Flying the Northrop P-61 " Black Widow" Night Fighter (1944)

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  • Опубликовано: 30 ноя 2024

Комментарии • 113

  • @drmeva
    @drmeva 9 лет назад +70

    No wonder this plane was used as a night fighter. Pre-flight checks takes all day...

    • @thegreatdominion949
      @thegreatdominion949 3 года назад +2

      The p-61 was really an over-complicated design which took a long time to come to fruition, so long in fact that by the time it appeared on the scene the need for night fighters had been much reduced. Consequently it ended up being used for a number of other roles in addition to night fighter and most of the airframes were scrapped immediately after the end of the war. Although some would disagree, despite its long design process and the fact that it was purpose-built as a night fighter, it wasn't even the best night fighter of the war.

    • @Handle0i
      @Handle0i Год назад

      An then , check : Victory at Sea , it's been done , let's invent Peace please

    • @hokep61
      @hokep61 Год назад

      In combat....the ground crew would periodically take care of that. Pilots then only had a minimum of checks.

    • @noelwarner1235
      @noelwarner1235 Месяц назад

      Ha ha very funny indeed

  • @BJBFOREST
    @BJBFOREST 10 лет назад +36

    I met an A20 (Havoc) pilot from the 89th Bomb Squadron, 3rd BG, 5th AF ,USAAC a few years ago and asked him how he kept his eyes on all these gauges during combat. He replied that you were just too busy and you just flew the aircraft with a few instruments and the feel of your seat.
    He passed away in Sept 2012 at the age of 91 yrs.
    Lest We Forget.

  • @Sharty_McFly
    @Sharty_McFly 10 лет назад +14

    I can't wait until the Black Widow at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum is airworthy! It would be an awesome thing to see.

  • @tomski787
    @tomski787 10 лет назад +1

    Great, showing the pre-flight walk around, a luxury that most day-fighter pilots didn't have - they had to rely on the ground crew. But WWII ground crew were probably the best ever, they had so much pride…I believe the P-61 was the first plane EVER to be expressly designed as a night fighter, others being adaptations of existing day designs. Although a large aircraft, its deceleron ailerons and spoiler arrangement made it competitively manoeuvrable. Thanks for this, its good to see it flying!

    • @SebHaarfagre
      @SebHaarfagre 8 лет назад

      +Tom Foyle First plane ever for the USA, yes. The other major WWII participants, no.

  • @rodcordell
    @rodcordell 11 лет назад +2

    I don't know where the film was made, but it could have been where we were stationed in 1942/1943 in Orlando, Florida or in 1944 till the end of the war. Hammer Field, Fresno, California.
    My dad was stationed there as a crew chief for the P-61 training squadrons. He just might have some involvement with the plane that was found in New Guinea or the one we left in China. He worked on the A20/P70 in Florida. He was 32 years old when he was drafted.

  • @MrJest2
    @MrJest2 11 лет назад +2

    Fascinating how much effort is spent on engine maintenance and monitoring in these old craft - things we take for granted now, all controlled by electronics and "they either work or they don't". No fiddling with cowling flaps or oil radiator cooling ducts; that stuff is all taken care of for us - if it's even necessary at all. "Pilots" of the era had more in common with steam locomotive engineers than today's USAF fighters... literally (think where the term "engineer" comes from).

  • @ronaldmoskovitz6630
    @ronaldmoskovitz6630 10 лет назад +5

    At the Reading Pennsylvania Airport Museum, they are rebuilding a P 61

  • @fjbutch
    @fjbutch 12 лет назад

    Didn't know about this aircraft 'til now...awesome..

  • @MrJDP1974
    @MrJDP1974 10 лет назад +4

    I love you videos! Thank you so much for the time and effort!

  • @sdingeswho
    @sdingeswho Год назад +1

    Had to check this out 😁 - in my news-feed today was a nice article on the one being restored to airworthiness at Mid-Atlantic Air Museum! Amazing labor of love, to do that, since there aren’t many “junkers” you can scrounge for spare parts left in the world 😮.
    One of the other commenters mentioned a P-61 being crashed into a mountain on a joy-ride with a nurse, in someplace like New Guinea … that sounds very similar to the back-story on the one being restored at Mid-Atlantic Air Museum 😁!

  • @williamaustin217
    @williamaustin217 2 года назад +1

    My dad was a machinist at Northrop, building these animals.

  • @MrJest2
    @MrJest2 11 лет назад +3

    Single pilot, yes. Generally they had a crew of 3, including a gunner/weapons officer (they could and did drop bombs) and a radar operator, which was an even more complicated specialty in and of itself. Computers now let one person do all three tasks, but "back in the day" .......

