Miloch
May 7th 20, 05:53 AM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_P-80_Shooting_Star
The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was the first jet fighter used operationally by
the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). Designed and built by Lockheed in
1943 and delivered just 143 days from the start of the design process,
production models were flying, and two pre-production models did see very
limited service in Italy just before the end of World War II. 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 helped usher in
the "jet age" in the USAF, but was 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. The F-94 Starfire, an all-weather interceptor on
the same airframe, also saw Korean War service. The closely related T-33
Shooting Star trainer would remain in service with the U.S. Air Force and Navy
well into the 1980s, with the last NT-33 variant not retired until April 1997.
Many T-33s still serve in a military role in foreign air arms or are in private
hands, although the F-80 itself has long been retired from active service.
The XP-80 had a conventional all-metal airframe, with a slim low wing and
tricycle landing gear. Like most early jets designed during World War II—and
before the Allies captured German research data that confirmed the speed
advantages of swept-wings—the XP-80 had straight wings, similar to previous
propeller-driven fighters. It was the first operational jet fighter to have its
engine in the fuselage, a format previously used in the pioneering German
Heinkel He 178 V1 of 1939, and the later British Gloster E.28/39 demonstrator of
1941. Other early jets generally had two engines because of their limited power,
these being mounted in external nacelles for easier maintenance. With the advent
of more powerful British jet engines, fuselage mounting was more effective, and
it was used by nearly all subsequent fighter aircraft.
Concept work began on the XP-80 in 1943 with a design being built around the
blueprint dimensions of a British Halford H-1 B turbojet (later called the de
Havilland Goblin), a powerplant to which the design team did not have actual
access. Lockheed's team, consisting of 28 engineers, was led by the legendary
Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson. This teaming was an early product of Lockheed's
Skunk Works, which surfaced again in the next decade to produce a line of
high-performance aircraft beginning with the F-104.
The impetus for development of the P-80 was the discovery by Allied intelligence
of the Me 262 in spring 1943, which had made only test flights of its own first
quartet (the V1 through V4 airframes) of design prototypes at that time, all
fitted with retracting tailwheel landing gear. After receiving documents and
blueprints comprising years of British jet aircraft research, the commanding
General of the Army Air Forces, Henry H. Arnold, believed an airframe could be
developed to accept the British-made jet engine, and the Materiel Command's
Wright Field research and development division tasked Lockheed to design the
aircraft. With the Germans and British clearly far ahead in development,
Lockheed was pressed to develop a comparable jet in as short a time as possible.
Kelly Johnson submitted a design proposal in mid-June and promised that the
prototype would be ready for testing in 180 days. The Skunk Works team,
beginning 26 June 1943, produced the airframe in 143 days, delivering it to
Muroc Army Airfield on 16 November.
The project was so secret that only five of the more than 130 people working on
it knew that they were developing a jet aircraft, and the British engineer who
delivered the Goblin engine was detained by the police because Lockheed
officials could not vouch for him. After the engine had been mated to the
airframe, foreign object damage during the first run-up destroyed the engine,
which delayed the first flight until a second engine (the only other existing)
could be delivered from Britain.
Role
Jet fighter
National origin
United States
Manufacturer
Lockheed Corporation
Designer
Clarence "Kelly" Johnson
First flight
8 January 1944
Introduction
1945
Retired
1973 (Brazil)
1974 (Chile)
Status
Retired
Primary users
United States Air Force
United States Navy
Number built
1,715
Unit cost
$110,000 in 1945 (equivalent to $1.56 million today)
Developed into
Lockheed F-94 Starfire
The Shooting Star began to enter service in late 1944 with 12 pre-production
YP-80As, one of which was destroyed in the accident in which Burcham was killed.
A 13th YP-80A was modified to the sole F-14 photo reconnaissance model and lost
in a December crash.
Four were sent to Europe for operational testing (demonstration,
familiarization, and possible interception roles), two to England and two to the
1st Fighter Group at Lesina Airfield, Italy, but when test pilot Major Frederic
Borsodi was killed in a crash caused by an engine fire demonstrating a YP-80A
(44-83026) at RAF Burtonwood, Lancashire, England, on 28 January 1945, the
YP-80A was temporarily grounded.
Before World War II ended, however, two American pre-production Lockheed YP-80A
Shooting Star fighter jets did see limited service in Italy with the USAAF on
reconnaissance, in February and March 1945. Because of delays in delivery of
production aircraft, the Shooting Star saw no actual combat during the conflict.
