Designed with straight wings, the type saw extensive combat in Korea with the United States Air Force (USAF) as the F-80. America's first successful turbojet -powered combat aircraft, it was soon outclassed with the appearance of the swept-wing transonic MiG-15 and was quickly replaced in the air superiority role by the transonic F-86 Sabre .

U.S. Air Force Lockheed F-80C Shooting Star fighter bombers from the 8th Fighter Bomber Squadron.

May 9, 2023 · Most significantly, on 8 November 1950, USAF Lt. Russell J. Brown was officially credited with shooting down a North Korean — or was it Soviet-piloted(?) —MiG-15 “Fagot” in the world’s first jet-versus-jet air battle.

May 8, 2024 · Appearing by the last few months of World War 2, the Shooting Star failed to undertake a single combat sortie in the conflict but would prove her worth in the upcoming Korean War as well as in her two very important derivatives - the two-seat trainer T-33 and the F-94 Starfire all-weather interceptor - both based highly on the existing P-80/F-80...

Aug 4, 2021 · Despite its laudable service in Korea, the P-80 is best known for its two-seat variant, the T-33 Shooting Star, which in that configuration served as the United States Air Force's advanced jet trainer well into the 1960s.

May 10, 2023 · Designed by Lockheed, it was the only Allied jet of the Second World War to have the engine mounted within the fuselage. The development of the P-80 was driven by the Allies’ discovery of the Messerschmitt Me 262 in spring 1943.

Apr 28, 2024 · One of the fastest jet aircraft of its time, the P-80 Shooting Star featured a cruise speed of 381 knots (707 km/h) and a maximum speed of 516 knots (956 km/h). The USAF and Lockheed delivered what they set out to deliver - a highly competitive aircraft to the existing German fighters.

Feb 27, 2019 · In March 1944, the Army Air Forces initiated a contract for an unusually large number of YP-80s in order to speed up service testing of the aircraft, requesting 13 airframes to be delivered by March 1945; however, Lockheed expedited the delivery schedule with the last airplane delivered in December 1944.

Jan 1, 2020 · Unbeknownst to the bewildered ground crews arming them, these Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star aircraft would usher in a new “jet age” just as revolutionary for the US Air Force as the tank was for the Army. The P-80 started in 1944 as an ultra-secret crash program.

Lockheed F-80C-10-LO Shooting Star (Serial No. 49-853) armed with napalm bombs takes off on 1 February 1951 from a Korean airfield. The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star is the first jet fighter used operationally by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during the Second World War.