Designed by Jack Northrop and Vladimir Pavlecka in response to a secret Army Air Corps request, the P-61, dubbed the Black Widow, became not only America's first purpose-built night fighter, but also the largest and most heavily-armed operational fighter flown by the United States during World War II.  Despite being the size of a medium bomber, the unique control surfaces of the P-61 made it surprisingly agile, and among its many successes is downing of the final enemy aircraft of the war. This book tells the story of the Black Widow from the experimental XP-61 on through the final production variant, the F-15A, through black and white photos and vintage color photos, augmented by four color profiles and detailed line drawings. Illustrated with 164 black and white and 30 vintage color photographs, four color profiles, and a dozen line drawings. 80 pages.

By David Doyle