Black Widows

[Jack Cook]

P-61A "Tabitha" s/n 42-9569 425th NFS lost in a fatal crash Oct 27, 1944 France.

P-61A "The Creep" 425th NFS 1944

Lt Paul Smith in P-61A "Lady GEN" 422th NFS landing France 1944

[Rajay]

Very cool. Where do you lay your hands on these kind of pics?

I've always been a nut for twin-boomers;
P-61
P-38
O-2
OV-10
C-119
Okay, maybe not so much the C-82 or the Nord Nortalas...

[Jack Cook]

OV-10s

OV-10 VMO-2 Da Nang, SVN

[The Inspector]

What's the occasion with the OV-10?
Crew training on how to take one last whiz before mounting up while wearing a parachute harness?

[TonyM]

There was a P-61 that had been salvaged from the SWP theater and I remember seeing photos of it being restored.

Does anybody know the status of that P-61?

When will it be ready?

And will they fly it when it is done?

TonyM.

[Rajay]

I think that the P-61 that you are referring to is the one being restored by the Mid Atlanitc Air Museum. I remember some impressive photos of fuselage and wing re-mating. Maybe a boom, too. It should be easy enough to find some info on their Web site.

As for the OV-10 above, I have a question. I have heard that the OV-10 was supposed to be STOL capable. I have also heard stories about it being under-powered and a runway hog. Does anyone have any first or second hand knowledge as to how well it actually performed? What is the truth (and is it really out there?)

Thanks!

[jdvoss]

Yes there is a P-61 Black Widow being restored by the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, PA. It was pulled off of a mountain top near Jayapura, Indonesia where it pancaked in during WWII. The attached link gives a good photographic history of its recovery and restoration. It's my understanding that it is to be put back in the air again.

http://www.maam.org/p61.html

[TonyM]

Thanks for the link.

Great photos.

The P-61 is coming along nicely.

TM