In June 1943 Lockheed’s chief engineer, Kelly Johnson, received a secret request. The Army Air Forces wanted a jet fighter. Johnson assembled 23 engineers and 103 shop mechanics.
The team worked in a small shed in Burbank. They finished the XP-80 Shooting Star in 143 days, seven days ahead of schedule. The formal contract arrived four months after work had begun.
The name came from a comic strip. An engineer answered the phone with the words “Skonk Works, inside man Culver,” borrowing the name from Li’l Abner. The name stuck, and Lockheed later trademarked it.