Northrop p61a1no black widow, serial number 425507, assigned to 418th nfs lost in south pacific on april 10, 1945. I am preparing to paint a p61 black widow night fighter. The northrop p61 black widow, named for the north american spider, was the first operational u. Rev7546 p61 black widow plastic model kit by revell skill level 2scale. The british mosquito mk xvii was considered to be a far better option. This story of the p61 black widow concludes with an account of its postwar service as experimental and test aircraft. This is a side project that i worked on while attending the academy of interactive entertainment. The giant scale p61 black widow plan set is 17 scale and consists of five large sheets that clearly illustrate all structure as well as showing installation of flaps, spoilers and retracts. Premier collection p61 black widow for fsx version 1. After midnight, combat in the northrop p61 black widow.
The p61 black widow restoration project by midatlantic. The midatlantic air museums p61 black widow recovery and restoration project the widows web the restoration latest photostos. I know that the original plane did indeed have a black gloss finish. The p61 black widow was the first aircraft specifically designed from its inception to carry the ai radar equipment and this task was accomplished by jack northrop. According to maams director, russ strine, the aircraft looks much the same externally today as the museum is working on the outer wings and systems. The mid atlantic air museum in reading, pennsylvania has made great progress on their northrop p61 black widow restoration project over the past year.
Allow paint to dry thoroughly before handling parts. The credits are a way to recognize work done with the plans, may be scanning, tracing, cleaning, restoring, scaling the p61 black widow model airplane plan. P61 blackwidow accessories nick ziroli scale plans. The p61 black widow is an american night hunter of the second world war built by northrop corporation. This is my recently completed hobbyboss 2 p61b kit built as a p61a1. During last years family vacation my wife and i were browsing through a local hobby shop. Northrop p61 black widow last revised september 11, 1999. I was able to find a fair bit of reference photos of the p 61 interior and i was quite impressed with the job that gwh had done. The saga of the northrop p61 black widow begins back in august 1940, at the height of the blitz on london. How to erase premier collection p61 black widow for fsx from your pc with advanced uninstaller pro premier collection p61 black widow for fsx is an application released by abacus software.
P61 black widow the northrop p61 black widow was the largest and heaviest fighter aircraft to serve with the usaaf during the second world war, and the first american aircraft specifically. We have 2 advanced scale models p61 black widow manuals available for free pdf download. Hi folks, ive been trying to look for the specific markings for the p61 black widow aircraft that was used in the great raid in liberating allied pows in cabanatuan, phillipines, 30. Auto credit based on mrloominatis p61a black widow. Wylam plans in the last pages for once properly printed are not. P61 black widow of the great raid query aircraft of. The amazing northrop p61 black widow the story of the. I was able to find a fair bit of reference photos of the p61 interior and i was quite impressed with the job that gwh had done. Lt herman e ernst pilot of the 422nd nfs 9th af p61 425547 borrowed time in the cockpit northrop p61a5no black. The northrop p61, was shrouded in secrecy from its inception. Here is the northrop p61 black widow modelers online reference onestop resource for photos, kits, details, and references. Hill afb f16 421st fs black widows squadron posters.
Both jack northrop and general delos emmons commander, hq, army air corps saw some of the night bombing at first hand. It is all wood, 38 span, twin 6 volt 400 on 8 cells direct drive with 5 to 6 props. Lt herman e ernst pilot of the 9th af p61 borrowed time. A description is also given of some p61s that survive today in. Northrop p61 black widow introduction and development. Looking for a set of plans for a p61 black widow to make into an ewarbird. Midatlantic air museums p61 black widow recovery and restoration project the widows web the restoration.
The information on this page is only about version 1. We are pleased to announce the latest release of our estate planning pro software formerly known as estate planning, trust and wills software. P61a1no black widow sn 425506 of the 419th nfs taxiing at carney airfield, guadalcanal, solomon islands, shortly after the p61s arrival in early 1944. Since i have got back into modelling back in 2005, the p61 black. P61 black widow is a twinengine, twinboom bomber with tricycle landing gear. Kitplan fun build contest p61 black widow from sterling. While night fighter squadrons overseas transitioned to the p61 from other aircraft, such as the douglas p70 and british bristol beaufighter, many black widow units were formed. Named for the america spider, it is the first operational u. Usaf photo the northrop p61 black widow, named for the. Kit plan fun build contest p61 black widow from sterling plans after completing a home improvement project and then celebrating the holidays, its time for another build. This was the first plane to be specially built as a night fighter.
Officers of the us army air corps usaac had gone to the uk to be briefed on ai. Slowly it began to suppress the black widow into the reserves where it mainly served as a training aircraft. The giant scale p61 black widow plan set is 17 scale and consists of five large sheets that clearly illustrate all structure as well as showing installation of flaps. A longtime favorite with modelers, the black widow was the foremost american night fighter in wwii. Aviatsija i vremya avv200901 aviatsija i vremya n1 2009 172 sukhoi su2 ww2 light bomber, 172 northrop yb49 strategic bomber flying wing scale plans. Hobbyboss 2 p61a1 black widow by steve sobieralski. The northrop p61 black widow gets a lot of attention considering the relatively small role it played in world war ii.
The p61s upper turret is visible on the fuselage between the wings. The pilot and gunner were situated in the front cockpit whilst the radarradio operator sat in the tail. The black widow is located outdoors, between what appears to be a wwii era p47 thunderbolt and a. Mid atlantic air museum has a piece of aviation history in one of 4. The 4th fighter squadron black widows is part of the 388th fighter wing at hill air force base, utah. The p61 black widow was a capable and deadly nightfighter. Midatlantic air museum is raising funds for the p61 black widow restoration project on kickstarter. Ww2 radar technology was new, the electronics bulky and. During this time, the us air officer in london, lt. The nose of the black widow was fiberglass, and the radar dish sat inside the nose.
It is an allmetal, twinengine, twingirder, midwing or mediumwing monoplane, specifically designed for nighttime penetration and hunting, used by the usaaf during the second world war. Intruders appeared on ground radar up to 150 miles away. Unlike the p47 thunderbolt and p51 mustang, it did not have an. Northrop p61 black widow plan cl1092 sarik hobbies for the. The p61 black widow plans is supposed to be scaled correctly, a good way to be sure about this it to open it with adobe pdfreader and measure the parts checking if they fit together. If the distance closed to 50 miles, controllers directed a p61 to the best guess they could make of the bogies path. Next photo p61 black widow image 57 of 140 previous photo.
For world war ii, only one us plane was specifically designed to fight during the dark of night the p61b black widow. The instructions call for black gloss paint, not black flat or matte. Detailed flight deck and exposable engine detail, waterslide decals. P61 black widow blueprint blueprints, plane design, model. Manuals and user guides for advanced scale models p61 black widow. Perhaps as a result of this the development of the p61 was slow, and although work began late in 1940 it didnt enter service until 1944.
P61a black widow on display at the beijing aeronautics institute in beijing, china. I enjoyed this book on the p61 black widow fighter plane. P61 black widow lady in the dark the shapes and proportions of the objects are accurate. The p61 black widow plan shows the installation of robart retracts, servos and zenoah g38 engines and features three piece wing.