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The squadron received the P-61 Black Widow to replace the P-38s/P-70s in June 1944. [5] The squadron and its detachments moved several times throughout New Guinea providing cover for U.S. Army assault landings , shipping reconnaissance while protecting the various new air bases.
P-61A-1-NO Black Widow 42-5524, 6th Night Fighter Squadron, Being readied for a mission, East Field, Saipan, Mariana Islands, September 1944. The 6th NFS based on Guadalcanal received their first P-61s in early June 1944. The aircraft were quickly assembled and underwent flight testing as the pilots changed from the squadron's aging P-70s.
The squadron was established on 23 November 1943, as the 425th Night Fighter Squadron at Orlando AAB, Florida and activated on 1 December. It initially trained with the Douglas P-70 Havoc night fighter at Orlando, although it also trained with the Northrop YP-61 Black Widow.
The first Black Widow V-1 "kill" took place on 16 July 1944, credited to pilot Herman Ernst and radar operator Edward Kopsel of the 422nd Night Fighter Squadron. One of the greatest dangers involved in killing V-1s was the possibility of getting too close to the flying bomb when one fired at it, running the risk of damage to their own plane if ...
426th Night Fighter Squadron Northrop P-61A-10-NO Black Widow 42-5619. The Japanese were well aware of the P-61s effectiveness, however many bomber crews were aware that there were too few of them to cover the entire Chinese front.
Production delays at Northrop for the P-61 Black Widow fighter aircraft required the unit to use what it had until the first YP-61s were received in early 1944. [3] In October, it was decided to form specialized night fighter training squadrons, and the 348th and 349th Night Fighter Squadrons were formed, [ 5 ] largely from elements of the 50th ...
P-61A Black Widow of the 427th Night Fighter Squadron in flight over Northern Burma, 1944 [note 2] On 25 December 1944, a detachment of the 427th arrived at Kunming Airport, China, relieving the 426th's detachment, although the bulk of the squadron remained in Burma.
The 349th Night Fighter Squadron (349th NFS) is an inactive United States Air Force unit which specialized in training airmen to utilize night fighters as nighttime interceptors. Its last assignment was with the 481st Night Fighter Operational Training Group, based at Hammer Field, California. First activated in October 1942, the unit was ...