The Fascinating History of a P-61 Black Widow

From a reliable research aircraft to a rare museum artifact.

The P-61 black widow was an airplane of many talents. Yes, Northrop’s big fighter is known for stealthily stalking and destroying 127 enemy aircraft in the last year of World War II. After the war ended, though, Black Widows found other ways to serve. 

They flew as camera platforms for an aerial survey of the Pacific islands. And one P-61, a C model, was used for thunderstorm research, operating out of Pinecastle Air Force Base in Florida. This aircraft—U.S. Army Air Forces serial number 43-8330—is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. Before becoming a museum piece, it was sent to California’s Moffett Field in 1951, where the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) used it to study how swept-wing test bodies behaved when dropped from the P-61 at high altitude.

When the NACA research program ended, 43-8330 was delivered to the Smithsonian on August 10, 1954. In a letter to the Museum, former Northrop test pilot Moye Stephens wrote: “The P-61 was a beautiful ship to fly. It didn’t have a wicked bone in its body, and would tolerate mishandling that would have proved fatal in other twins.”

This article, originally titled “A Black Widow’s Second Act,” is from the Winter 2025 issue of Air & Space Quarterly, the National Air and Space Museum's signature magazine that explores topics in aviation and space, from the earliest moments of flight to today. Explore the full issue.

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