Widow truly made her mark, assisted by her exceptional range and powerful radar. She was fielded in quantitative numbers and immediately set about in making her presence felt. Japanese fighter and bombers proved thin-skinned for the most part and the power inherent in the Black Widow made short work of these war implements. Other targets including the vast armada of shipping vessels utilized by the Japanese war machine. But again, the lack of healthy available night targets proved for long drawn-out affairs during missions dotted with the occasional use of force. Japanese bombers proved to absorb a good amount of punishment on more than one occasion but they none-the-less met their fate at the hands of Widow crews.
One interesting P-61 kill of the Pacific Theater came against an abandoned Boeing B-29 Superfortress. The crew, with the pilot being killed from a burst of anti-aircraft fire and a heavily damaged nose to boot - had bailed out over friendly territory from their damaged B-29. As the B-29 was still on autopilot, it happily continued on its straight course over friendlies. As such, a P-61 was called in to down the massive four-engine beast. After several bursts of 20mm cannon fire along the fuselage and, ultimately, the engines, the large machine tilted and plunged into open waters.
Curtain Call
In a way, the P-61 was unofficially credited with the last Allied air kill of World War 2. Unofficial in that the enemy aircraft - a Japanese Nakajima Ki-44 - was reportedly in evasive maneuvers after having encountered an American P-61, its guns blazing on the Nakajima fighter. The enemy fighter flew defensively just feet above the waves and eventually crashed itself along the surface of the ocean, ending the life of the pilot and his mount in a fiery explosion. The P-61 in question was a P-61B-2 aptly-named "Lady in the Dark" and under the control of Lieutenant Robert W. Clyde. The event occurred sometime between August 14th and 15th. If credited, the kill would have been accomplished without a single shot being fired.
Did Widows Fight Over Korea?
Not exactly. The Black Widow was nearly replaced by the Curtiss-Wright F-87 Blackhawk, a jet-powered all-weather interceptor doomed by the cancellation of the XP-87 project itself (and its two completed prototypes). While the Widow was still in some demand, she was gradually being replaced by the F-82F/G Twin Mustangs as dedicated night fighters for the USAF. The final Black Widow was relieved of duty in May of 1950, this accomplished by her final departure from the Japanese mainland. As fate would have it, the Korean War (1950-1953) would start on June 25th, 1950 - effectively passing the Black Widow by. The Widow series in whole was retired from service in 1952.
Conclusion
Remaining post-war Widows served in America's first all-weather squadrons and were the first aircraft selected for service into the US Air Defense Command in 1949. The USADC was charged with the defense of America from Soviet air attack. By 1950, however, the type was all but invisible in the USAF inventory as jet fighters were proving the logical next step. A slew of Widows were unfortunately handed over to the scrapman's torch and never seen again. A few rare models exist in some museums today including one on display at the USAF Museum in Dayton, Ohio. This particular model was found in France and donated to the museum for display - such is the rarity of seeing this fine bird in person.
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