prototypes, concepts & first generation of U.S. jet fighters

[bartenational]

prototypes, concepts & first generation of U.S. jet fighters.

I want to build the first 6 jets fighters in 1/72nd scale.
I bought these russian planes on ebay as a loose kit collection and learned a lot by researching them.
like how they took a prop fighter and grafted a german jet engine on the front to start.
It would be nice to have the USAF counterparts.

Any links or info would be welcome. I found this forum looking for 3 views of the xp80

here is my list so far:

List of first 6 American jet fighter planes and prototypes

Bell XP-59 Airacomet October 1, 1942
Lockheed f94 A Model number 2 prototype 1948
XP 80 F-80 Shooting Star November 8, 1950-1944 (same? Navy F9F Panther Nov. 8, 1950)
North American XP-86 Sabre 1 October 1947 -June 20, 1945 14 October 1947: this was made eariler than I would have thought.
I like the design story and how they solved problems.

What else is out there? any input would be welcome. Thanks!

 

[Deltafan]

I don't understand. You want only the 6 first american jet fighters ?

Probably Wikipedia can help you better than us. I don't know if it's exhaustive, but, in my own files, I have :

-Bell XP-59, 01.10.42
-Lockheed XP-80, 08.01.44
-McDonnell FH-1, 26.01.45
-Northrop XP-79, 12.09.45 (only prototype, crash during the first flight)
-Republic XP-84A, 28.02.46
-North American XFJ-1, 11.09.46

Otherwise, there are too the :

-Ryan FR-1 Fireball, 25.06.44, mixed jet-propeller fighter
-Northrop JB-1, 07.12.44 (crash), unmanned Cruise missile
-Bell XP-81, 11.02.45, mixed jet-propeller fighter
-Curtiss XF-15C, 27.02.45, mixed jet-propeller fighter
-Douglas XB-43, 17.06.46, bomber

 

[bartenational]

I don't understand. You want only the 6 first american jet fighters ?

Probably Wikipedia can help you better than us. I don't know if it's exhaustive, but, in my own files, I have :

-Bell XP-59, 01.10.42
-Lockheed XP-80, 08.01.44
-McDonnell FH-1, 26.01.45
-Northrop XP-79, 12.09.45 (only prototype, crash during the first flight)
-Republic XP-84A, 28.02.46
-North American XFJ-1, 11.09.46

Otherwise, there are too the :

-Ryan FR-1 Fireball, 25.06.44, mixed jet-propeller fighter
-Northrop JB-1, 07.12.44 (crash), unmanned Cruise missile
-Bell XP-81, 11.02.45, mixed jet-propeller fighter
-Curtiss XF-15C, 27.02.45, mixed jet-propeller fighter
-Douglas XB-43, 17.06.46, bomber

I am going to look those up and create a file for each. I am interested to see what they tried in the beginning. There are tons of videos about the nazi jets on youtube, but almost nothing about the design and development of the usaf jet program. From what I have read, the german jet program was moments of inspiration applied in an unpractical way just to impress Hitler. Were I think (don't know) the americans were more cautious and methodical in their approach, but I would like to study it more before I have that opinion.

 

[bartenational]

I saw this while looking around and was intrigued

1948 Lockheed f94 A Model number 2 prototype Parts Aiplane Fighter Jet Fuselage | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1948 Lockheed f94 A Model number 2 prototype Parts Aiplane Fighter Jet Fuselage at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[riggerrob]

P-80 design was definitely conservative. They probably designed it to tolerate piston-engine levels of vibration and fatigue, but because it was over-built, the T-33 trainer version served into the 21 st century.
I did a bit of work on Canadian Armed Forces CT-133 trainers back in 1979, but they flew until after the turn of the century. By then, CT-133 were mainly used to tow targets and spoof radars to train anti-aircraft gunners on Canadian Navy vessels. They sometimes also flew EW missions to confuse NORAD and test reaction times for interceptors guarding North America.

