Yep, that Doolittle. Same fellow that proved instrument flying would work by putting a hood over the cockpit and taking her up.

Gorilla=XP59. P39 altered into jet format.
Not worth a hoot as a plane but did lead to
Uncle Sam having MUCH better engines that did the Germans. Armed with that, Kelly Johnson
whipped out the P80 in jig time. ME262 had more potential but achieved performance was not that hot and it was very unreliable and tricky to fly. 200 pilots died trying to learn. P80 could have been mass-produced if needed and could more than hold its own.

By the way, Doolittles Raid was supposed to have been Chennault’s Raid and done from land bases in China by second group of Flying Tigers.

Also, our secret aerial weapon? The M2 .50 caliber. Thank you John Browning and John Pershing!