The new specification emerged in May of 1943 and called for a jet-powered high-altitude interceptor centered around a capable powerplant - this becoming the British de Havilland Halford H-1 Goblin engine to be developed in 180 days from reception of the official government contract. But as the P-59 reached its limited potential, the US Army refocused its attention on the Lockheed interest and the two became joined at the hip in producing America's first true jet fighter. However, the Army would much rather have its proven P-38s in the skies as opposed to diverting Lockheed company resources to fund and develop such an experimental endeavor. "Kelly" Johnson), it showed great interest in the development of such an aircraft. While Lockheed was already committed to large-scale production of its fabled P-38 Lightning series (designed and developed by the great Clarence L. The relative failure of the P-59 forced the US Army to continue a pursuit of other avenues for a jet fighter aircraft capable of matching the enemy and fulfilling this need through a rather limited window of time. At any regard, the seemingly limited exploits of his P-59 paved the foundation for a revolution in American jet-powered aircraft - these new-fangled implements that were to fly without the need for propellers. As it stood, the P-59 failed to keep up with even the latest piston-powered fighter mounts through the ensuing mock dogfights and was, therefore, produced in limited quantity for the USAAF (United States Army Air Forces). While the Bell P-59 Airacomet became America's first "true" jet aircraft, the system lacked in all major combat qualities and made itself an unfeasible system to field, having no more usefulness than that of a jet trainer. Such was the expediency as to which the Allies would have to react to head-off this expanding German technological front. The Horten brothers found limited trials success with the world's first stealth aircraft in the Horten Ho 229 flying wing. The Heinkel He 162 Volksjager was a simplified single-seat, jet-powered fighter meant for a crop of pilots requiring little in the way of training to operate. The Germans developed the rocket-propelled Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet which, despite its limited range, held some combat value in speed and firepower, particularly when it came to raking Allied bomber formations. The British and Americans (and Soviets and Japanese for that matter) all had viable jet programs under development at the time. Had Adolf Hitler not meddled in the development of the Me 262 as a fighter (he envisioned these aircraft as fighter-bombers instead of fighters charged with defense of the Reich's airspace), manufacturing of fleets of such aircraft would have prolonged the war by a potential years let alone months. It seemed that the Germans held the upper hand. Jet power promised speed and greater flight loads that would lead directly to more potent armament options. This was the first meeting ever against a jet-powered foe and the fact that the Germans were able to field such a lethal implement was a new realization for the Allies. The Me 262 opened fire on the unsuspecting two-man crew and - perhaps through ingrained training or pure instinct - the Mosquito banked and dodged to safety, managing to turn tail and run. Had the war in Europe progressed a few more months, the air war would have assuredly taken on a distinctly different look.Įverything changed on July 26th, 1944, when a lone British twin-engine, piston-powered De Havilland DH.98 Mosquito - on its merry way to take pictures over Munich - encountered a twin-engine German Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter (flying as part of a test squadron). The P-80 was developed from the brilliant mind of Lockheed's Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, designer of the legendary twin-boom P-38 Lightning. Appearing by the last few months of World War 2, the Shooting Star failed to undertake a single combat sortie in the conflict but would prove her worth in the upcoming Korean War as well as in her two very important derivatives - the two-seat trainer T-33 and the F-94 Starfire all-weather interceptor - both based highly on the existing P-80/F-80 air frame. The Lockheed P-80/F-80 Shooting Star is undoubtedly the world's most successful first generation jet-powered fighter.
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