Question about P61A "Moonhappy"

[iwik]

Hi y'all!

I have a few doubt about that P61A named "moonhappy", with the woman lying on top of a big crescent moon.]

According to this site http://www.skylighters.org/special/night_fighters/p61info.html   with its serial "425527" it shouldn't have a dorsal turret. But so does not "Jap Batty" (25528) for exemple, which of course it does. Could that site be wrong?

Now I'm wandering if that serial has not been wrongfully attributed to the wrong "Moonhappy".

Crews Habermann and Mooney have shut down a plane with a P61 also named Moon Happy but with a different nose art. On the left side of that (?) aircraft they applied a victory flag.

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Are the two moonhappy the same aircraft? Two different ones with of course different serials? Could THE Moonhappy also wear the victory mark?

I'm lost.

Help.

Ciao

Iwik

 

[Lawzer]

According to Wikipedia 45 P61-A1’s were built with the last 7 of those without turrets.

 

on this page http://www.forgottenprops.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/p-61_black_widow.html it lists them and yours is the 43rd of those so by my reckoning no turret.

 

 

[gingerbob]

The first Pacific kill, a Betty, was claimed by Moonhappy.  It is described (with the second photo) on this page.  Perhaps it is significant that the crew is given only as pilot and R/O?  (There are references elsewhere to this aircraft's regular crew including a gunner, but that might be a legacy of the "standard" P-61 crew, before the turret was deleted- the redundant gunners appear to have lingered.)