The Spider and the Fly by Stan Vosburg

A tribute to the Northrop P-61 Black Widow, street baseball and Orange, California.

In spring 1945, Orange, California was the same sleepy town it had been throughout World War II. The conflict in Europe was over, but victory in the Pacific was months away. Three years of war had brought many hardships and trials to the residents of this small town. Yet, much of its daily life went on as always. Children blasted fly balls in the street between the neighbors' cars, trying to squeeze in one more inning before sunset.

The air droned with the roar of new and exotic military aircraft. Suddenly, a shiny black airplane rocketed through the sky. The Northrop P-61, the Black Widow, was a big, powerful, brutish-looking fighter designed to prey on enemy night intruders. The dark sky was its habitat, and radar, a new mysterious invention, was its eyes. Like the black widow spider for which it was named, the P-61 was quick, potent and deadly. The children, for the first time seeing it fly over their town, would not forget the sight of this specter.

Signature:

Signature Edition and Artist's Proof only

Major Lee KENDALL - Piloting a P-61, the "Lady In The Dark", Kendall won the final air victory of World War II.