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The first U.S. night/all-weather fighter aircraft is chronicled, as
is its use by Air Defense Command, Continental Air Command, Alaska
and others.
The Lockheed P-80/F-80 Shooting Star was the first American
operational jet fighter. David McLarens new book chronicles the
development and early trials of the aircraft during Lockheeds
groundbreaking attempts to create a viable jet fighter, in a period
when jet propulsion was still an innovative unknown. This period
also saw engineers and test pilots like Kelly Johnson and Tony
LeVier facing many challenges, incidents and accidents as they
attempted to create a new fighter from yet untested aerodynamic
theories, and engines that were still under development. Also
discussed are the record breaking transcontinental and absoulte
speed records set by the Shooting Star. Detailed analysis of the
Shooting Stars combat record in Korea shows why the F-80 flew more
combat missions than any aircraft in the war theater. Also
presented is a summation of all USAF, USAFR, and foreign countries
that flew the P-80/F-80. David McLaren is also the author of
Lockheed F-94 Starfire(with Marty Isham), and Beware the
Thunderbolt!: The 56th Fighter Group in World War II (both titles
are available from Schiffer Publishing Ltd.).
The Republic Aviation Corporation F-84 series, the Thunderjet,
Thunderstreak, and Thunderflash was the United States Air Forces
first Post World War II jet fighter. As a somewhat sad result of
this, it has been ignored by most aviation historians and
aficionados. It was not the Air Forces first operational jet
fighter, as that honor went to the Lockheed F-80 which was created
during World War II. And it did not receive the glory of the North
American Aviation F-86, which followed it in sequence and was more
photogenic, faster, and more involved in the glory of aerial
combat. Nevertheless, the F-84 performed its unheralded role in a
true yeoman fashion. It, and its pilots and groundcrews, fought the
air-to-mud role as a fighter bomber in Korea. It served as an
interceptor, and in photo reconnaissance. It was the first jet
fighter to be operationally capable of air refueling, and it was
the first to be able to deliver a nuclear weapon. 4300 of the
straight-wing F-84s were built, along with 2713 of the swept-wing
F-84Fs, and 715 of the reconnaissance RF-84Fs. Almost 8000
unrecognized fighters, of which half of those produced served as a
deterrent to enemy forces during the Cold War while being flown by
friendly foreign countries.
Detailed developmental and operational history of the first USAF
dedicated all-weather, jet-powered interceptor. It also features
the colorful paint schemes applied to F-89s, which should appeal to
both modelers and historians.
With names like Zemke, Schilling, Gabreski, Mahurin and Johnson,
the 56th Fighter Group was, and still is, one of the legendary
fighter units of World War II.\nBEWARE THE THUNDERBOLT ( the apt
official motto of the 56th) is the story of the 56th Fighter Group
in a chronological narrative of their combat missions. Composed of
heroic pilots that aggressively took the air war into the enemy
heartland in 1943, the "Wolfpack\s" P-47 Thunderbolt contrails
crossed high in the upper stratosphere as they escorted heavy
bomber missions, or fell upon the enemy on the ground as their
pilots destroyed over 1000 Luftwaffe aircraft.\nThe story is also
coupled with their post-war history of innovative Mustang missions
to Alaska, and the first trans-Atlantic jet fighter missions in the
P-80 Shooting Star.\nThe foreword is by Hub Zemke, former commander
of the 56th Fighter Group. \nDavid McLaren is also the author of
Lockheed F-94 Starfire (with Marty Isham), available from Schiffer
Publishing.
Mustangs Over Korea is a documentary history of one of the most
famous fighters ever built during a historically almost
unrecognized war. Flown by four air forces in support of the United
Nations, the F-51 Mustang dropped more napalm and fired more
rockets than any other aircraft during that conflict - and in the
process suffered the highest number of losses. Told is the story of
the bravery of the fighter-bomber pilots in the serious air-to-mud
war against horrendous anti-aircraft fire, and also the first
swirling air battles against the vaunted MiG-15.
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