Lockheed P-80A "Shooting Star"
Posted by: 
brwhiz
N 41° 09.753 W 112° 01.115
12T E 414545 N 4557301
This Static Aircraft Display of a Lockheed P-80A "Shooting Star" is inside the Hill Aerospace Museum located on the northwest corner of Hill Air Force Base at 7961 Wardleigh Road in Riverdale, Utah.
Waymark Code: WMH02N
Location: Utah, United States
Date Posted: 04/30/2013
Views: 4
Lockheed P-80A
"Shooting Star"
S/N 44-84999 Span: 39'11" Length: 34'6"
Height: 11'4" Weight: 15,336 lbs Crew: 1
Engine: One Allison J33 of 5,400 lbs of Thrust
Armaments: Six .50-cal. Machine Guns and
Eight 5 in. Rockets or 2,000 lbs of Bombs
Maximum Speed: 580 mph
Designed in 1943, the XP-80 made its maiden flight on January 8, 1944. Several early P-80's were sent to Europe for demonstration, but WW II ended before the aircraft could be employed in combat. When WW II ended, plans to produce 5,000 P-80's were drastically curtailed. However, the aircraft was chosen to re-equip front-line pursuit groups of the USAAF, and an order was placed for 677 in December 1945. The aircraft was redesignated in 1948 when "P" for "Pursuit" changed to "F" for "Fighter". A total of 1,731 F-80's of all types were built. The F-80 gained instant fame on November 8, 1950 when an F-80C flown by Lt Russell J. Brown shot down a Russian-built Mig-15 in the world's first all-jet fighter air battle. A major development of the F-80 was the T-33A two seat trainer. This was basically an F-80 with a lengthened fuselage to accomodate a second seat in tandem.