P-61 Without Turret

[KJ_Lesnick]

I'm curious as to what would have happened if somewhere during the development of the P-61 a decision had been made to do the following

• Go without turrets as it would reduce crew complement from three to two and reduce drag and allow greater range
• Use a turbocharger instead of a twin-stage, twin-speed supercharger: It would yield considerably extra speed and greater altitude.

With the decision to go without turrets either: From the outset; As they were reducing from two turrets to one, they decided to eliminate all turrets and use some kind of cockpit more like the XP-61E (I know they couldn't go perfectly bubble, but it's possible to use a series of curved panes of glass)

 

[riggerrob]

Turrets were only installed in early production P-61s and proved problematic, so turrets were not used in combat .... a wise decision.
Apparently turrets were part of the original RAF request (during the Battle of Britain).
The RAF probably envisioned a "convoy raider" along the lines of the Boulton-Paul Defiant. .... Fly alongside and blast them with a broadside!
Harrumph!
Cheerio!
General Electric count not deliver ring-mounted turrets during early production and pedestal type turrets were too valuable for large bombers.
Eliminating turrets saved many hundreds of pounds and added several mikes per hour to P-61's top speed. Reduced weight allowed P-61 to out-turn and out-climb Mosquito night-fighters and made P-61 a solid work-horse of a night-fighter.