F-80 flies on Ramjet power alone

 

A piloted aircraft has been flown solely on ramjet power. The feat was accomplished for the first time Nov. 21, 1947 by Tony Levier, Lockheed chief engineering test pilot, in a Lockheed F-SO jet fighter with ramjet units mounted at the wingtips. Subsequent ramjet flights have been made by El. R. "Fish" Salmon, Lockheed test pilot, with E. L. Joiner, flight test engineer, as observer. The flights have been made from Lockheed's flight test base at Van Nuys, Calif., and at Muroc Air Force Base, Calif. 

_________________
Aviation Week, November 8, 1948