The F-80 Shooting Star was the US's first operational jet fighter. It was designed by Kelly Johnson, who also designed the P-38 and went on to be involved in other great Lockheed aircraft like the F-104 and SR-71. 

It was a basic WW II aircraft that just happened to be powered by a turbojet engine. It was nothing fancy and still very much an aircraft of the early 40's. Armament was 6 .50calibre machine guns, which was standard for the day.

Like all early Allied jets, it was powered by a centrifugal flow turbojet. These didn't provide the same level of power as the axial flow turbojet used by the Germans and what is used in modern fighters today, however it was a simpler design and was easier to maintain than the more complex German engines. Today, the centrifugal flow engine is what is in most helicopters. 

The P-80 was actually flown in the war zone. This happened in April of 1945 when four of them were taken to Italy. None ever saw any combat as the war ended soon after their arrival. 

Early P-80s were all painted an overall pearl grey color. Later variants were left in natural metal.

This sheet offers two aircraft for the 416th Fighter Group. All of the group's aircraft were named and had the pilot's WWII scores on the tail. The trim on the nose and tip tanks is yellow. The insignia for these aircraft are the older WWII type without the red bar.

The only kit available for this sheet is the Monogram 1/48 F-80C. It can be used pretty much as is with a few modifications. First of all the nose must be modified to accept the landing light. This is a pretty straight-forward job where you cut out a section and insert some clear sprue then sand to shape. Next the aft section of the canopy needs modified by removing a section of plastic and sanding the area smooth. These early P-80s also only used the smaller tear-drop wing tip tanks

All the markings except the insignia are on the sheet allowing you to do both aircraft. Overall a nice sheet of America's first production jet fighter.

Review copy courtesy of me and my wallet!!!

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