The initial production order was for 344 P-80As after USAAF acceptance in
February 1945. A total of 83 P-80s had been delivered by the end of July 1945
and 45 assigned to the 412th Fighter Group (later redesignated the 1st Fighter
Group) at Muroc Army Air Field. Production continued after the war, although
wartime plans for 5,000 were quickly reduced to 2,000 at a little under $100,000
a copy. A total of 1,714 single-seat F-80A, F-80B, F-80C, and RF-80s were
manufactured by the end of production in 1950, of which 927 were F-80Cs
(including 129 operational F-80As upgraded to F-80C-11-LO standards). However,
the two-seat TF-80C, first flown on 22 March 1948, became the basis for the T-33
trainer, of which 6,557 were produced.
On 27 January 1946, Colonel William H. Councill flew a P-80 nonstop across the
U.S. to make the first transcontinental jet flight. He completed the 2,457 miles
(3,954 km) run between Long Beach and New York in 4 hours 13 minutes 26 seconds
at an average speed of 584 mph (507 kn; 940 km/h) to set a Fédération
Aéronautique Internationale record. The P-80B prototype, modified as a racer and
designated P-80R, was piloted by Colonel Albert Boyd to a world air speed record
of 623.73 mph (1,004.2 km/h) on 19 June 1947.
Korean War
Shooting Stars first saw combat service in the Korean War, and were among the
first aircraft to be involved in jet-versus-jet combat.
The Americans used the F-80C variant and RF-80 photo-recon variants in Korea.
The F-80 flew both air-to-air and air-to-ground sorties, claiming several aerial
victories against North Korean Yak-9s and Il-10s.
On 1 November, 1950, a Russian MiG-15 pilot, Lieutenant Semyon F. Khominich,
became the first pilot in history to be credited with a jet-versus-jet aerial
kill after he claimed to have shot down an F-80. According to the Americans, the
F-80 was downed by flak. One week later, on 8 November, the first American claim
for a jet-versus-jet aerial kill was made when Lieutenant Russell J. Brown,
flying an F-80, reported that he shot down a MiG-15. Soviet records show that no
MiGs were lost that day and that their pilot, Senior Lieutenant Kharitonov,
survived by pulling out of a dive at low altitude.
Despite initial claims of success, the speed of the straight-wing F-80s was
inferior to the 668 mph (1075 km/h) MiGs. The MiGs incorporated German research
that showed that swept wings delayed the onset of compressibility problems, and
enabled speeds much closer to the speed of sound. F-80s were soon replaced in
the air superiority role by the North American F-86 Sabre, which had been
delayed to also incorporate swept wings into an improved straight-winged naval
FJ-1 Fury. However, F-80 pilots still claimed to have destroyed a total of six
MiG-15s in aerial combat. When sufficient Sabres were in operation, the Shooting
Star flew exclusively ground-attack missions, and were also used for advanced
flight training duties and air defense in Japan. By the end of hostilities, the
only F-80s still flying in Korea were photo-reconnaissance variants.
During the Korean war, 368 F-80s were lost, inculding 277 in combat missions and
91 non-combat losses Of the 277 F-80s lost in operations (approximately 30% of
the existing inventory), 113 were lost to ground fire, 14 to enemy aircraft, 54
to "unkown causes" and 96 were "other losses". F-80s are credited by the USAF
with destroying 17 aircraft in air-to-air combat and 24 on the ground. Major
Charles J. Loring, Jr. was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his
actions while flying an F-80 with the 80th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 8th
Fighter-Bomber Wing on 22 November 1952.
Specifications (P-80C/F-80C)
General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 34 ft 5 in (10.49 m)
Wingspan: 38 ft 9 in (11.81 m)
Height: 11 ft 3 in (3.43 m)
Wing area: 237.6 sq ft (22.07 m2)
Aspect ratio: 6.37
Airfoil: NACA 65-213
Empty weight: 8,420 lb (3,819 kg)
Gross weight: 12,200 lb (5,534 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 16,856 lb (7,646 kg)
Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.0134
Frontal area: 32 sq ft (3.0 m2)
Powerplant: 1 × Allison J33-A-35 centrifugal compressor turbojet, 4,600 lbf (20
kN) thrust dry
5,400 lbf (24 kN) with water injection
Performance
Maximum speed: 594 mph (956 km/h, 516 kn) at sea level
Maximum speed: Mach 0.76
Cruise speed: 439 mph (707 km/h, 381 kn)
Range: 825 mi (1,328 km, 717 nmi)
Ferry range: 1,380 mi (2,220 km, 1,200 nmi)
Service ceiling: 46,800 ft (14,300 m)
Rate of climb: 6,870 ft/min (34.9 m/s)
Time to altitude: 20,000 ft (6,100 m) in 5 minutes 30 seconds
Lift-to-drag: 17.7
Wing loading: 51.3 lb/sq ft (250 kg/m2)
Thrust/weight: 0.364
0.435 with water injection.
