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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.
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 ...
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.
Notable weapons: Lockheed Hudson, Lockheed P-38 Lightning, Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star. Lockheed produced one of the most famous aircraft to take flight in World War II, the P-38 Lightning. It was ...
Lockheed YF-94 (S/N 48-373). This was the second aircraft built (from TF-80C) On 16 April 1949, the first YF-94 prototype performed its maiden flight. [6] To accelerate development, these early test aircraft were converted from existing T-33s; they maintained roughly 75% commonality in terms of components with those used in the earlier F-80 and T-33As.
The result, the P-80 Shooting Star, was completed on time and became America's first operational jet fighter. [14] In 1955, at the request of the Central Intelligence Agency, Johnson initiated construction of the airbase at Groom Lake, Nevada, later known as Area 51. This project provided a secret location for flight testing the Lockheed U-2. [15]
In 1947, the squadron was redesignated as the 335th Fighter Squadron, Jet Propelled, as it received the new Lockheed P-80 Shooting Stars. They flew out of Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, until 1949, when they moved to Langley Air Force Base, Virginia and received the North American F-86 Sabre.
The USAAF would instead go on to select the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star as its first operational jet fighter. Although no P-59s entered combat, the aircraft paved the way for later generations of U.S. turbojet-powered aircraft.