Short Sterling

THIS AIRCRAFT was the first British four-engined bomber of World War II, and it served throughout that period. The ofttold tale of the Sterling is that its performance was severely constrained by an Air Ministry requirement that its wingspan be limited to 99 ft. in order to fit in existing hangars. Ironically, the plane rarely saw the inside of a hangar during the war.

PT-3

The PT-3 was the standard Army primary trainer in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Its basic airframe was that of the Consolidated PT-1, designed by Ruben Fleet, and was powered by a WW I surplus Hispano-Suiza engine. The PT-1 became the PT-3 when the engine was replaced with the more reliable Wright Whirlwind J5 and a number of small changes were made. It was allocated Approved Type Certificate #83 in November of 1928. A PT-1 is hanging in the US Air Force Museum at Dayton, Ohio and the Experimental Aircraft Association is in the process of converting a PT-1 to the PT-3 configuration. The plans for this Scale model were enlarged from a very detailed set of drawings by Joseph Nieto in the August 1950 Model Airplane News.

P-61 Black Widow

THE NORTHROP P-61 was the only American aircraft designed specifically as a night fighter in World War II. The Black Widow reached combat status in 1944, and was used in both the European and Pacific theaters. In the latter area, it enjoyed a great deal of success. Despite being a new design, the Black Widow was not kept in the USAF inventory after the war. However, a few Air National Guard squadrons were equipped with them for a short period. None were used in the Korean War, where the night fighter role was fulfilled by Marine F4Us and F7Fs.

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