Rare photos of first P-80 visiting UK ( Bovingdon 1945)

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20 years

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[ATTACH=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"large","data-attachmentid":3854764}[/ATTACH] The son of USAAF Col Henry L Badham ( CO at Bovingdon, not 'ton' ) has posted some rare photos that seem to be from his father's collection, including this fascinating shot of the first Lockheed P-80 to visit the UK.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/600728140037064/

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19 years 2 months

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Sadly the propaganda exercise did not go according to plan. The aircraft in the photo Lockheed YP-80A "Shooting Star" 44-83026 (cn 1005) crashed at Bold near St Helens whilst flying from Burtonwood on the 28th January 1945, resulting in the death of Major Frederic Austin Borsodi. See: http://laituk.org/YP-80A%20%2044-83026.htm

Major F. A. Borsodi served initially as a Second Lieutenant with the 86th Fighter squadron, 79th Fighter Group in the Mediterranean Theatre of operations from 1942 rising to the rank of Captain, then Major and commanding officer of the Squadron up to October 1943. He flew the P-40 " Warhawk" and was credited with shooting down three enemy aircraft and a third share in another, completing some 130 missions in this time. He was sent back to the US and became chief of fighter testing from 1943-45 at Wright Field in Ohio, where he was the first man to witness and film the compressibility shockwave on an aircraft wing while power diving a P-51 Mustang up to Mach 0.84 from nearly 40,000 feet. He was aged 28 at the time of his death and was buried with full military honours at the American Military Cemetery in Cambridge, plot C row 4 grave 73. During his service as a combat pilot he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with three Oak Leaf Cluster and The Air Medal with fifteen Oak Leaf Clusters and the British DFC. Major Borsodi entered the service from Connecticut and left a widow with two young daughters, the youngest only 1 month old. It was believed if Major Borsodi had survived, it is likely he would have gone on to be a test pilot on the supersonic test program.

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What a sad outcome. Is there any knowledge of the circumstances of the crash, thick winter weather perhaps ?

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16 years 5 months

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Very interesting - many thanks to both of you.

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18 years 4 months

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Propstrike, have a look at the link on Nigels LAITUK post, as usual excellent investigation and history. Unlike piston engine failures you can see the damage an uncontained jet engine failure could cause.

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20 years

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I am puzzled how 83026 was photographed at Bovingdon, if it was lost on its second test flight out of Burtonwood .
Peering at the photo, it does seem to say 026 0n the fin. .

Maybe the photo was NOT taken at Bovingdon after all ?

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18 years 2 months

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Mis-identification of YP-80A photography locations seems to be quite common; 44-83027 photos are around that reference it having being based at RAF Balderton, possibly with the Rolls-Royce unit that was stationed there. This is believed to be incorrect and an article correcting that idea was featured in the last NAM Dispersal newsletter, it was compiled by Colin Savill, who researched and wrote the recent RAF Balderton history book that was published by NAM.

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There is great footage (although taken a few years later) on Pathe of P-80s being delivered by the US Army Transport ship "Barney Kirschbaum" to Glasgow's King George V docks. From there they were towed to Renfrew and flown out to Germany.