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Ordered in parallel with the P-82 Twin Mustang, the P-61F long range escort fighter was intended as a lower risk option should the radical Twin Mustang encounter development issues. This would prove to be a wise decision when the war ended and Rolls Royce began requiring a royalty to be paid for each Packard V-1650 Merlin produced. The uprated Allison V-1710 that was offered as an alternative powerplant for the P-82 Twin Mustang had so many reliability issues that it was referred to as the “Allison Time Bomb”! In contrast, the turbo supercharged Pratt & Whitney R-2800s that powered the P-61F were reliable and affordable. A P-61C (43-8338) was pulled from the Hawthorne production line and completed as the XP-61F prototype. The XP-61F was accepted by the Army Air Force and first flew in September of 1945. Having no need for additional P-61Cs, the USAAF converted the last 450 aircraft of the original order for 500 P-61Cs into day escort fighters. This order for 450 production fighters would continue to be revised into a final order for 150 escort fighters, 200 night fighters, and 100 photo-reconnaissance aircraft (designated F-15A Reporters).
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Cheers,
Logan
