Northrop P-61 Black Widow: The First Night Flyer

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[jasonsteele]

One of the most recognizable aircraft of the war with its twin tail, quad 20mm's above the canopy and a matte black paint job: Editor puts what looks to be a Martin Baltimore in the thumbnail

[garycollard]

Note to creators of aircraft videos. Make sure aircraft in the thumbnail is the same one you are talking about in the video....unless you want a hundred comments pointing out your error, ha ha.

[deadaimcarlos]

Good work as usual, however…

The Thumbnail is definitely not a P-61 Black Widow, and the title might be better representing the material as a “Night Fighter”

[DwtEaUn]

Mid-Atlantic Air Museum is / was working on getting a P-61 into flyable condition.

[philiphumphrey]

The Bristol Beaufighter was the first truly effective night fighter, equipped with onboard radar and 4 x 20mm cannons, it was introduced end of 1940 and took a steady toll of German bombers through the rest of the blitz. It was replaced by the Mosquito from 1942 onwards.

[aragos]

My favorite plane. I had so many model kits of this when I was a kid. It's a shame there's not a whole lot more on it and not many examples still around

[pohldriver]

In 1989 the MAAM in Reading, PA acquired one. I was 7, but my mom volunteered the first year or two. All I knew was that they had a Black Widow that needed extensive restoration. Until a few years ago. I stumbled across a documentary in progress on this P-61 that was discovered in the jungles of South America. I thought, cool, like the one in Reading. Because of all the fanfare associated with the one in Reading, I had to watch the rest of it. They went on how it crashed on this mountain, but the canopy cradled it and it fell slowly to the ground. It's soft crash prevented too much damage, and made it feasible to restore. They had to dismantle, crate, and move it to a makeshift landing pad they built out of logs. It all needed to be completed before the monsoons started, which they did, but just. At the end they said, "currently undergoing restoration at the Mid Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, Pennsylvania." It wasn't LIKE the one in Reading, it IS the one in Reading!

[andrewcomerford]

The P-61 wasn't the first Night-fighter, as many existing heavy fighters or medium bombers were adapted for the role (the stunning success of the Bristol Beaufighter, De Havilland Mosquito, Bf 110 or the legendary Ju 88 stand as examples), but it was the first to be purpose-built.

Even the He 219 was developed for multiple roles (as a Ju 88 successor) but only saw service as a night-fighter.

[a.t._hall]

So cool to see you made a video on the P-61 I suggested. I live not far from the USAF museum that is in Dayton, Ohio, and have gone there many times over the years. The P-61 is one of my favorite aircraft up there. It's a surprising big aircraft in person. Thanks so much for the video Simon!

[josephbenson]

If you are an airplane enthusiast I can only encourage you to the utmost to visit the Air Force museum at Wright-Patterson in Dayton. Smithsonian's Air & Space is great and all... and has some of the big names, but Wright-Pat, taken as a whole, can't be beat. It has it all - including Bockscar, the remaining Valkyrie, an SR-71 and so damn many others. I am not an airplane enthusiast and it continues to take my breath away. (While I find it less interesting, the museum also houses some former Air Force Ones.)

Is it a reason to travel all the way to Dayton, OH in the US.

Absolutely.

Without question.

[jonathanmatthews]

One of my favorite planes. Not well known outside of enthusiasts, but an absolute beast.

[lord_scrubington]

when Northrop makes a plane, its always one hell of a plane

[PaulMcElligott]

Um, that’s not a Black Widow in the thumbnail.

[mrkihn]

That was my Dad's favorite aircraft when he was stationed at WPAF. He has an experimental aircraft photographer who flew a lot of tests in the P61. He worked on the recon and weather test program with the P61 G and the F-15A

[jouletube]

Thanks for covering the P61. My great uncle was the eagle for it with great stories in history.

[woppysue]

My father was a naval aviation torpedoman. He was a turret Gunner in a TBF. He flew off the USS Belleau Wood CVL24 and was in Admiral Bull Halsey's task force 58. He spoke about seeing the Black Widow when he served in the Pacific. HEe was quite impressed with that plane.

[SMDoktorPepper]

One of my favorite WW2 planes...loved building the model when I was a kid.

[Ghatbkk]

When I was a kid, one of our neighbors had been a gunner/flight engineer on a P61 in the Pacific. He considered it the best aircraft the USAAF ever fielded.

[joestudebaker]

I've seen the one in Dayton at the Airforce museum. It's absolutely stunning. So many fantastic planes there including BoxCar that dropped the 2nd Nuke of WW2.

[dannyb]

Amazing really, that it was so huge, yet still a very capable fighter.