The Shooting Star was the first USAF aircraft to exceed 500 mph in
level flight, the first American jet airplane to be manufactured in large
quantities and the first USAF jet to be used in combat. Designed in 1943,
the XP-80 made its maiden flight on Jan. 8, 1944. Several early P-80s were
sent to Europe for demonstration, but WW II ended before the aircraft
could be employed in combat. (The aircraft was redesignated in 1948 when
"P" for "Pursuit" was changed to "F" for "Fighter.") Of 1,731 F-80s built,
798 were F-80Cs.
Although it was designed as a high-altitude interceptor, the F-80C was
used extensively as a fighter-bomber in the Korean War, primarily for
low-level rocket, bomb and napalm attacks against ground targets. On Nov.
8, 1950, an F-80C flown by Lt. Russell J. Brown, flying with the 16th
Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, shot down a Russian-built MiG-15 in the
world's first all-jet fighter air battle.
The F-80C on display is one of the few remaining Shooting Stars which
flew combat missions during the Korean War. It is painted in the markings
of a unit to which it was assigned in 1950, the 8th Fighter-Bomber Group.
After service in the Uraguayan Air Force during the 1960s, it was
transferred to the USAF Museum in Dec. 1970, where it was restored and
then placed on display in 1979.
SPECIFICATIONS PERFORMANCE
Span: 38 ft. 10 1/2 in.
Length: 34 ft. 6 in.
Height: 11 ft. 4 in.
Weight: 16,856 lbs. max.
Armament: Six .50-cal.
machine guns and eight 5 in. rockets or 2,000 lbs. bombs
Engine: Allison J33 of
5,400 lbs. thrust (with water-alcohol injection)
Cost: $93,456
Serial number: 49-696
C/N: 080-2444
Maximum speed: 580 mph.
Cruising
speed: 437 mph.
Range: 1,090 miles
Service
Ceiling: 46,800 ft.