  • @525Lines
    @525Lines 11 лет назад +1

    When I visited the Planes of Fame air museum in Diamond Bar, California, the museum was in an airfield. A nearby hanger had a P-61 in it. The pilot or owner wouldn't get me get near it.

  • @DubbleTwice
    @DubbleTwice 9 лет назад +3

    Well this looks bloody difficult. I got lost after checking the wheel-thingies.

  • @steadmanuhlich6734
    @steadmanuhlich6734 10 лет назад +1

    Stealthy night fighter with three man crew and heavy armament.

  • @deepscuba7384
    @deepscuba7384 10 лет назад +9

    One thing you don't see in the video is "numbers". Literally tens of thousands of other fighter types were produced during WW II. Only 700... that's right... only about 700 P-61s were ever built. Very specialized aircraft. VERY SPECIAL MEN TO FLY HER.

  • @pip12111
    @pip12111 5 лет назад

    "An obituary notice goes with each fight" Epic,

    • @Flamehazard
      @Flamehazard 4 года назад

      Isn't it "with each bite"?

  • @jackwhite9395
    @jackwhite9395 10 лет назад

    I had never heard of a P-61 before. Great video. TKS!

    • @Alecin_
      @Alecin_ 4 года назад +1

      It's the most beautifull aircraft of ww2

  • @saburusakai
    @saburusakai 11 лет назад

    When my late Dad was in the post war USAF just after it gained independance as it own service, and the designation was changed to F-61, he was an early warning radar operator in Japan, and regularly scrambled 61s at night and in daylight along with F-51s to intercept soviet snooper aircraft (it was a big game) until he left in late 48. They were scrambled in daylight along withthe 51s sometimes since they had radar.

  • @Ronbo710
    @Ronbo710 10 лет назад +1

    I still remember the cool diorama Monogram put in their model kit of this plane. My favorite I never got to see in the air (too young) is the B-36 but this is a close second.

    • @MrFlintlock7
      @MrFlintlock7 4 года назад

      If you haven't seen it, "Strategic Air Command" has some decent B-36 flight scenes.

  • @MrJest2
    @MrJest2 11 лет назад +1

    Oh, yeah... and deadly in the right hands. As intimated in the film, it took a lot of work and concentration to make it run, but with a good crew it was an utterly devastating aircraft. Appeared too late in the war to have the effect it could have, and was quickly outclassed by post-war tech advances... but if things had rolled a little differently back then this could have been a decisive machine. I've always loved it (although B17s are still my fave, for irrational emotional reasons)

  • @stealth7usa
    @stealth7usa 11 лет назад

    John Anderson, Pilot of "Tennessee Ridge Runner"
    Photo Documentary #1 - WWII 422nd Night Fighter Squadron - P-61 Pilot John Anderson

  • @Bluenose352
    @Bluenose352 11 лет назад +4

    Come ooon MAAM!! Get that baby restored and back in the air!!

  • @howdyradio934
    @howdyradio934 7 лет назад

    Thank you for uploading.
    Watching from Australia

  • @Goatboysminion
    @Goatboysminion 11 лет назад +1

    That was a sleek, sexy looking thing.

  • @justforever96
    @justforever96 8 лет назад +2

    If the circuit breakers are behind the gunner's seat, what do you do if one gets tripped when you're flying alone? You can't leave the seat to re-set them.

  • @taketimeout2share
    @taketimeout2share 11 лет назад +1

    Jeez! I didnt really appreciate this was a single seater. I thought there were co pilots like in a Mossie. Wow. Busy pilot! Hot ship need hot pilots. Respect is due and is given.

    • @stuarthawksworth
      @stuarthawksworth 4 года назад

      The Mosquito did not have a co-pilot and indeed did not have dual controls. The other crew member was a navigator/bomb aimer.

    • @richwalter3107
      @richwalter3107 4 месяца назад

      This is a 3 man crew... how'd you figure its a single seater ???

  • @casperfriendly47
    @casperfriendly47 10 лет назад +2

    That's one bad bird!

  • @PhantomMigKiller
    @PhantomMigKiller 11 лет назад

    Boy-! There sure is an awful lot to remember when flying one of these old airplanes-!

  • @theunknowngamer5477
    @theunknowngamer5477 4 года назад

    A random search for unusual airplanes...
    This is RUclips GOLD!
    How was it possible for the pilot to do anything other than fly this ship?

