Scale: 1:28
Length: 14"
Wingspan: 15.5"

The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was the first operational jet fighter used by the United States Army Air Force. The first USAAF jet aircraft was the P-59 Airacomet.

Design work began in 1943 with the design being built around a British de Havilland H1-B turbojet. The powerplant was soon changed to a GE or Allison copy. The design was conventional, an all-metal airframe with a slim low wing and tricycle undercarriage. The first prototype, dubbed XP-80, flew on January 8, 1944 powered by a replacement Halford H1 (later named the 'Goblin') taken from the protoype de Havilland Vampire and shipped to the States after the original flight engine was accidentally destroyed. Lockheed Chief Pilot Milo Burcham was killed on October 20, 1944 while flying the second production prototype. World War II ace Richard Bong was also killed test flying a P-80.

The Shooting Star began to enter service in early 1945, and 45 had been delivered before the war ended. Only four actually made it to Europe, two to England and two to Italy, but when test pilot Major Fred Borsodi, demonstrating the P-80 in England, was killed in a crash caused by a fire in the jet engine, the type was grounded. As a result, the P-80 didn't see combat in World War 2.