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The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was 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.
Colonel Laurence C. “Bill” Craigie brings the first jet airplane built in the United States, the Bell XP-59A, in for a landing at Rogers Dry Lake, Muroc, Calif., on October 2, 1942. Cragie became the first American military aviator to fly a jet. (Mike Machat Illustration)
The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star, also known as the F-80, was the first jet fighter used operationally by the US Army Air Forces (USAAF).
On November 10, 1950, Lieutenant Russell Brown, flying a Shooting Star, made history when he destroyed a Russian MiG-15 fighter in the world's first decisive all-jet combat. However, when compared to the Mig, the F-80 was outclassed and it was quickly replaced by the North American F-86 Sabre.
The Shooting Star was the first American aircraft to exceed 500 mph in level flight, the first American jet airplane manufactured in large quantities and the first U.S. Air Force jet used in combat. Designed in 1943, the XP-80 made its maiden flight on Jan. 8, 1944.
The XP-59A is the first American jet aircraft. It did not see combat but it did give the U. S. Army Air Forces (AAF) and the U. S. Navy valuable experience with jet aircraft technology and helped pave the way to more advanced designs. The United States was slow to enter the field of jet propulsion.
The Bell P-59 Airacomet is a single-seat, twin jet-engine fighter aircraft that was designed and built by Bell Aircraft during World War II. It was the first jet produced in the United States.
The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was the United States Army Air Forces’ (USAAF) first jet fighter during the Second World War. The straight-wing design fighter was one of the fastest on the assembly line and in the air. Simple Flying compiled a list of fast facts about the P-80 fighter jet, as highlighted by Lockheed Martin.
And the U.S. War Department, hoping to quickly level the playing field, had recruited Johnson to build what would become the United States’ first true operational jet fighter — the P-80.
The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was America's answer to the Messerschmitt Me 262 and the first American combat-ready jet fighter and airplane to exceed 500 mph in level-flight.