  • @tholmes2169
    @tholmes2169 3 года назад +1

    “I’ve got to concentrate…concentrate…concentrate…”

  • @ZenosWarbirds
    @ZenosWarbirds  7 лет назад +1

    Like what you see? Your DVD purchases at our store make this channel possible.
    www.zenosflightshop.com Don't miss our P-61 DVD with two more videos & complete P-61 pilot's manual bit.ly/I3d0Nc
    We need your support! Zeno

  • @frankteunissen6118
    @frankteunissen6118 4 месяца назад

    The P-61 looks impressive, but in fact it was already obsolescent when it entered service. For one thing it wasn’t fast enough. The De Havilland Mosquito performed way better all round, as even acknowledged by the USAAF by acquiring some from the British.

  • @EvilBonsai
    @EvilBonsai 4 года назад

    Was hoping for more information about the other crew stations.

  • @vampsith
    @vampsith 12 лет назад +3

    An obituary notice goes with each bite.

  • @JTelli786
    @JTelli786 8 лет назад +8

    BoTimeGaming brought me here!

    • @SebHaarfagre
      @SebHaarfagre 8 лет назад +1

      +JTelli786 Same here, but I don't think anyone cares -_-

    • @TheAverageSushi
      @TheAverageSushi 8 лет назад +1

      Really ? Cause the show Dogfights from years ago did

  • @HuasoPodrido
    @HuasoPodrido 11 лет назад

    Holy Crud! What was the setting again.......

  • @JackFlemingFan1
    @JackFlemingFan1 12 лет назад

    Excellent video!

  • @iaiband
    @iaiband 8 лет назад +1

    this is the most bad ass training vid ive ever seen...
    4 20 mm cannon an obituary notice goes with each bite...

  • @3-2-1-.
    @3-2-1-. 4 года назад

    A WWII guy once told me that he was stationed on an island in the Pacific and they had Black Widows. One night a young pilot took a nurse up in one, which was not allowed. Fraternization and all... Anyway, he had her in his lap during takeoff. He didn't get enough speed to clear the mountain after the runway, and crashed that bad boy right into the jungle. It was too high up on the mountain for them to do anything with the aircraft. Don't recall survivors in the story. I heard they rediscovered and removed the airplane, around 2010? The US Air Force Museum has one restored in Ohio.

  • @camlpg
    @camlpg 11 лет назад

    Just got my Bachelor's Degree in How to Fly a Black Widow.

  • @SupernalOne
    @SupernalOne 10 лет назад +1

    Good Lord, it takes about 20 minutes to make ready to take off

    • @SenorSpode
      @SenorSpode 10 лет назад +1

      How does that make that bad?

    • @SupernalOne
      @SupernalOne 10 лет назад +1

      ***** nothing really, it's just a complicated machine - as all aircraft are, presumably - but it's impressive to see how much a pilot has to learn

  • @skyfix9813
    @skyfix9813 9 лет назад +1

    Did he say, getting checked out on her is a pleasure? Holy shit! I can't even remember to press the priming bulb on my lawn mower before I'm exhausted trying to start it. He thinks I can remember this shit..?

    • @TheDarwiniser
      @TheDarwiniser 9 лет назад

      +skyfix My guess is a manual checklist that is completed via ticking off each step before every flight. Once you had been through it a number of times it would be easier to remember.

  • @ronaldreed3446
    @ronaldreed3446 11 лет назад

    great aircraft,,i have to finish two 1/48 models

  • @nukebuilder
    @nukebuilder 10 лет назад +2

    Wow, I had no idea these planes were so complicated.

  • @bboucharde
    @bboucharde 10 лет назад +5

    Ever wonder what borders, language, and culture means? ..... This film rests on a set of values that are fundamental to the survival of our republic: (1) We have recognized borders, and we defend them. (Mexico & Central America, take note.) (2) We speak, write, & read English. It is the basis of all technical & business communication in our society. That was true in 1942, and it remains true now. (3) We are a Judeo-Christian culture that has immensely benefited by the scientific revolution and the Enlightenment.
    We are an advanced people who can build highly complex, powerful, & sophisticated machines. And, the average Joe can learn how to use them---if he follows the rules. We operate by consistent and objectively established standards.....including how to maintain and fly a P-61 aircraft. But, when you watch this video, think about the wonderful society that built it......and realize that VERY few other nations even TODAY could design and build something like this.

    • @SebHaarfagre
      @SebHaarfagre 8 лет назад

      +bboucharde lol.
      Btw it was built/designed by a genius workaholic. All that USA did, was put it in service when it had become useless.

