P-80 Shooting Star

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Image:P80.600pix.jpg

The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was the first operational jet fighter used by the United States Army Air Forces. The P-59A Airacomet preceded the P-80, but it was produced in small numbers and did not enter operation. The P-80 was the first operational jet fighter to have its engine within the fuselage (earlier jet fighters had their engines in external pods, for easier maintenance of the short-lived, temperamental early turbojets), a configuration that would be used by nearly all subsequent fighter aircraft.

1 Development
2 Operation
- 2.1 Korea
3 Variants
4 Foreign operators
5 Specifications (P-80A/F-80)
6 Reference
7 External links
8 Related content

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Development

Image:Lulu-Belle af.jpg

Design work began on the XP-80 began in 1943 with a design being built around a British de Havilland H1 B turbojet. The design team, consisting of 28 engineers, was lead by the legendary Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson. This teaming was the first appearance of Lockheed's Skunk Works, which would surface again in the next decade to produce a line of high performing aircraft beginning with the F-104 Starfighter. The XP-80 was a conventional, all-metal airframe with a slim low wing and tricycle undercarriage. The first prototype, nicknamed Lulu-Belle, flew on June 10, 1944, just 143 days after the design commenced. Lulu-Belle was powered by a replacement Halford H1 (later "Goblin") taken from the prototype de Havilland Vampire and shipped to the States after the original flight engine was accidentally destroyed.

Image:XP-80A Gray Ghost af.jpg

The second prototype, the XP-80A was built around a larger GE I-40 engine. It was nicknamed Gray Ghost. Tony LeVier made the first test flight on January 8, 1944. The first test flight was unimpressive, but most of the problems with the design were soon addressed and corrected in the test program.

Even so, the P-80 testing program was dangerous. Lockheed chief engineering test pilot Milo Burcham was killed on October 20, 1944 while flying the second production prototype. World War II ace Richard Bong was also killed test flying a P-80. And Tony LeVier, newly promoted to chief engineering test pilot after Milo Burcham's death, bailed out of the Gray Ghost when the engine's turbine blade broke and cut off the airplane's tail. He landed hard and broke his back, but returned to the test program after six months of recovery.

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Operation

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The Shooting Star began to enter service in early 1945, and 45 had been delivered before the war ended. Only four actually made it to Europe, two to England and two to Italy, but when test pilot Major Fred Borsodi, demonstrating the P-80 in England, was killed in a crash caused by a fire in the jet engine, the type was grounded. As a result, the P-80 did not see combat in World War II.

After the war production continued, although the initial order for 5,000 was quickly reduced to 2,000 at a little under $100,000 each. A total of 1,715 single-seater P-80A, P-80B or P-80Cs were made up to the end of production in 1950, of which 798 were P-80Cs. The P-80C began production in 1948; in June of that year, the P-80C was officially renamed the F-80C. A modified P-80B, designated XP-80R and piloted by then-Colonel Albert Boyd, set a world speed record of 623.8 mph (1003.9 km/h) on June 19, 1947.

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Korea

Shooting Stars saw combat service in the Korean War, mainly the more powerful F-80C variant. November 8, 1950 saw the first piloted jet aircraft vs. piloted jet aircraft battle, in which an F-80 shot down a MiG-15. However, the straight-wing F-80s were soon replaced with the swept-wing F-86 Sabre. At this time, the F-80s were usually out-classed by the superior Russian-designed aircraft. When sufficient Sabres were in operation, the Shooting Star was relegated to ground attack duties.

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Variants

Template:See also

XP-80
XP-80A
YP-80A
P-80A
F-80A
XP-80B
P-80B
F-80B
P-80C
F-80C
XFP-80A
XF-14
ERF-80A
F-14A
FP-80A
RF-80A
RF-80C
DF-80A
QF-80A
QF-80C
QF-80F
TP-80C
TF-80C

Lockheed also produced a two-seat trainer variant with a longer fuselage, the T-33A also known as the "T-bird", which remained in production until 1959 and was produced under license in Japan and Canada. The trainer was used by more than 20 different countries. Almost 7,000 T-33s were built and some are still in service.

The prototype T-33 was again modified into the first F-94 Starfire, an all-weather fighter which was produced in three variants.

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