Gemhorse
Senior Airman
Erich is absolutely correct......I seriously dispute GT's stated ''P-61 vs Mosquito'' figures totally !! ...While the P-61 may have been powerful and well-armed, it was a wheelbarrow in comparison to the Mosquito, just check the weights for a start...In every book you care to read on WWII Nightfighting, you'll see the Mosquito as the best....If any aircraft came close to the Mosquito as a Nightfighter, it was the Ju-88G's....
The Mosquito Nightfighters started in the first week of 1942, gradually replacing the slower but still very effective Beaufighters, who had in turn replaced first the Defiants, the Blenheims, the Havocs with Turbinlites in concert with Hurricanes.....and the Mossies carried on in this role till well after WWII.
The only claim to fame the P-61 had, it was the first American purpose-built nightfighter...Germany had the world's first purpose-built nightfighter in the He-219, and they both couldn't match the Mosquito.....
Furthermore, guns in the nose as the P-61 and the P-38 for that matter, were near useless, as gunflash blinded the crew....All Beaufighters and Mosquito Nightfighters used only the 4x 20mm UNDER the nose, and that was bright enough....
The other factor was the US crews must've been inadequately trained in nightfighting in the P-61, as aircraft recognition was a very important aspect of this type of warfare, the night sky had hundreds of aircraft flying around, and both RAF and Luftwaffe crews were very careful in this, before they pressed the tit, and even then mistakes were sometimes made... Crews trained intensely to become adept at this craft, the pairing-up of pilot and R/O especially, where patience and timing was critical....
As far as claims went, they were suspect unless they were confirmed by gun-cameras and independent sources....When US pilots could include aircraft shot-up on the ground as a kill towards their 'ace' status, this was hardly fair.....What fascinates me was painting P-61's GLOSS black, which would reflect like hell at night...might have given it an extra 10 mph, but light reflection off the glass panels was bad enough....The British moved out of total matt black into top camo later in the War, and the Luftwaffe were very articulate with their camo.....Good try GT, I respect your patrotism, but if the P-61 had lost some weight, they may have had a bloody good NF then........
The Mosquito Nightfighters started in the first week of 1942, gradually replacing the slower but still very effective Beaufighters, who had in turn replaced first the Defiants, the Blenheims, the Havocs with Turbinlites in concert with Hurricanes.....and the Mossies carried on in this role till well after WWII.
The only claim to fame the P-61 had, it was the first American purpose-built nightfighter...Germany had the world's first purpose-built nightfighter in the He-219, and they both couldn't match the Mosquito.....
Furthermore, guns in the nose as the P-61 and the P-38 for that matter, were near useless, as gunflash blinded the crew....All Beaufighters and Mosquito Nightfighters used only the 4x 20mm UNDER the nose, and that was bright enough....
The other factor was the US crews must've been inadequately trained in nightfighting in the P-61, as aircraft recognition was a very important aspect of this type of warfare, the night sky had hundreds of aircraft flying around, and both RAF and Luftwaffe crews were very careful in this, before they pressed the tit, and even then mistakes were sometimes made... Crews trained intensely to become adept at this craft, the pairing-up of pilot and R/O especially, where patience and timing was critical....
As far as claims went, they were suspect unless they were confirmed by gun-cameras and independent sources....When US pilots could include aircraft shot-up on the ground as a kill towards their 'ace' status, this was hardly fair.....What fascinates me was painting P-61's GLOSS black, which would reflect like hell at night...might have given it an extra 10 mph, but light reflection off the glass panels was bad enough....The British moved out of total matt black into top camo later in the War, and the Luftwaffe were very articulate with their camo.....Good try GT, I respect your patrotism, but if the P-61 had lost some weight, they may have had a bloody good NF then........
