Lockheed P-80/F-80 Shooting Star: A Photo Chronicle

by David R. McLaren

The Lockheed P-80/F-80 Shooting Star was the first American operational jet fighter. David McLaren's new book chronicles the development and early trials of the aircraft during Lockheed's groundbreaking attempts to create a viable jet fighter, in a period when jet propulsion was still an innovative unknown. This period also saw engineers and test pilots like Kelly Johnson and Tony LeVier facing many challenges, incidents and accidents as they attempted to create a new fighter from yet untested aerodynamic theories, and engines that were still under development. Also discussed are the record breaking transcontinental and absoulte speed records set by the Shooting Star. Detailed analysis of the Shooting Star's combat record in Korea shows why the F-80 flew more combat missions than any aircraft in the war theater. Also presented is a summation of all USAF, USAFR, and foreign countries that flew the P-80/F-80. David McLaren is also the author of Lockheed F-94 Starfire(with Marty Isham), and Beware the Thunderbolt!: The 56th Fighter Group in World War II (both titles are available from Schiffer Publishing Ltd.).

184 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1996

Reviews

[Robert Hepple · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 1996, 'Lockheed P-80/F-80 Shooting Star' describes itself as a photo chronicle of the operational history of this historic US combat aircraft. More than 380 well captioned photos back this up, and these pics are accompanied by quite a lot of text description. A few glaring typos have crept into the result, bit this does not really detract from the result of a fine book on this historic aircraft.