Whether you're talking Lockheed-Martin's Skunk Works, or DARPA, or Area 51 (the experiments there have been moved), it doesn't matter. Nation states have adversaries and the nations militaries need to continually do secret research in an effort to get ahead of those adversaries, thus necessitating taxpayer funds and the public has no business knowing exactly what is going on there, otherwise you might as well just hand your research over to your adversaries.
EXACTLY!
Part of what I want this thread focused on.
The Skunk Works ~ later to become known as Area 51, is where Lockheed tested one of the first jet fighter aircraft developed in the USA during WW2. The P-80, later F-80 by Korean War times, and eventual trainer T-33.
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Few airplanes in the history of aeronautics have been as successful as the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star. It was the first American combat-ready jet fighter when it went into service in 1945. It emerged as victor in the world's first all-jet combat, and it won the distinction of remaining in production for a full 15 years after the first experimental model was flown.
The airplane had its origin in June 1943, when Lockheed was requested to design a fighter around the De Havilland built Halford H.1B turbojet engine which was developed in England in response to Germany's
Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter.1 The XP-80 was designed and built in the amazing period of only 143 days—37 days less than the original schedule. This was no mean feat considering that this was not a mere research aircraft, but a production prototype complete with armament. It was housed in a temporary building in complete secrecy, which was the beginning of the famous Lockheed 'Skunk Works.' The inaugural flight was on January 8, 1944, and a total of 1,715 aircraft were built.
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The United States Army Air Force (USAAF) planned to build the Shooting Star in large numbers, however, only two aircraft arrived in Italy before the end of the war in Europe and were never used in operations. Despite the cessation of hostilities, production was continued on a reduced scale.
Lockheed built a total of 917 F-80As and Bs. One aircraft was modified for an attempt on the world speed record and on June 19, 1947 and set a speed record of 624 mph (1,004 km/h). Some of these modifications were retained in the F-80C and a total of 798 F-80Cs were produced between 1948 and 1949. At the same time, Lockheed designed a two-seat version, the F-94 Starfire. This model was equipped with radar for all-weather operations.
When war started in Korea, F-80's were sent to the battle area to help the South Koreans. On November 10, 1950, Lieutenant Russell Brown, flying a Shooting Star, made history when he destroyed a Russian
MiG-15 fighter in the world's first decisive all-jet combat. However, when compared to the Mig, the F-80 was outclassed and it was quickly replaced by the
North American F-86 Sabre.
The final version of the plane was the T-33 trainer, which remained in continuous production until August 1959. The F-80 was a very hot airplane to handle, compared to slower piston engine aircraft and an alarming number of airplanes were lost. The solution was the redesigned T-33A two-seat trainer.
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The P-80/F-80/T-33 is one of the first aircraft tested in the region which would later include "Area 51".
