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P-80 Shooting Star Desktop Wood Model Plane Display
SKU: NC10319
The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was the first jet fighter used operationally by the United States Army Air Forces,and saw extensive combat in Korea with the United States Air Force as the F-80.
Delivery 7 to 10 days
Product Description
Code: NC10319
Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star is one of the world's first successful turbojet-powered combat aircraft and it helped usher in the "jet age" in the USAF and other air forces worldwide. One of its claims to fame is in training a new generation of pilots, especially in its closely-related T-33 Shooting Star trainer development. Several P-80A Shooting Stars were transferred to the United States Navy beginning 29 June 1945, retaining their P-80 designations. At Naval Air Station Patuxent River, one Navy P-80 was modified (with required add-ons, such as a tail hook) and loaded aboard the aircraft carrier USS Franklin D. Roosevelt at Norfolk, Virginia, on 31 October 1946.
The Shooting Star began to enter service in late 1944 with 12 pre-production YP-80As one of which was destroyed in the accident that killed Burcham. 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.
Shooting Stars first saw combat service in the Korean War, employing both the F-80C variant and RF-80 photo-recon variants. The first jet-versus-jet aircraft battle took place on 8 November 1950 in which Lieutenant Russell J. Brown, flying an F-80, claimed a MiG-15 shot down. 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.
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