Northrop XP-61 Black Widow

It is rare to find wind-tunnel models of aircraft from the Second World War other than in their usual habitat – museums. This night-time fighter was created in the greatest secret from 1940 and made its first flight in May 1942. It is an exceptional model, considering :
- its condition (only the lower part of the radome is missing)
- the fact that the production aircraft has exactly the same shape as the model
- finally and most importantly for the development of its project, Northrop concluded on the 10th January 1941 “a contract for two prototypes and two wind-tunnel models, for a sum not to exceed 1,367,000 dollars maximum”.