The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star

A "Hat in the Ring' similar version of the Lockheed P-80 is included in P-80 MyModels folder

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The P-80/F-80 Lockheed Shooting Star first saw battle in Korea and stayed in first-line service until the arrival of the more modern F-84 and F-86. It was an F-80 Shooting Star on 8th November 1950 which took part in the first battle between jet fighters in the history of aviation.

The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star design (the letter 'F' was adopted in 1948) came to life in June 1943 when Lockheed received a request from the technical branch of the USAAF to design and build a single-seat jet fighter which could replace the P-59 Airacomet, which at that time, was still encountering difficulties in its development. Lockheed's chief designer, Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, got a rough design ready in one week and asked for six months in which to complete a prototype. The time limit was met with time to spare when the XP-80 had its maiden flight in the following June. The first of these aircraft reached units in December 1945.

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Modeln' Pal Kelly Johnson and the Skunk Works Team:
The P-80 Shooting Star program began in 1943 when a team of engineers and designers headed by Lockheed's chief research engineer Clarence 'Kelly" Johnson accepted the challenge to build an airplane that could counter the German jet fighter, the Me 262, in aerial combat over Europe. The preliminary design, using a British-designed, 3,000-pound-thrust turbojet, was submitted to the U.S. Army on June 15, 1943, and was designated the XP-80. Kelly Johnson's handpicked team, dubbed the "Skunk Works," built the first XP-80 in just 143 days, and nicknamed the aircraft "Lulu Belle". The first flight was on January 8, 1944, with Lockheed's chief test pilot, Milo Burcham, at the controls.

While the XP-80 was undergoing flight testing, a new and improved model, the XP-80A, was delivered. This airplane, of which two were built, was slightly heavier and longer than the XP-80 and incorporated the 4,000-pound-thrust General Electric 1-40 engine, insuring considerably improved performance. The first XP-80A, nicknamed the "Gray Ghost", first flew on June 10, 1944.

One of the versions included in the P-80 Shooting Star folder carries the markings of the 96th Persuit Squadron, the famous 'Hat in the Ring squadron that traces its beginnings back to WWI. Here is a WWI SPAD with Hat in the Ring markings

On February 12, 1944, General 'Hap'Arnold, Commanding General, Army Air Forces, gave his approval
to build 131 P-80 fighters, which would be known as YP-8OAs . Four of these service test aircraft were deployed to Europe in early 1945 to demonstrate the capabilities of the F 80A to flight crews in England and Italy. One YP-80A crashed in England, while the remaining three continued to fly without further difficulty until the termination of the project on May 7, 1945. None of the YP-8OAs saw action in combat.

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The T-33 ('T-BIRD'Trainer Version:
The most significant outgrowth of the P-80 program was the evolution of the T-33 trainer. The "T-Bird" was an F-80C, stretched 38 1/2 inches to accommodate a second seat. The prototype first flew on March 22, 1948, and was designated the TF-80C in June 1948, when the Air Force revised the designation given to fighter aircraft from P for pursuit to F for fighter. Designated the T-33 in May 1949. 5,691 of the T-33 were eventually produced.

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The Arctic Version of the P-80 (F-80) and T-33 Shooting Star:

This is the T-33 Trainer version of the Shooting Star

This Arctic version of the Lockheed T-33 'TBird' is included in your P-80 Fiddlersgreen Models folder

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The P-80 and the Korean War:
The Korean War brought 365 F-80s into operational units of the Far East Air Force. Lt. Russell J. Brown, flying a Shooting Star, destroyed a MiG-15 near the Yalu River on November 8, 1950, thus recording the first victory in an aerial combat between jet fighters. The last close support sortie flown by an F-80 was on April 30, 1953.

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The P-80 After the Korean War:

After the Korean war, three P-80A aircraft were assigned to a project to break the transcontinental speed record. Col. William Councill, Capt. Martin Smith, and Capt. John Babel were the pilots assigned. The route began at Long Beach, California, and ended at LaGuardia Field, New York, Colonel Councill's P-80A flew the 2,453.8-mile trip nonstop in 4 hours, 13 minutes, and 26 seconds for an average speed of 580.93 mph. The P-80 went on to break other records, including the world's speed record on June 19, 1947, when Col. "Al" Boyd flew a P-80R nicknamed "Racey" an average speed of 623.8 mph.

The F-8OCs were completely phased out from active duty forces. Still in use, however, was the drone version, OF-80, which collected fallout samples from radioactive clouds as late as the mid-1960s. Eventually, about 100 F 8OCs went to allied nations under the Military Assistance Program. Even in its declining years. the Shooting Star did not just fade away: in fact, it endured for many years as the F-94 Starfire, an all weather interceptor.

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P-80 Ground Equipment (see also thumbnails below)

(more Ground Unit Images below

"My idea is that eventually, the modelers can collect enough ground units to create some realistic dioramas. I was looking at pictures of the P-80's in sandbag revetments and thought that might be a cool way to display the model--but I'm not artist enough to attempt to render a trio of walls made of sand bags". Rob Carleen

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