Two US Warplanes Seemingly Outmatched Who Scored the First Victory

The P-80 Redefines Fast - In the Air and On the Assembly Line | Lockheed Martin

The year is 1943 and America considered way behind fighter jet technology compared to Great Britain and Germany makes a sudden leap forward to catch up and close the gap. Lockheed Skunk Works under Kelly Johnson designs and builds a prototype that will become the P-80 Shooting Star. It will be the first jet ever to have the engine mounted inside the fuselage. It’s clean and sleek body allow for efficient acceleration and speed, and even though it is straight winged like conventional propeller driven aircraft it will outperform any fighter jet of the time.

P-59 Airacomet

New sheriff in town

The Bell P-59 Air Comet is the first American attempt at building a jet fighter and 60 models are sent to the UK for evaluation and even combat, but are deemed as underperformers and are relegated to training platforms to orient new pilots. Four versions of the Lockheed YF-80 are sent overseas to the UK and Italy in late 1943. The Shooting Stars sent to the UK become display showcases for audiences and instruction but the two sent to Italy will see action as high speed high altitude interceptors as the Germans are already using an Arado Built reconnaissance jet aircraft that can outrun any conventional prop driven warplanes of the US allowing the Germans to photograph American airfields in Italy with impunity.

Gloster Meteor

Only a few see overseas WWII duty

In secret missions never revealed to this day in 1945 the two P-80 Shooting Stars are assigned for interception and other undisclosed missions that may have involved air to air combat action or ground attack roles. We’ll never know. The P-80 was superior to the Gloster Meteor or the ME-262 swept back wing fighter in speed, agility, and armament, but this early in its development and Lockheed just getting under way for mass manufacture of the new jet fighter P-80’s did not see combat deployment at this time. Of the 4 overseas P-80’s sent two would be destroyed in landing accidents for the British. Keep in mind, Lockheed builds a superior fighter jet in 143 days using nothing more than slide rulers and wind tunnels for trial and error testing. There was no computer assisted design in 1943, only accumulated flight data shared between friendly nations.

Unprepared

The Korean War sprang upon the US overseas peace time keepers stationed in Japan as North Korean armored units quickly overran the South Korean Army still recovering from WWII Japanese occupation. Rushed into service were US troops armed with World War II uniforms, weapons, while most of whom were not experienced veterans. Even KP cooks and office clerks were given an M1-rifle, loaded onto destroyers and sent to the front against well supported North Koreans in Soviet supplied tanks. It became a slaughter as the US attempted to set up artillery positions as armored Korean tank columns penetrated deep into ROK territory.

 Italeri 1452 North American F51D Mustang (SAAF, RNZAF,USAF, Korea

Too little too late

Launched from US Navy Aircraft Carriers were vintage P-51 Mustangs for ground support, along with F-4U Corsairs, both fast by WWII standards but this was the age of the Jet! Suddenly, a new adversary came onto the scene unmatched by anything in the US inventory and that was the Mig-15 a new design faster with a superior rate of climb and armed with canons. The US Navy had two excellent carrier based jet fighters that did achieve victory in some cases but suffered losses at the hands of the Mig-15. At the time the US Air Force air superiority fighter was the P-80 Shooting star. This capable fighter of WWII vintage made the first kill upon a Mig-15 before US pilots found that their Shooting Stars were outmatched by the Mig-15’s. P-80’s were forced to hold the line until the new F-86 Sabre was rolled out and delivered to begin evening the odds in the skies over the Korean peninsula. Ironically, an aircraft deemed obsolete in comparison to its adversary made the first kill! The P-80 would go onto to serve as chase planes for NASA and for Boeing Passenger jets until recently. The P-80 has served in the role of interceptor for several Central American countries until recently.