 

[Deltafan]

There have been some interesting developments for some (not exhaustive) :

-Republic XP-84A --> F-84 Thunderjet --> F-84F Thunderstreak --> RF-84F Thunderflash

-North American XFJ-1 --> FJ-1 Fury --> F-86 --> FJ-2 and 3 --> F-86 D --> YF-93 and others

-McDonnell FH-1 Phantom --> FH-2 Banshee

-Lockheed XP-80 --> F-80 --> T-33 --> F-94


The two first prototypes of the F-94 were modified TF-80C. The one of your photo is the second (373). We can see it in the Wikipedia page of the F-94

Lockheed F-94 Starfire - Wikipedia


But I think that for "what they tried in the beginning", the most interesting is what made Lockheed before the XP-80 : The L-133 from 1939.

Lockheed L-133 A & B | Secret Projects Forum

 

[Justo Miranda]

Bell XP-59 Airacomet Bibliography

Angelucci E., The American Fighter, (Orion, 1987).

Green W., War Planes of the Second World War, Vol.4, (Macdonald, 1961).

Green, W., The Complete Book of Fighters (Smithmark, 1994).

Jenkins D., Experimental & Prototype U.S. Air Force Jet Fighters, (Specialty Press, 2008).

Pelletier A., La première Génération Jet. L'USAAF, 1944-1947 (Le fana de l’Aviation Hors Série Nº 16, December 2001).

Swanborough G., United States Military Aircraft Since 1909, (Smitsonian Institution Press, 1989).

Airacomet a jet pioneer by Bell, Air International/March 1980

Pace S., Airforce Legends Number 208

Model Airplane News, June 1968

Wings & Airpower unknown issues

 

[Justo Miranda]

Post-2

 

[Justo Miranda]

Post-3

 

[bartenational]

Post-3

I wonder why this was never deployed or was it?

 

[Justo Miranda]

Lockheed F-94 Bibliography
Le fanatique de l'Aviation Nº 294, Le lockheed F-94 monographie, by Hoehn j.
Angelucci E., The American Fighter, (Orion, 1987).

Green, W., The Complete Book of Fighters (Smithmark, 1994).

Jenkins D., Experimental & Prototype U.S. Air Force Jet Fighters, (Specialty Press, 2008).

Pelletier A., La première Génération Jet. L'USAAF, 1944-1947 (Le fana de l’Aviation Hors Série Nº 16, December 2001).

Aerofax Minigraph Nº 14 by René Francillon

 

[Justo Miranda]

Lockheed XP-80 Bibliography

Angelucci E., The American Fighter, (Orion, 1987).

Green, W., The Complete Book of Fighters (Smithmark, 1994).

Jenkins D., Experimental & Prototype U.S. Air Force Jet Fighters, (Specialty Press, 2008).

Pelletier A., La première Génération Jet. L'USAAF, 1944-1947 (Le fana de l’Aviation Hors Série Nº 16, December 2001).

Hallion R., Lockheed P-80 the story of a star, Air enthusiast/Eleven

Davis l., P/F-80 Shooting Star, Squadron/Signal In Action Nº 213

Wings, June 2004

 

[Justo Miranda]

Post-2

 

[Justo Miranda]

Post-3

 

[Justo Miranda]

North American XP-86 Bibliography

Davis L., Air War over Korea, Squadron/Signal 1982

Spick M., Sabre v Mig-15, Air International April 1985

Davis L., F-86 Sabre in action, Squadron/Signal Nº 126

Davis L., MiG Alley. Air to Air combat over Korea, Squadron/Signal, 1978

 

[Justo Miranda]

post-2

 

[Deltafan]

Post-3

I wonder why this was never deployed or was it?

66 built.

From the Wikipedia page of the P-59 :

Over the following months, tests on the prototypes and pre-production P-59s revealed a multitude of problems including poor engine response and reliability (common shortcomings of all early turbojets), poor lateral and directional stability at speeds over 290 mph (470 km/h), so that it tended to "snake" and was a poor gunnery platform. Performance was greatly hampered by the insufficient thrust from its engines that was far below expectations. The Army Air Force conducted combat trials against propeller-driven Lockheed P-38J Lightning and Republic P-47D Thunderbolt fighters in February 1944 and found that the older aircraft outperformed the jet. It therefore decided that the P-59 was best suited as a training aircraft to familiarize pilots with jet-engine aircraft.

Bell P-59 Airacomet - Wikipedia