"The World’s First Prototype of America’s First Jet Fighter"
Artifact Description
In 1943, Lockheed machinist Archie Meridian machined from a solid piece of aluminum alloy, a small, one-piece, metallic replica of the Lockheed P-80/F-80/T-33 Shooting Star that was being developed at the Lockheed plant in Burbank, California. He made the model as a souvenir for himself. A few years later, Mr. Meridian retired from Lockheed and moved from California to Deming, New Mexico taking with him his small jet model.
In 1943, Lockheed machinist Archie Meridian machined from a solid piece of aluminum alloy, a small, one-piece, metallic replica of the Lockheed P-80/F-80/T-33 Shooting Star that was being developed at the Lockheed plant in Burbank, California. He made the model as a souvenir for himself. A few years later, Mr. Meridian retired from Lockheed and moved from California to Deming, New Mexico taking with him his small jet model.
In 1974, Mr. Meridian--upon learning that I (his Deming neighbor, Dennis Canon) had, as a USAF flight surgeon, flown T-33 jets--shared with the Canon family not only his participation in the development of the early jet, but also his creation of the aircraft model. Two years later, when Mr. Meridian found that he was terminally ill, he presented the model to me, through my father because, "he wanted it to go to someone who liked airplanes." Since Mr. Meridian’s death in 1976, this model has continuously remained in my personal possession in Canyon, Texas and I, Dennis Canon, can attest to its authenticity.
In March of 2014, I loaned this model to the Texas Air & Space Museum in Amarillo, Texas. I wish to share this classic model aircraft with Museum visitors in memory of my friend Archie Meridian and in honor of the countless other skilled workers who helped develop and manufacture this nation’s historic fleet of aircraft, many of which are on display at this museum. The following is my paraphrased version of this model aircraft’s history as was verbally passed on to me by Archie Meridian in 1974.
____________________
"After being assigned to work as a machinist on the first American jet fighter and jet trainer, every day during my lunch break at the factory, I would machine a solid block of aluminum alloy metal to fashion a model of the F-80/T-33 aircraft that my company--Lockheed--was building . There were no 3-dimensional models or prototypes to work from, so, I used drawings from the plans and relative size from the blueprints to design my miniature replica. When I reported for work, I always carried a black mailbox-shaped lunch pail which contained a thermos, a sandwich and my model airplane.
"One day, some "brass" from the Pentagon came to Burbank where they inspected the factory, reviewed the blueprints and checked on the progress that was being made on the jet fighter project. When one of the generals asked to examine a prototype of the aircraft, the project manager explained that they had not gotten that far yet, so, there was no prototype or model available to see evaluate right now. Because the General appeared to be somewhat dismayed at that answer, the quick-thinking project manager yelled out the conference-room door into the work hanger, "Hey, somebody get Archie in here and tell him to bring his lunch pail."
"When Archie entered the room full of "brass," he feared that he must be in some kind of trouble, was possibly getting fired, and, was, hopefully not going to jail. At his boss’ request, he opened his lunch box, reached under his sandwich, took out the F-80/T-33 model and watched in wonder as the general examined it closely and then passed his almost complete model around the room for everyone to see. Archie breathed a sigh of relief when he was ordered to return to his lathe and resume work.
"The General and the rest of the "brass" appeared to be pleased after handling the model. The general reportedly said, "Now I can tell everyone that I’ve touched the world’s first prototype of America’s first jet fighter." The "brass" reportedly left the factory with a visual and tactile image in their minds of the first jet fighter and were pleased with the progress on the project."
____________________
I, Dennis Canon, considered myself fortunate to have been able to fly the T-33 (like the one on display in this museum) as an additional crewmember while on active duty at Langley AFB, Virginia in 1973-74. Most of the full-time, younger USAF pilots tried to avoid flying the T-33 because, even in 1974, they considered it to be an obsolete aircraft.
[Signed]
Dennis L. Canon, Former Major USAF, Amarillo, Texas, March 27, 2014