Lockheed T-33

The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star (or T-Bird) is an American jet trainer aircraft. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948 piloted by Tony LeVier. The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 starting as TP-80C/TF-80C in development, then designated T-33A. It was used by the U.S. Navy initially as TO-2 then TV-2, and after 1962, T-33B. Despite its age, the T-33 remains in service worldwide.

Design and development
The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 by lengthening the fuselage by slightly over three feet and adding a second seat, instrumentation and flight controls. It was initially designated as a variant of the P-80/F-80, the TP-80C/TF-80C.

Design work for the Lockheed P-80 began in 1943 with the first flight on 8 January 1944. Following on the Bell P-59, the P-80 became the first jet fighter to enter full squadron service in the United States Army Air Forces. As more advanced jets entered service, the F-80 took on another role—training jet pilots. The two-place T-33 jet was designed for training pilots already qualified to fly propeller-driven aircraft.

Originally designated the TF-80C, the T-33 made its first flight on 22 March 1948 with U.S. production taking place from 1948 to 1959. The US Navy used the T-33 as a land-based trainer starting in 1949. It was designated the TV-2, but was redesignated the T-33B in 1962. The Navy operated some ex-USAF P-80Cs as the TO-1, changed to the TV-1 about a year later. A carrier-capable version of the P-80/T-33 family was subsequently developed by Lockheed, eventually leading to the late 1950s to 1970s T2V-1/T-1A SeaStar. The two prototype TF-80Cs were modified as prototypes for an all-weather two-seater fighter variant which became the F-94 Starfire. A total of 6,557 Shooting Stars were produced, 5,691 by Lockheed, 210 by Kawasaki and 656 by Canadair.

U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy
The two-place T-33 proved suitable as an advanced trainer, and it has been used for such tasks as drone director and target towing. The U.S. Air Force began phasing the T-33 out of front line pilot training duties in the Air Training Command in the early 1960s as the Cessna T-37 Tweet and Northrop T-38 Talon aircraft began replacing it under the Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) construct. The T-33 was used to train cadets from the Air Force Academy at Peterson Field (now Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs). The T-37 replaced the T-33 for Academy training in 1975.Similar replacement also occurred in the U.S. Navy with the TV-1 (also renamed T-33 in 1962) as more advanced aircraft such as the North American T-2 Buckeye and Douglas TA-4 Skyhawk II came on line. USAF and USN versions of the T-33 soldiered on into the 1970s and 1980s with USAF and USN as utility aircraft and proficiency trainers, with some of the former USN aircraft being expended as full scale aerial targets for air-to-air missile tests from naval aircraft and surface-to-air missile tests from naval vessels. Several T-33s were assigned to USAF McDonnell F-101 Voodoo, Convair F-102 Delta Dagger and Convair F-106 Delta Dart units, to include similarly equipped Air National Guard units, of the Aerospace Defense Command as proficiency trainers and practice "bogey" aircraft. Others later went to Tactical Air Command and TAC-gained Air National Guard F-106 and McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom II units in a similar role until they were finally retired.

Military use by other nations
Some T-33s retained two machine guns for gunnery training, and in some countries, the T-33 was even employed as a combat aircraft: the Cuban Air Force used them during the Bay of Pigs Invasion, scoring several kills. The RT-33A version, reconnaissance aircraft produced primarily for use by foreign countries, had a camera installed in the nose and additional equipment in the rear cockpit. T-33s continued to fly as currency trainers, drone towing, combat and tactical simulation training, "hack" aircraft, electronic countermeasures and warfare training and test platforms right into the 1980s.



The T-33 has served with over 30 nations, and continues to operate as a trainer in smaller air forces. Canadair built 656 T-33s on licence for service in the RCAF—Canadian Forces as the CT-133 Silver Star while Kawasaki manufactured 210 in Japan. Other operators included Brazil, Turkey and Thailand which used the T-33 extensively.

In the 1980s, an attempt was made to modify and modernize the T-33 as the Boeing Skyfox, but a lack of orders led to the cancellation of the project. About 70% of the T-33's airframe was retained in the Skyfox, but it was powered by two Garrett AiResearch TFE731-3A turbofan engines.

In the late 1990s, 18 T-33 Mk-III and T-33 SF-SC from the Bolivian Air Force went to Canada to be modernized at Kelowna Flightcraft. New avionics were installed, and detailed inspection and renewal of the fuselage and wings were performed. Most of the aircraft returned in early 2001 and remain operational.

Civilian use
A limited number of T-33s have found their way into private hands; some current owners: Michael Dorn of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame, Canadair T-33. and northern California based Greg Colyer of the T33 Heritage Foundation who operates a Canadair CT-133 Silver Star monikered "Ace Maker". Various T-33s are based out of Wendover Airport, Utah. Kay Eckhardt has his T-33s based at Wendover they are a Blue Angels variant and a baremetal USAF version.

On 6 September 2006, Imperial War Museum Duxford's Canadair T-33 (G-TBRD), owned by the Golden Apple Trust, was destroyed in a takeoff accident; the crew survived. G-TBRD was the first jet warbird to be operated from Duxford, arriving in 1975; it was originally registered as G-OAHB.