Armament
Guns: 6 × 0.50 in (12.7mm) M3 Browning machine guns (300 rpg)
Rockets: 8 × 127 mm (5.00 in) HVAR unguided rockets
Bombs: 2 × 1,000 lb (450 kg) bombs
*
The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was the first jet fighter used operationally by
the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). Designed and built by Lockheed in
1943 and delivered just 143 days from the start of the design process,
production models were flying, and two pre-production models did see very
limited service in Italy just before the end of World War II. 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 helped usher in
the "jet age" in the USAF, but was 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. The F-94 Starfire, an all-weather interceptor on
the same airframe, also saw Korean War service. The closely related T-33
Shooting Star trainer would remain in service with the U.S. Air Force and Navy
well into the 1980s, with the last NT-33 variant not retired until April 1997.
Many T-33s still serve in a military role in foreign air arms or are in private
hands, although the F-80 itself has long been retired from active service.
The XP-80 had a conventional all-metal airframe, with a slim low wing and
tricycle landing gear. Like most early jets designed during World War II—and
before the Allies captured German research data that confirmed the speed
advantages of swept-wings—the XP-80 had straight wings, similar to previous
propeller-driven fighters. It was the first operational jet fighter to have its
engine in the fuselage, a format previously used in the pioneering German
Heinkel He 178 V1 of 1939, and the later British Gloster E.28/39 demonstrator of
1941. Other early jets generally had two engines because of their limited power,
these being mounted in external nacelles for easier maintenance. With the advent
of more powerful British jet engines, fuselage mounting was more effective, and
it was used by nearly all subsequent fighter aircraft.
Concept work began on the XP-80 in 1943 with a design being built around the
blueprint dimensions of a British Halford H-1 B turbojet (later called the de
Havilland Goblin), a powerplant to which the design team did not have actual
access. Lockheed's team, consisting of 28 engineers, was led by the legendary
Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson. This teaming was an early product of Lockheed's
Skunk Works, which surfaced again in the next decade to produce a line of
high-performance aircraft beginning with the F-104.
The impetus for development of the P-80 was the discovery by Allied intelligence
of the Me 262 in spring 1943, which had made only test flights of its own first
quartet (the V1 through V4 airframes) of design prototypes at that time, all
fitted with retracting tailwheel landing gear. After receiving documents and
blueprints comprising years of British jet aircraft research, the commanding
General of the Army Air Forces, Henry H. Arnold, believed an airframe could be
developed to accept the British-made jet engine, and the Materiel Command's
Wright Field research and development division tasked Lockheed to design the
aircraft. With the Germans and British clearly far ahead in development,
Lockheed was pressed to develop a comparable jet in as short a time as possible.
Kelly Johnson submitted a design proposal in mid-June and promised that the
prototype would be ready for testing in 180 days. The Skunk Works team,
beginning 26 June 1943, produced the airframe in 143 days, delivering it to
Muroc Army Airfield on 16 November.
The project was so secret that only five of the more than 130 people working on
it knew that they were developing a jet aircraft, and the British engineer who
delivered the Goblin engine was detained by the police because Lockheed
officials could not vouch for him. After the engine had been mated to the
airframe, foreign object damage during the first run-up destroyed the engine,
which delayed the first flight until a second engine (the only other existing)
could be delivered from Britain.
Role
Jet fighter
National origin
United States
Manufacturer
Lockheed Corporation
Designer
Clarence "Kelly" Johnson
First flight
8 January 1944
Introduction
1945
Retired
1973 (Brazil)
1974 (Chile)
Status
Retired
Primary users
United States Air Force
United States Navy
Number built
1,715
Unit cost
$110,000 in 1945 (equivalent to $1.56 million today)
Developed into
Lockheed F-94 Starfire
The Shooting Star began to enter service in late 1944 with 12 pre-production
YP-80As, one of which was destroyed in the accident in which Burcham was killed.
A 13th YP-80A was modified to the sole F-14 photo reconnaissance model and lost
in a December crash.
Four were sent to Europe for operational testing (demonstration,
familiarization, and possible interception roles), two to England and two to the
1st Fighter Group at Lesina Airfield, Italy, but when test pilot Major Frederic
Borsodi was killed in a crash caused by an engine fire demonstrating a YP-80A
(44-83026) at RAF Burtonwood, Lancashire, England, on 28 January 1945, the
YP-80A was temporarily grounded.
Before World War II ended, however, two American pre-production Lockheed YP-80A
Shooting Star fighter jets did see limited service in Italy with the USAAF on
reconnaissance, in February and March 1945. Because of delays in delivery of
production aircraft, the Shooting Star saw no actual combat during the conflict.
The initial production order was for 344 P-80As after USAAF acceptance in
February 1945. A total of 83 P-80s had been delivered by the end of July 1945
and 45 assigned to the 412th Fighter Group (later redesignated the 1st Fighter
Group) at Muroc Army Air Field. Production continued after the war, although
wartime plans for 5,000 were quickly reduced to 2,000 at a little under $100,000
a copy. A total of 1,714 single-seat F-80A, F-80B, F-80C, and RF-80s were
manufactured by the end of production in 1950, of which 927 were F-80Cs
(including 129 operational F-80As upgraded to F-80C-11-LO standards). However,
the two-seat TF-80C, first flown on 22 March 1948, became the basis for the T-33
trainer, of which 6,557 were produced.
