Never Forget the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star Designed during the closing years of WWII and introduced in 1945, the P-80 bridged the gap between propeller-driven aircraft and the jet age.

Fighter Aircraft -- The First Carrier-Based Fighter: Vought VE-7 -- A Really Wild Cat: Grumman F4F Wildcat -- Twin-Engine Fighters: Grumman F5F Skyrocket and F7F Tigercat -- Versatile-and Long-Lived: ...

The P-38 Lightning Goes to War The P-38 had a mixed service record. In the European Theater, P-38s conducted 130,000 sorties, suffering a 1.3 percent loss rate.