BLACK A
Lockheed Shooting Star
YP-80A
AvHistory - Version-4.00.151

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AIRCRAFT BACKGROUND:

John Whelan BRAVO/4 has painted the YP-80A Lockheed Shooting Star, tail #44-83028 as BLACK A.  The other YP-80A in Italy tail #44-83029 was also painted in the field as BLACK B.

Two Lockheed YP-80A Shooting Star jet fighters were shipped to the MTO under Project Extraversion on December 26, 1944, arriving in Italy in late December '44 / early January '45. They became the first, true jet planes to have flown in Italy (and the MTO), beating tthe Luftwaffe's Arado 234B recon jets into action. The Arado 234B did not begin flight operations until March 1945 and are incorrectly quoted as being the first true jet planes to have flown in Italy.

The two aircraft 44-83028 and 44-83029, Lockheed cn 1007 and 1008, respectively, were flown by Wright Field personnel who received general support from some of the units stationed in Italy, and ended up with the 1st FG, sometime in April 1945. According to An Escort of P-38s, The 1st Fighter Group in World War II, by John D. Mullins, the aircraft were brought over in early April by a Wright Field contingent, "for testing under combat conditions in a remote location" ' and were quickly dubbed the "33rd Air Force".

One of the 1st FG pilots, Major Ed LaClare, logged two flights on the YP-80A. Mr. James Bertoglio, then a photographer with the 94th FS, clearly remembers one mission being flown "up north", i.e. toward the front line. Bertoglio also recalled the oddity of the aircraft being flown by both test and operational pilots, but being maintained exclusively by civilian personnel.

Is it only a coincidence that the 1st FG pilots began conversion on the YP-80A, only weeks after the appearance of the Luftwaffe’s jets over the Allied lines?

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