P-61 Black Widow

The P-61 Black Widow was the first operational night fighter, and the first aircraft to use a radar. The P-61 Black Widow was used for the United States Air Force in 1944. Moreover, the P-61 Black Widow was manufactured by no surprise Northrop. There was 706 P-61 Black Widows produced in a span of 2 years. The P-61 Black Widow had 3 different variations of the aircraft. The P-61A, P-61B, and P-61C. There were 200 P-61A made, 450 P-61B, and 41 P-61Cs made. There were also 15 prototypes created. Worth noting, about 16 P-61 Black Widows were converted to unarmed weather reconnaissance P-61Gs. Additionally, one individual P-61 Black Widow costs roughly, $190,000. The first flight of the P-61 Black Widow occurred on May 26, 1942. Secondly, the aircraft comes equipped with two Pratt & Whitney R-2800-65 Double Wasp engines. Each of the engines produces 2000 horsepower. As a result the P-61 Black Widow can reach speeds upwards of 366 miles per hour. Furthermore, The wing span on the aircraft is 22m long (66 feet). While the length is 15.11m long (49 feet and 7 inches), and the height is only 4.47m tall (14 feet and 8 inches). The aircraft had a couple armaments as well. The armaments included a 20mm Hispano forward-firing cannons, and four 0.50 Caliber machine guns that was mounted in a upper rotating dorsal turret. The P-61 Black Widow was also able to carry up to four 725kg (1,600 pounds) of bombs. The aircraft had a fuel capacity of about 646 gallons. To add, the aircraft could fit up to three flight crew members.