A Brief History
On November 8, 1950, early in the Korean War, a U.S. Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star, America’s first operational jet fighter, flown by U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Russell Brown, shot down a Soviet-built MiG-15 piloted by a North Korean pilot, in the first air-to-air combat between jet planes in aviation history.
Digging Deeper
The F-80 was a reliable and rugged airplane whose service life with the USAF lasted into 1975 and longer elsewhere, however, it was outclassed by the MiG-15. The Shooting Stars fighting in Korea were effective at shooting down piston-engine communist airplanes (Yak-9, IL-10), but their air-to-air record for shooting down MiGs was 6 for 13 of their own losses. After the superior F-86 was deployed to Korea, the F-80 was reassigned as an effective fighter-bomber providing air support to ground troops.
History and Headlines Fact: More jet pilots were trained in the T-33 2-seat version of the Shooting Star than any other trainer aircraft in history. Over 6,500 of them were built and flown by numerous allied countries. Of particular interest, the author of this lil’ history chip once got a chance to fly a USAF T-33!
Question for students (and subscribers): Do you prefer the F-80 or MiG-15? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Cleaver, Thomas McKelvey. MiG Alley: The US Air Force in Korea, 1950–53. Osprey Publishing, 2019.
