Niceoldguy58
Airman
- 94
- Mar 2, 2010
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By 1944, the P-40 was largely relegated to the ground-attack mission if I recall. Regardless, that figure might be lower than even the P-47D (prior to the paddle-prop that was added in 1944). I'm curious what the climb-rate of the P-61C was as it's top-speed is quite a bit higher.P-61B top speed was 366 mph. Rate of climb was 2,540 fpm (about like a P-40).
What P-61 and Mosquito variants were being used?The 481st Night Fighter Squadron requested Mosquitos. They had a flyoff on 5 Jul 1945. The P-61 was faster at all altitudes, climbed better, and turned better than the Mosquito. It is the only direct flyoff flight test that I can find.
What P-61 and Mosquito variants were being used?
I was just curious because I remember D Dana Bell had stated that F6F night-fighters were swapped in lieu of the P-61's because of their inability to climb to altitude to engage Japanese aircraft. My guess is that this problem was that they lacked the endurance for standing patrols, and couldn't climb fast enough (combined), whereas the F6F at least had a better rate of climb.2,500 fpm for a might fighter is plenty good enough. You didn't dogfight at night, you'd sneak up and make an ambush kill. If the victim ever thought you were stalking him, he'd just maneuver away and get out of sight. Most airplanes flying at night during the war had exhaust flame suppressors on them. Not all, to be sure, but most.
The -C was a remarkable design.The P-61C probably qualified as an excellent night fighter because it had more speed than a P-61A/B.
Was a MK II iirc.Certainly wasn't the Mk.XXX.
I liked your post, Niceoldguy58, until the P-61 remark. No way was the P-61 miserably disappointing!
it was the best night fighter available to the USAAF when it came out and for quite some time after that time. Nothing else the USAAF had that was in service anywhere NEAR the service life of the P-61 hit as hard when firing, that's for sure. And it was almost as maneuverable as a single-seat fighter. I've never heard anything bad about the P-61 other than the typical complaints about early radar sets that didn't really get fixed until the 1970s and some comments that it fell a bit short was top speed. But, top speed is NOT all that important for a night fighter to start with. All you have to do is be able to match speed with your target, and the P-61 was faster than any potential target that wasn't a jet.
Wow, that explains a lot.The ETO flyoff was rigged - the Mosquito and its crew were unaware they were in a competition and had been assigned to observe and evaluate the P-61's performance. The P-61 was given the best preparation, flown without the turret or third crewmember, and piloted by an aggressive and angry crew; the Mosquito was a line aircraft of older production with no special servicing. The flyoff was kept below 20,000 feet; above that altitude the P-61's performance dropped off dramatically. The flyoff was flown as a dogfight, not your standard night-fighting tactics. The test lasted only about 2 hours - the P-61 had exhausted nearly all of its fuel.
How fast do you think they did fly?No P-61 flew at 430 mph - all those claims were based on Northrop estimates, which proved sadly inflated.