Lockheed L-133
 | This article has an unclear citation style. (September 2009) |
| L-133 Starjet | |
|---|---|
| Role | Jet fighter |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Lockheed |
| Primary user | United States Army Air Forces |
| Number built | none |
The Lockheed L-133 was an attempt to manufacture the first jet fighter of the US Forces during the first half of WW2.
Development
The Lockheed aviation company was the first in the United States to start work on a jet powered aircraft, the L-133 design started in 1939 as a number of "Paper Projects" by engineers Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, Willis Hawkins and Hall J Hibbard. By 1940 preliminary work on a company financed jet fighter had been started, which progressed to several different versions on the drawing board. Throughout World War II, the development of a jet powered aircraft would be key for the air battles of the war. In the meantime Lockheed were working on an axial-flow L-1000 turbojet engine of their own design, which was intended to power the culmination of the fighter project, the Model L-133-02-01. This was a single seat, canard design powered by two L-1000 engines.
Its design was noticed by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), but at the time they showed no great interest in the idea of a jet powered fighter and missed the opportunity of giving the United States a lead in this new technology. Without the support and funds of the USAAF work on the L-133 fighter and its engine the L-1000 came to a halt.
When the USAAF began to show interest in the idea of jet fighters in 1942, due to intelligence reports of the advances in jet propulsion by the Germans and British, the USAAF turned to Lockheed for its first jet powered fighter, the P-80 Shooting Star.
Specifications (133-02-01)
Data from [1]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
Performance
See also
- Planes That Never Flew, Discovery Channel
References
Notes
- ^ Francillon 1982, p. 468
Bibliography
- Francillon, René J. (1982). :Lockheed Aircraft since 1913. London: Putnam & Company. ISBN 0-370-30329-6.