    • @bboucharde
      @bboucharde 8 лет назад

      SebSk Seb, Your point does not contradict my point. And, the souls of the German and Japanese crews that were shot down by P-61's would argue with you about your "useless" adjective. In any case, I was making a much broader point, which stands.
      Obviously, you can read the Wikipedia article about this aircraft, and mull over your word choice:
      en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_P-61_Black_Widow
      The conversation is over.

    • @SebHaarfagre
      @SebHaarfagre 8 лет назад

      The conversation isn't over unless both parties choose it to be.
      I used the word "useless" to emphazise how late the US actually put them into action. They had a wonderous machine in front of them, and ignored it.
      I know you had a much broader point of view.
      I just found it a bit over the top, if not zealous.

    • @bboucharde
      @bboucharde 8 лет назад

      SebSk
      OK

  • @williambeck2202
    @williambeck2202 4 года назад +2

    I read the P61s own book on the history and the general performance of all P61s made(742) , the things were a disaster, in the back of the book is a long list of everyone made, you see landing gear collapses all the time ( left, right and nose) the engines had a habitat catching on fire as did the fuselage , oh and the vaulted turret with 4 .50 cal machine guns didn’t work until the very last of the war, it has the dubious distinction of being the cause of an Army nurses death ! , taken up for a ride the POS caught on fire behind the pilot and burned her to death before he could set the plane down, and this thing was huge-almost as big as a B25 and carrying the same equivalent armament of a single seat fighter it has a terrible history completely ignored by the old crews who give their loyalty to a death trap that was never the shining example of American skill and craft and deserves to be remembered for what it was , a nightmare !

  • @deepscuba7384
    @deepscuba7384 10 лет назад +1

    Never was called "widow maker". The early B-26 was called a flying prostitute... the wings were so small that it was said to have "no visible means of support". There was also a saying about the B-26... "One a day in Tampa Bay".
    Dolittle demonstrated the aircraft before he took command of the 8th Air Force...proved everybody wrong.

  • @Goatboysminion
    @Goatboysminion 11 лет назад +1

    Nah, give me the B24. Gotta love a workhorse.

    • @armoredangel01
      @armoredangel01 3 года назад

      I'll take the even bigger workhorse, the B17, over the 'Flying Boxcar'

  • @paulmanson253
    @paulmanson253 8 лет назад +1

    Is there anyone out there who can tell me why it is so important the rubber tires not creep on the rims ? Presumably the answer was written in blood when something unpleasant happened.

    • @russnixon6020
      @russnixon6020 7 лет назад +1

      They become unbalanced and at 110 KIAS landing speed, a little bit of imbalance can lead to "death wobble", especially in the nose gear. With the size and mass of those tires, a little creep can be dangerous.

  • @wpmk
    @wpmk 8 лет назад

    Check and sign for red diagonals.

  • @Ronbo710
    @Ronbo710 10 лет назад +1

    (before take-off) Now go refuel and do it all again

  • @agoodchristianpilot159
    @agoodchristianpilot159 3 года назад +1

    Those engines sounds.... that’s so unique!!! The P-61 sounds so menacing and scary. Must’ve given Japanese diaper companies one hell of a boost in product!

  • @animalacker
    @animalacker 11 лет назад +1

    uncage the gyro's! Shit, we gettin' ready to scramble nigga!

  • @Neopedia
    @Neopedia 7 лет назад

    Este fue usado en bahía de Cochinos en la fallida invasión a cuba. Los aviones usados fueron dejados en Guatemala

  • @camlpg
    @camlpg 11 лет назад

    No info on how to use MGs or Cannons, and no info on how to use radar in night fighting.

  • @noelwarner1235
    @noelwarner1235 Месяц назад

    One at the Air Force Museum at Dayton Ohio ,but I dont think it is flyable.

  • @phayzyre1052
    @phayzyre1052 Год назад

    Damn! Check this, check that, do this, do that, adjust this, adjust that! Now I see why they called this silly thing a “night fighter”… by the time you got airborne it was night!

    • @ZenosWarbirds
      @ZenosWarbirds  Год назад +1

      One thing in common with just about every one of these WW2 aircraft training videos is that they stress the importance of doing the check list. That’s because there was lots of evidence that crews who ignored it had a disproportionate likelihood of crashing from non combat related SNAFUs.

    • @phayzyre1052
      @phayzyre1052 Год назад

      @@ZenosWarbirds Oh, I know. I’m a private pilot to. It just seems like with these older airplanes for everything we have to check nowadays they had to check 20 things back then!

  • @onceANexile
    @onceANexile 6 лет назад

    The god dam pilot needs a haircut!

