Black Widow P61 First Time
On The Runway
Click on Thumbnail pictures for expanded view.

   On April 14, 2002, I took the P-61 to the Ash Creek field for a try out. Got the engines running great and taxied onto the runway, went up and down to get the feel of it, nice and straight, then speeded it up some. Made a high speed run when all of a sudden the nose gear bent back and collapsed. The plane made a quick 360° turn & scraped the left under side of the wing tip; both props hit the ground & killed both engines. We went to look at it and found the nose gear sprang back in place. It's made of spring steel. We changed the props and tried again and the same thing happened. I'm taking out the landing gear, installing a larger size & also lifting the nose to take some down force off the wing. Will try again soon.

Photos #01 - #06
Photo #01:

Nose Art
'Double
Trouble'
 bwpix1.jpg      
Photo #02:
The crew and the very small print
above Trouble is the name
of the real pilot and Radio
Operator, (RO), and Crew Chief, (CC).
bwpix2.jpg
Photo #03:
Runway view.
 bwpix3.jpg      
Photo #04:
Rear view
 bwpix4.jpg
Photo #05:
Left gear starts
to bend in.
bwpix5.jpg      
Photo #06:
The tail goes up in
the air and the nose down.
Then a sharp turn to the left.
bwpix6.jpg

NEXT: First Flight of the Black Widow P61

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