NORTHROP P-61 BLACK WIDOW 77
Above: Spiders’ nest. An impressive line-up of
425th NFS P-61s in the Pacific. When the Black
Widow joined the conflict, Japan was already
in retreat and offered little offensive threat, so
there was no need to disperse the aircraft.
Right: A 421st NFS Black Widow beats up the
airfield with an impressive low-level flypast. In
the summer of 1944, P-61s in the Pacific Theatre
saw sporadic action against Japanese aircraft.
Most missions ended with no enemy aircraft
sighted but when the enemy was detected they
were often in groups, with the attack resulting
in several kills for that pilot and radar operator,
who would jointly receive credit for the kill.
Below: Weather was as much the ‘enemy’ to P-61s
as Japanese fighters. The pilot of Black Widow
‘The Spook’ returned to Iwo Jima after a long
mission only to find the airfield shrouded in fog.
Short on fuel, he attempted an approach but
the aircraft’s wingtip hit the ground causing it to
land on its belly and slide to a stop. Another P-61
made three aborted approaches before the pilot
and his crew decided to bail out. Their empty
aircraft was later spotted cruising along on
autopilot and was shot down by another P-61.
Right: Black Widows of the 548th NFS on the
prowl over the Pacific in 1945. As the Japanese
retreated, ‘trade’ for the Black Widow became
increasingly scarce. One squadron succeeded
in destroying a large number of Kawasaki Ki-48
‘Lily’ twin-engined bombers, another shot down
several Mitsubishi G4M ‘Bettys’, while another
pilot destroyed two Japanese Navy Nakajima
J1N1 ‘Irving’ twin-engined fighters. Several
Pacific Theatre squadrons finished the war with
no confirmed kills.