On 27 January 1946, Colonel William H. Councill flew a P-80 nonstop across the
U.S. to make the first transcontinental jet flight. He completed the 2,457 miles
(3,954 km) run between Long Beach and New York in 4 hours 13 minutes 26 seconds
at an average speed of 584 mph (507 kn; 940 km/h) to set a Fédération
Aéronautique Internationale record. The P-80B prototype, modified as a racer and
designated P-80R, was piloted by Colonel Albert Boyd to a world air speed record
of 623.73 mph (1,004.2 km/h) on 19 June 1947.
Korean War
Shooting Stars first saw combat service in the Korean War, and were among the
first aircraft to be involved in jet-versus-jet combat.
The Americans used the F-80C variant and RF-80 photo-recon variants in Korea.
The F-80 flew both air-to-air and air-to-ground sorties, claiming several aerial
victories against North Korean Yak-9s and Il-10s.
On 1 November, 1950, a Russian MiG-15 pilot, Lieutenant Semyon F. Khominich,
became the first pilot in history to be credited with a jet-versus-jet aerial
kill after he claimed to have shot down an F-80. According to the Americans, the
F-80 was downed by flak. One week later, on 8 November, the first American claim
for a jet-versus-jet aerial kill was made when Lieutenant Russell J. Brown,
flying an F-80, reported that he shot down a MiG-15. Soviet records show that no
MiGs were lost that day and that their pilot, Senior Lieutenant Kharitonov,
survived by pulling out of a dive at low altitude.
Despite initial claims of success, the speed of the straight-wing F-80s was
inferior to the 668 mph (1075 km/h) MiGs. The MiGs incorporated German research
that showed that swept wings delayed the onset of compressibility problems, and
enabled speeds much closer to the speed of sound. F-80s were soon replaced in
the air superiority role by the North American F-86 Sabre, which had been
delayed to also incorporate swept wings into an improved straight-winged naval
FJ-1 Fury. However, F-80 pilots still claimed to have destroyed a total of six
MiG-15s in aerial combat. When sufficient Sabres were in operation, the Shooting
Star flew exclusively ground-attack missions, and were also used for advanced
flight training duties and air defense in Japan. By the end of hostilities, the
only F-80s still flying in Korea were photo-reconnaissance variants.
During the Korean war, 368 F-80s were lost, inculding 277 in combat missions and
91 non-combat losses Of the 277 F-80s lost in operations (approximately 30% of
the existing inventory), 113 were lost to ground fire, 14 to enemy aircraft, 54
to "unkown causes" and 96 were "other losses". F-80s are credited by the USAF
with destroying 17 aircraft in air-to-air combat and 24 on the ground. Major
Charles J. Loring, Jr. was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his
actions while flying an F-80 with the 80th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 8th
Fighter-Bomber Wing on 22 November 1952.
Specifications (P-80C/F-80C)
General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 34 ft 5 in (10.49 m)
Wingspan: 38 ft 9 in (11.81 m)
Height: 11 ft 3 in (3.43 m)
Wing area: 237.6 sq ft (22.07 m2)
Aspect ratio: 6.37
Airfoil: NACA 65-213
Empty weight: 8,420 lb (3,819 kg)
Gross weight: 12,200 lb (5,534 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 16,856 lb (7,646 kg)
Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.0134
Frontal area: 32 sq ft (3.0 m2)
Powerplant: 1 × Allison J33-A-35 centrifugal compressor turbojet, 4,600 lbf (20
kN) thrust dry
5,400 lbf (24 kN) with water injection
Performance
Maximum speed: 594 mph (956 km/h, 516 kn) at sea level
Maximum speed: Mach 0.76
Cruise speed: 439 mph (707 km/h, 381 kn)
Range: 825 mi (1,328 km, 717 nmi)
Ferry range: 1,380 mi (2,220 km, 1,200 nmi)
Service ceiling: 46,800 ft (14,300 m)
Rate of climb: 6,870 ft/min (34.9 m/s)
Time to altitude: 20,000 ft (6,100 m) in 5 minutes 30 seconds
Lift-to-drag: 17.7
Wing loading: 51.3 lb/sq ft (250 kg/m2)
Thrust/weight: 0.364
0.435 with water injection.
Armament
Guns: 6 × 0.50 in (12.7mm) M3 Browning machine guns (300 rpg)
Rockets: 8 × 127 mm (5.00 in) HVAR unguided rockets
Bombs: 2 × 1,000 lb (450 kg) bombs
*