Northrop P-61 Black Widow
The Northrop P-61 Black Widow was the first American aircraft designed from the outset as a night fighter, built around an airborne radar that let its three-man crew find and attack enemy aircraft in darkness and bad weather. Developed from a January 1941 Army contract, the prototype flew on 26 May 1942. The big twin-boom fighter reached combat in mid-1944 and served in every theater of the war's final year, intercepting aircraft by night and ranging into enemy territory on intruder missions. Northrop built 706, and only four survive: three on museum display and one under restoration to fly.