Designed under great secrecy and in considerable haste by a team led by Clarence L. “Kelly” Johnson during World War II, Lockheed’s P-80 Shooting Star will forever hold a significant place in the history of American military aviation as the first jet fighter to reach operational status with the U. S. Army Air Forces. The USAAF later became the U. S. Air Force in 1947, and with the creation of the U. S. Air Force, the Shooting Star was redesignated the F-80. It would go on to serve as a fighter-bomber in the Korean War. It would become the first USAF jet fighter to score an aerial victory, and one would be credited with the first jet-on-jet aerial kill in history. RF-80s would become the first jet-powered photographic reconnaissance aircraft to serve with the USAF.

F-80 Shooting Star in Detail & Scale provides a comprehensive look at this important and historic jet fighter, beginning with a history chapter that traces its inception during World War II through its use in the Korean War and later service with Air National Guard squadrons. This is followed by a chapter that takes a closer look at each of the different variants of the Shooting Star, from the XP-80 prototype through the QF-80 drones and DF-80 drone directors. Because the P-80/F-80 was the first jet fighter to become operational with the Air Force, quite a few were used for various developmental experiments and tests, and these are also covered in the variants chapter. The Navy’s and Marine’s use of the Shooting Star as the TO-1 and TV-1 is also included in that chapter.

The next chapter takes a look at the Shooting Star’s combat service in the Korean War, both as a fighter-bomber and as a tactical reconnaissance aircraft. But the primary focus of all volumes in the Detail & Scale Series of publications is to illustrate the aircraft in extensive detail, and the Shooting Star Details chapter provides the most detailed look at the F-80 and RF-80 that has ever been published. More than 125 photographs and illustrations show the Shooting Star in incredible detail, both inside and out. Photographs from the files of Lockheed and the U. S. Air Force are included along with dozens taken of existing aircraft by the author and several other aviation photographers.