SOH P-61 project

[warchild]

You folks might enjoy a nice little read i found the other day..

http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/...ght/index.html

[hairyspin]

An interesting read indeed. I also noted (as a fan of late-war developments) that only 100 Widows were in overseas service by D-Day. Makes you wonder what service might have been expected had the Manhattan Project failed and Operation Tiger - the invasion of Japan - gone ahead in early 1946.

[warchild]

Indeed.. It makes me wonder a great many things.. Perhaps if they had had Widows flying during the parachute drops things would have gone better, or Havocs flying overhead during the invasion itself.. Things may have been much different.. What irritates me the most though is that until i read that article, i had no idea that P-61s were flying during the battle of the bulge. According to history books, ALL aircraft were grounded.. heh.. Not the Widow.. What an insult to those guys..

On another note, with parts and supplies limited, I cant help but wonder. If a radar burned out a tube, did that ground the plane?? The technology was definitely not there to support the lofty needs and ideals that were mandated for that time..

[N2056]

Ahh...the good old tubes. How many here remember the tube tester rigs at the market? The ones where you could bring in a tube out of your ailing TV and test it out, and then be able to buy a replacement if it was a dud!

That would be a cool tee shirt!

[hairyspin]

...until i read that article, i had no idea that P-61s were flying during the battle of the bulge. ..

You should read the Wiki article then...

[Bomber_12th]

Curious if you guys have seen these photos yet? They really illustrate how translucent the radome could be, in its natural, un-painted form - fairly much a highly-fogged plexiglass.







Also, here are some shots of the exact radar unit type, that was installed in the P-61.

[warchild]

Just made that first one my background..
I'm not certain We can do a translucent dome.. It would be great if we could, but it would also mean that Robert would have to create the radar on top of the rest of the plane.. That might be asking a lot, but its up to him ..

[lazarus]

The radome was plexiglass, etched to prevent 'undesirables' from getting a look at the dish. I remember an article mentioning that the early black painted radomes had a tendancy to soften and distort in tropical heat.

[teson1]

Just a heads-up:

A P-61 Pilot Training Manual is available over at avialogs.
For those who already want to prepare for flying the beast.

http://avialogs.com/index.php/BookLi...61-Black-Widow

[roger-wilco-66]

Just a heads-up:

A P-61 Pilot Training Manual is available over at avialogs.
For those who already want to prepare for flying the beast.

http://avialogs.com/index.php/BookLi...61-Black-Widow

Wow, thanks for mentioning this, didn't know that website.
Pulled a whole bunch of manuals I didn't have yet!

Cheers,
Mark

[N2056]

I'd like to take the opportunity to wish this thread a fine

Thanks all for the interest and support!

[warchild]

Dangerous Dave set up the P-61 teamspeak channel for us. Robert had officially started in on the Mesh with Crashaz and the blessings of Michael Davies. Jankees and Skyhawk announced plans for doing the textures, and I had set up a little pre alpha video of the originaly rendered mesh..

Then???

Attachment 45061

Today??
Attachment 45062

Attachment 45063

Attachment 45064
Attachment 45065
Attachment 45066

We've come a long way...

[Walter]

Nothing short of amazing.

[skyhawka4m]

Looking forward to laying some paint.......not sure what the time table is here but I will most likely be all settled by mid otober in my new digs. but the PC should be up and running the whole time during but....moving is gonna take alot of my time up.

[roger-wilco-66]

Awesome shots, Pam!


Cheers,
Mark