𝗣-𝟲𝟭𝗕 «𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗪𝗶𝗱𝗼𝘄»

Follow me on Instagram to get the most recent updates (@saschaschindelholz).

Midnight Mickey. Moonhappy. Sleepy Time Gal. Outta Hell. The Spook. Nocturnal Nuisance. The Creep. Dark of the Night. Virgin Widow.

P-61 Black Widow night fighters wore these and many more colorful nose-art names in the Pacific and European theaters of World War II. While today nearly every USAF aircraft «owns» the night, in 1944 the P-61 was the only airplane designed from the ground up for the night fighter mission. It had the most sophisticated flying radar built by America during the war.

Northrop built nearly 700 P-61s. They appeared late, flying combat only in the last year of the war, and a slew of other types—from the P-38 to the British Mosquito—shared night fighter duties. Yet more than any other World War II fighter, the P-61 foreshadowed the highly instrumented cockpits and two-man crew arrangement that could make the most of radar in the air battle.

On the night of August 15, 1945, Lee Kendall was flying his P-61B on patrol. An unknown aircraft was acquired on radar and «Lady In The Dark» gave chase. Realizing her had been spotted, the pilot of the unknown aircraft attempted countermeasures and evasive maneuvers but to no avail. As the Black Widow closed in, the panicked pilot inadvertently flew his aircraft into the ground. Since Japan surrendered earlier that day, this action gave this P-61B the final aerial victory of World War II. The wreckage of a Ki-44 Tojo was spotted the following day.
☁️
Text-Source: aviationarthangar.com / airforcemag.com