... The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was the first operational U.S. jet fighter. Built by Lockheed in 1943, two pre-production models saw limited service in Italy just before the end of World War II. It saw extensive combat in Korea as the F-80.
Nice composition. It looks like it's moving out. I wanted to fly these (and the F-86), so I tried to sign up in the Air Force when I graduated from High School. Unfortunately, my eyes were not good enough so I couldn't fly. Could have been a mechanic, radio operator or such, but wanted to fly. Ended up getting an engineering degree and working on the Minute Man missile. Been flying private aviation for 50+ years.
Nice photo Reinhold . . . I am an aviation geek . . . one of my careers was as an aviation mechanic . . . because of the way my head works I was a rigger on the older cable and pulley control systems and was confined space certified. Me and several friends were instrumental in saving a T-33A (the two seat trainer version of the F-80) from a landfill . . . it is now in a museum.