F-80 Shooting Star
in Detail and Scale

Detail & Scale Volume 20

Printed and Digital Books

Reviewed by Floyd S. Werner Jr.

The P-80, America’s first jet fighter, was too late to see action in WWII, even though four aircraft were deployed to England and Italy in the last month of the war.  The story of the P-80 is nothing short of remarkable.  Designed by Kelly Johnson and his team in less than 150 days this revolutionary aircraft ushered in the US Jet Age.  It was time that Detail & Scale took a look at this aircraft.

I’ve grown to love the digital copies of these books.  There is so much that you can see with the ability to blow up the photos.  You can see the detail in such clarity I’ve occasionally tried to ‘enlarge’ photos from regular books, only to realize that you can’t.  The other thing is that all my Detail & Scale books are with me wherever I go on my iPad.  There are other advantages too, not the least is the lower price and more photos for that price compared to the printed volume.  In this case the printed version has 102 pages with 250 (180 color) photos and 12 profiles.  In the digital version, there are 155 pages with over 250 photos.  So you get more for less.  Win-win.

This publication covers the history all the way from the prototype to the QF-80 drones, there is a lot of information in here.  Both the Air Force and Navy/Marine versions are covered.  The highlight here was a photo of the two P-80s flying over Mt. Vesuvius.  There is a lot of tidbits of information on the record setting P-80s, including the Cleveland Air Racers.  The development and subsequent changes are addressed for each variant.

Each variant is given its own chapter, starting with the XP-80.  This is a really cool looking aircraft with its medium green and light grey paint scheme, not your usual OD/NG.  Built in less than 150 days without an ejection seat, this little airplane was literally hand made.  Called the Green Hornet and later as Lulu Belle this aircraft was built in 143 days.  Lucky for us it is still visible at the National Air & Space Museum.

The XP-80A version was painted overall Pearl Grey and was just beautiful.  Slightly larger than the prototype, this version had different intakes and would upgraded as the flight envelope was pushed further and further.  This variant was the first to fly over 500mph. 

The YP-80A were the first pre-production models and the test bed for the photo recon variant.  JATO testing was also conducted on this version.  These were the four that were sent to the ETO, two to England and two to Italy. 

P-80A, later know as the F-80A, were the aircraft that were operational.  They still did not have ejection seats fitted but had standard bucket seats with the pilot sitting on the survival kit and wearing a backpack type of parachute.  One aircraft that stands out to me in this chapter is the CO of the 56th Fighter Group, Col. Dave Schilling.  It is quite colorful.  There are some unique test aircraft in this chapter as well.

The F-80B was the first variant with an ejection seat.  Again some test aircraft are interesting, including upward firing variant, ala German night fighters in WWII.  More German influence is shown with the prone pilot aircraft.  Very unique looking.  This version was an interim until the final variant the F-80C.  This variant has some of the more colorful marking options though. 

The P-80R photo recon version is shown including the aircraft flown by Col. Boyd setting the world speed record. 

With the P-80C the Shooting Star went to war.  Every version as they progressed got bigger and more powerful engines.  All F-80Bs were upgraded to this standard.  Equipped with wing tip tanks and underwing pylons and occasionally rockets, the P-80C was very capable ground attack aircraft, but even though it was utilized in the fighter interceptor role it didn’t excel here. 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 

Thumbnail panels:

The Navy/Marine TO-1/TV-1 are also covered in a separate chapter because there is that much difference between the Air Force variant.  While used for the Navy, other than test aircraft, the Shooting Stars were never used on carriers.  They were quickly replaced by Panthers and Banshees and relegated to training units. 

The RF-80 photo recon and QF target aircraft in all its variants is covered in the last developmental chapter. 

The combat history of the Shooting Star in Korea where it performed admirably as a fighter bomber is covered.  D&S breaks the chapter down by looking at all the units that used the Shooting Star in that conflict.  The Shooting Star was the first jet to shoot down another jet, despite being outclassed by the MiG-15.  The units are accompanied with excellent profiles and photos.  This chapter has some dirty jets with some neat personal markings.  Larger drop tanks were introduced to increase range, along with JATO to assist in getting the heavily laden jets off the runway.  This section also offers a lot of diorama ideas for the modeler.  Included in this section are the 80th Fighter Bomber Group (FBG), 49th FBG, 51st Fighter Interceptor Group (FIG), and 35th FIG.  Interesting the F-80Cs scored seventeen aerial victories, but their primary mission was that of ground attack.  Recon Shooting Stars are also covered as their role was also very important during the war. 

The next section is one that Detail & Scale excel, the detail section.  Starting in the cockpit, the various versions are shown.  Canopy, fuselage, wings, landing gear, armament, pylons, tail, and engine are all covered.  The captions highlight all the pertinent information.  This section is worth the price of admission for the modeler alone, but wait there is more.

The section that sets Detail & Scale apart from the other walk around books is the inclusion of the Modeler Section.   D&S builds the current models and gives you comments on what is right and wrong with each one.  Not only do they tell you what is wrong they tell you how to fix it, if it can be.  Models from 1/144th to 1/32nd are covered.  The F-80 has been kitted by a lot of manufacturers. Lot of motivation is in this section.

So with that the ‘book’ is done.  If you’ve seen any Detail & Scale books you will know what to expect from this publication.  You will not be disappointed.  This is THE book to get if you want to model the F-80.  The text, including the captions, are very informative The photos are gorgeous.  In this digital book you can blow them up and even print them that size.  The profiles are inspirational and include a lot of colorful and historic aircraft.  This is another great reference book from Detail & Scale.  I can’t wait for their new P-51 books. 

Highly Recommended

Thanks to Detail & Scale or the sample.

Review Copyright © 2024 by Floyd S. Werner Jr.
This Page Created on 5 December, 2024
Last updated 5 December, 2024

Back to HyperScale Main Page

Back to Reviews Page