Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star

The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was the first jet fighter to enter operational service with the United States Army Air Forces. Designed late in World War II under Clarence "Kelly" Johnson and developed with remarkable speed, the sleek single-engine fighter could exceed 550 miles per hour, far faster than the piston-engine aircraft it was meant to replace.

Although a handful reached Europe before the war ended, the Shooting Star arrived too late to see combat against Germany. Its lasting significance came in the Korean War, where, redesignated the F-80, it flew extensively as a ground-attack aircraft. On one early occasion an F-80 was credited in what is often described as the first jet-versus-jet aerial combat.

More than five thousand examples were built in its various forms. Beyond its frontline service, the design proved highly influential: its two-seat trainer derivative, the T-33, became one of the most widely used jet trainers in the world, schooling generations of military pilots.