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The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star is the first jet fighter used operationally by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II. [1] Designed and built by Lockheed in 1943 and delivered just 143 days from the start of design, two pre-production models saw limited service in Italy just before the end of World War II.
The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star (or T-Bird) is an American subsonic jet trainer.It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948. The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 starting as TP-80C/TF-80C in development, then designated T-33A.
Bong then became a test pilot assigned to Lockheed's plant in Burbank, California, where he flew P-80 Shooting Star jet fighters at the Lockheed Air Terminal. On August 6, 1945, he took off to perform the acceptance flight of P-80A 44-85048. It was his 12th flight in the P-80; he had a total of four hours and fifteen minutes of flight time in ...
Some of the group of independent-minded engineers were later involved with the XP-80 project, the prototype of the P-80 Shooting Star. Mary G. Ross, the first Native American female engineer, began working at Lockheed in 1942 on the mathematics of compressibility in high-speed flight [11] —a problem first seriously encountered in the P-38. [12]
The USAAF rejected the 1942 proposal, but the effort speeded the development of the USAAF's first successful operational jet fighter, the P-80 Shooting Star, which did see limited service near the end of war. The P-80 was a less radical design with a single British-based Allison J33 engine, with a conventional tail.
It was the first United States jet fighter squadron to be activated, and spent most of its early existence in experimental testing of the Bell P-59 Airacomet and Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star aircraft. The squadron developed training programs and trained aircrew and ground personnel as cadres for newly formed jet aircraft-equipped units.
In this role he participated in the development of the Bell P-59 Airacomet and Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star, the first American jet fighters, and in 1943 he became one of the first pilots to fly a jet aircraft. [1] [2] [3] In May 1945 Terhune went to the Southwest Pacific Area as the executive officer of the 58th Fighter Group.
It was the primary post-World War II operator of surplus Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress aircraft, and also operated Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star and a few Boeing RB-47 Stratojet bombers that were converted into drone aircraft during the early years of the Cold War. [1]