First Flight of Lockheed P-80A "Shooting Star" - First of its Kind on Waymarking.com

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.

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