  • @SebHaarfagre
    @SebHaarfagre 8 лет назад

    Ok, video finished. I think I'll remember it now.
    .... not -_- holy jesus

  • @edhilferty9287
    @edhilferty9287 8 лет назад +3

    My uncle was killed in a P61 Black Widow, off Pearl Harbor in 1949 , night flying two crashed, USMC. The bodies were never recovered.

    • @TheAverageSushi
      @TheAverageSushi 8 лет назад +1

      Are you lying ? I asked since I don't see anything about a P-61 lost in the year of 1949 in Pearl Harbor and I'm pretty sure only the USAF and the USAAF flies these...

    • @russnixon6020
      @russnixon6020 7 лет назад

      Two USMC aircraft and four aviators were lost 5 April 1949 off Barber's point. Maybe he got the A/C type wrong... BTW, the Navy did have some P-61Bs postwar.

  • @MrJest2
    @MrJest2 11 лет назад

    Well, no... this was a wartime film; these techs were either classified or just not generally disseminated on principal. What is funny is that today's radar operators would be totally befuddled by the non-computer-assisted displays this old bird used, and would have no clue how to use them to aim weapons.

  • @leehansen4750
    @leehansen4750 4 года назад +1

    Typical military!
    Teach ten times what you need to concentrate on!
    How to shoot a Mi carbine!
    Took all day to teach, took three minutes to shoot EXPERT on first try!
    No heavier them my .22, squirrel gun. LOT less kick then my 12 gauge pheasant shot gun!
    Sights were self explanatory & got all in the bull but two & they were right next to it!
    Felt sorry for those that never went hunting, or handled a gun before. My dad had four sons & we were 13 or so when he took us hunting squirrels, pheasants, rabbits & fishing!
    He was a WW2 infantryman & was decorated for bravery , with a bronze star after serving in the " Battle of the bulge, " where he carried a browning automatic rifle!
    Killed a lot of Germans & was nearly killed himself.
    Passed in 2012 @ 93! Still miss him!

  • @nonnobissolum
    @nonnobissolum 5 лет назад +3

    I wonder if these members of the greatest generation struggled with figuring out what their preferred pronouns might be...

  • @soonermodels1173
    @soonermodels1173 9 лет назад +1

    Is that Ronald Reagan?

  • @williambeck2202
    @williambeck2202 7 лет назад +1

    Most defective aircraft of WE2 , Engine and fuselage fires , landing gear collapses, famed 4 gun turret didn't work , etc , worst and most dangerous aircraft of WW2

    • @hokep61
      @hokep61 Год назад

      You Really don't know what your talking about. My Dad was a crew chief on a P-61 with the 427th NFS. The pilots and crews loved the plane. Was a very stable aircraft to fly.

  • @billybonewhacker
    @billybonewhacker 10 лет назад

    water injection? wtf

    • @billybonewhacker
      @billybonewhacker 10 лет назад +1

      ***** wow thanks alot. i never knew that even about methanol, which i assume has better frezze properties.

    • @russnixon6020
      @russnixon6020 7 лет назад

      Actually, it's usually a mixture of both. It is used to delay or eliminate combustion detonation.

    • @hokep61
      @hokep61 Год назад

      Actually it was to give a few seconds of extra power boost. War Power Mode.

  • @りょういち-h9y
    @りょういち-h9y Год назад

    B-25とP-61は、 男子の厄年なので、日本ではやみ嫌われた?

  • @tspiderkeeper
    @tspiderkeeper 11 лет назад

    it was later called widow maker for the deaths from crashes it caused making a lot of wives back home widows of the pilots who crashed in these

    • @deepscuba7384
      @deepscuba7384 10 лет назад +3

      Just the opposite... my dad was a Sqd CO in the Pacific. No such name was ever attached for both reasons (from the film and yours). My family exists because it DID bring him home!

    • @tspiderkeeper
      @tspiderkeeper 10 лет назад

      This aircraft had a lot of crashes research it .Your dad was one of the lucky ones that known how to pilot it greatly

    • @navajoc8025
      @navajoc8025 10 лет назад +1

      the82spartans
      actually, the narrator says 'black widow' not widow maker... now pay attention and say sorry to TSpider Keeper

    • @tspiderkeeper
      @tspiderkeeper 10 лет назад

      np told you

    • @SebHaarfagre
      @SebHaarfagre 8 лет назад

      +Navajo C What? They both (TSpider and spartans) say "widow maker". Wtf lol
      And that was not even the point...

  • @briancooper2112
    @briancooper2112 2 года назад +1

    Why wasnt this plane used in Korea?