Of all the tests conducted at Muroc (later Edwards AFB) during the war years, none was more important than those which got underway on January 8, 1944, as a small group of people assembled on the lake bed to witness the first flight of a new single-engine jet prototype. Brainchild of Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson, the top secret XP-80 had been designed and      built by Lockheed's fledgling "Skunk Works" in just 143 days.

est pilot Milo Burcham put on an impressive display that morning, as the aircraft accelerated to a speed of 490 mph and, during official Army Air Force (AAF) acceptance tests flown by Maj. Wally Lein just over a month later, the XP-80 became the first American airplane to exceed 500 mph in level flight. Nicknamed "Lulu Belle" by Lockheed personnel, the small airplane was configured with a British-built DeHavilland Halford H-1B centrifugal-flow turbojet which provided 2,460 pounds of static thrust.