Projecting air power

The F-105 Thunder Chief was technically the most sophisticated aircraft of the “Century Series” of fighters developed in the 1950’s who would see service well into the 1970’s and even beyond. The intended fighter bomber, with sophisticated radar and navigation, was the ultimate air to air fighting machine of its time, but continually experienced growing pains due to upgrades and redesigns. At a top speed exceeding Mach 2 for long periods of time, it was thought that enemy interceptors would be of no worry, but over the battlefields of Vietnam it would be designated for a different role, that of a deep penetration day time bomber escorted by other fighter jets.

HistoryNet

Adapting to a  new role

When flying with a heavy bomb load that hurt the performance of the F-105 making it vulnerable to Mig-21’s and Mig-17’s who, guided by ground air controllers would attack trying to stop them before they could reach their target and unload their ordinance. Ironically, once again it was an F-105 Thunder Chief who scored the first aerial victory over the Mig-21 over Vietnam. The Republic built F-105’s successfully completed many missions but the combination of radar guided anti-aircraft artillery, Russian SAM’s (Surface to air missiles) and Russian built Mig-17’s and Mig-21’s began to inflict an attrition rate that was unsupportable. Just as the F-100 Super Sabre who had reigned supreme as the primary ground attack fighter over Vietnam, the F-105 would be phased out gradually in favor of the venerable F-4 Phantom II. The twin engine two seat fighter bomber would eventually handle a great number of missions as air superiority fighter, bomber, low level ground support, and even air reconnaissance roles. Serving in the "Wild Weasel" Mission the F-105 was also used to play a cat and mouse game knocking out North Vietnamese ground radar stations. 

 

 

Views: 65

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

Doc Vega posted blog posts
2 hours ago
tjdavis posted a photo
22 hours ago
Less Prone left a comment for Tammy
"Welcome"
yesterday
tjdavis posted a video

Mike Benz: DARPA & USAID are Weaponizing Music to Control Human Behavior

Watch every episode ad-free & uncensored on Patreon: https://patreon.com/dannyjonesMike Benz is a former State Department official and current Executive Dire...
Thursday
Tammy is now a member of 12160 Social Network
Tuesday
Less Prone commented on cheeki kea's photo
Thumbnail

The Cartel

"In his 1995 book; Bloodlines of the illuminati, Frits Sringmaier listed the following 13…"
Tuesday
tjdavis posted a photo
Tuesday
tjdavis posted a blog post
Tuesday
Less Prone commented on Doc Vega's blog post What Four UFO Whistle Blowers All Suffered in Common?
"This falls in the category of political assassination, a very shameful policy of eliminating people…"
Tuesday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Tuesday
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post The Forest Devil
"cheeki kea Thank you, just one thing. The Choctaw Indian who came to the rescue was a war veteran…"
Monday
cheeki kea commented on Doc Vega's blog post The Forest Devil
"Well that is one fine story you've got going there Doc V. with a very interesting roll up. I…"
Monday
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post “Night of Horror” Finland WWII 1939 and a Russian Massacre
"Just another bizarre chapter in WWII that seems more suspect as paranormal."
Sunday
Doc Vega's 7 blog posts were featured
Sunday
Burbia's blog post was featured

Former President Trump?

When was this article written? It is attributed to Victor Davis Hanson. He is a Fellow at Hoover…See More
Sunday
Less Prone commented on Burbia's blog post Former President Trump?
"It must be an unintended mistake "former". But that Trump demanded to keep Khan away is a…"
Sunday
Less Prone favorited Doc Vega's blog post The Mistake We Made in America
Sunday
Less Prone favorited Doc Vega's blog post “Night of Horror” Finland WWII 1939 and a Russian Massacre
Sunday
Less Prone commented on Doc Vega's blog post “Night of Horror” Finland WWII 1939 and a Russian Massacre
"Quite an uplifting story of the winter war. Finland was overpowered by ten to one and could still…"
Sunday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Elon Weighs in on Charlie Kirk's Assassination and How it is an Instrument of Social Control

For a very long time now there has been in place mass population behavioral control operations that…See More
Oct 11

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted