Northrop P-61 Black Widow

E733680

The Northrop P-61 Black Widow was a World War II-era American twin-engine night fighter, notable as the first U.S. aircraft designed specifically for radar-equipped night interception.

All labels observed (5)

Label Occurrences
Northrop P-61 Black Widow canonical 3
Northrop P‑61 Black Widow 1
P-61A 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf World War II military aircraft ⓘ
night fighter aircraft ⓘ
radar‑equipped fighter ⓘ
twin‑engine aircraft ⓘ
armament 4 × 0.50 in M2 Browning machine guns in dorsal turret ⓘ
4 × 20 mm Hispano M2 cannon in ventral fuselage ⓘ
countryOfOrigin United States ⓘ
crew 3 ⓘ
designedFor night interception ⓘ
emptyWeight approximately 22,600 lb ⓘ
engineType Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engine ⓘ
firstFlight 1942-05-26 ⓘ
height approximately 14 ft 8 in ⓘ
introducedInConflict World War II ⓘ
landingGear retractable tricycle landing gear ⓘ
length approximately 49 ft 7 in ⓘ
manufacturer Northrop Corporation ⓘ
linked to: Northrop
maximumSpeed approximately 366 mph at 20,000 ft ⓘ
maxTakeoffWeight approximately 36,200 lb ⓘ
notableFeature first U.S. aircraft designed specifically as a radar‑equipped night fighter ⓘ
numberBuilt approximately 706 ⓘ
numberOfEngines 2 ⓘ
operatorPosition gunner seated in central position under turret ⓘ
pilot seated in forward cockpit ⓘ
radar operator seated in rear cockpit ⓘ
postwarDesignation F-61 ⓘ
powerplant 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-2800-65 Double Wasp radial engines ⓘ
primaryMission interception of enemy aircraft at night ⓘ
primaryRole night fighter ⓘ
productionPeriod 1943–1945 ⓘ
radarEquipment SCR-720 radar ⓘ
range approximately 1,200 miles ⓘ
retiredFromUSService late 1940s ⓘ
secondaryRole intruder and ground‑attack missions ⓘ
serviceCeiling approximately 33,100 ft ⓘ
serviceEntry 1944 ⓘ
survivingExamples several preserved in museums ⓘ
tailConfiguration twin‑boom tail ⓘ
usedBy Chinese Nationalist Air Force ⓘ
United States Air Force ⓘ
United States Army Air Forces ⓘ
usedInTheater China-Burma-India Theater ⓘ
European Theater of Operations ⓘ
Pacific Theater of Operations ⓘ
variant P-61A ⓘ
P-61B ⓘ
P-61C ⓘ
wingConfiguration mid‑wing monoplane ⓘ
wingspan approximately 66 ft ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (7)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp → usedInAircraft → Northrop P-61 Black Widow ⓘ
Jack Northrop → designed → Northrop P-61 Black Widow ⓘ
United States Army Air Forces fighter programs → aircraftDeveloped → Northrop P‑61 Black Widow ⓘ
linked to: Northrop P-61 Black Widow
Double Wasp → usedInAircraft → Northrop P-61 Black Widow ⓘ
Northrop P-61 Black Widow → variant → P-61A ⓘ
linked to: Northrop P-61 Black Widow
Northrop P-61 Black Widow → variant → P-61B ⓘ
linked to: Northrop P-61 Black Widow
Northrop P-61 Black Widow → variant → P-61C ⓘ
linked to: Northrop P-61 Black Widow