In 2008, several T-33s in storage at CFD Mountain View, an old World War II era RCAF base south of Trenton, Ontario, were sold to various private collectors. Six airplanes were purchased by a newly formed museum out of London, Ontario, called the Jet Aircraft Museum (JAM), associated with the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association, which purchased the aircraft on behalf of JAM. The six airplanes, formerly designated #133346, now C-FUPM; #133500, now C-FUPO; and #133573, now C-FUPP, as well as #133052, #133263 and #133441, will be flown in airshows and for memorials across Canada and in parts of the USA. Other T-33s have also been sold to various U.S. and Canadian buyers.

In 2010, a T-33 Shooting Star owned by Boeing was used as a chase aircraft during the maiden flight of the Boeing 787 and Boeing 747-8

Variants

 * TP-80C
 * Original United States military designation for the Lockheed Model 580 two-seat trainer for the United States Army Air Forces. Designation changed to TF-80C on 11 June 1948 following establishment of the United States  Air Force as a separate military service in 1947, and then to T-33A on 5 May 1949; 20 built.

U.S. Air Force

 * T-33A
 * Two-seat jet trainer aircraft for the United States Air Force and delivery to foreign air forces under the Military Aid Program,


 * AT-33A
 * Close support variant of the T-33As fitted with underwing pylons and hard points for bombs and rockets for export.


 * DT-33A
 * This designation was given to a number of T-33As converted into drone directors.


 * NT-33A
 * This designation was given to a number of T-33As converted into special test aircraft.


 * QT-33A
 * This designation was given to number of T-33As converted into aerial target drones for the United States Navy.


 * RT-33A
 * T-33A modified before delivery as a single-seat reconnaissance variant; 85 built, mainly for export under the Military Aid Program.

U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps

 * TO-1/TV-1
 * U.S. Navy designation of P-80C, 50 transferred to USN in 1949 as jet trainers (not technically T-33 Shooting Star)


 * TO-2
 * United States Navy designation for 649 T-33As diverted from USAF production. Two-seat land-based jet training aircraft for the U.S. Navy. First 28 were delivered as TO-2s before the Navy changed the designation to TV-2. Surviving United States Navy and United States Marine Corps aircraft were re-designated T-33B on 18 September 1962.


 * TV-2
 * Re-designation of the TO-2 after the first 28 were built.


 * TV-2D
 * TV-2s modified as drone directors, later re-designated DT-33B.


 * TV-2KD
 * TV-2s modified as radio-controlled targets, could be flown as a single-seater for ferry, later re-designated DT-33C.


 * T-33B
 * Re-designation of the TV-2 in 1962.


 * DT-33B
 * Re-designation of the TV-2D drone director in 1962.


 * DT-33C
 * Re-designation of the TV-2KD target in 1962

Canada

 * T-33AN/CT-133 Silver Star Mk 3
 * The T-33AN is a Rolls-Royce Nene powered-variant of the T-33A for the Royal Canadian Air Force; 656 built by Canadair with the company designation CL-30. Canadian military designation was later changed from T-33AN to CT-133.

Other

 * L-245
 * One Lockheed owned fuselage with a more powerful engine. Was later developed into the T2V SeaStar.

Operators

 * Belgian Air Force (38 × T-33A, 1 × RT-33A operated from 1952)
 * Bolivian Air Force 34 × T-33. Still in service, the only air force in the world which still operate this aircraft
 * Brazilian Air Force (all retired)
 * Burma (all retired)
 * 🇨🇦 Canada—See Canadair T-33
 * Royal Canadian Air Force
 * Royal Canadian Navy
 * Canadian Forces
 * National Research Council
 * (all retired)
 * Republic of China Air Force (all retired)
 * Colombian Air Force (all retired)
 * Cuban Air Force (all retired)
 * Royal Danish Air Force(all retired)
 * Dominican Air Force AT-33A-LO (AT-33 Silver Star)(all retired)
 * 🇪🇨 (all retired)
 * 🇸🇻 (all retired)
 * 🇫🇷 (all retired)
 * German Air Force (Luftwaffe) (all retired)
 * Hellenic Air Force (all retired)
 * (One is on static exhibit outside the east entrance to the Mundo Maya International Airport near Flores, restored to polished aluminum finish) (all retired)
 * (all retired)
 * 🇮🇩 (all retired)
 * 🇮🇷 (all retired)
 * 🇮🇹 (all retired)
 * 🇯🇵 (all retired)
 * Japan Air Self Defense Force manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries Aerospace Company from 1956. (all retired)
 * (all retired)
 * Mexican Air Force: (all retired)
 * Royal Netherlands Air Force (all retired)
 * Fuerza Aérea de Nicaragua FAN received delivery of four AT- 33A aircraft from the US Government after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961.Retired from service in 1979 (all retired)
 * Royal Norwegian Air Force (all retired)
 * Pakistan Air Force (all retired)
 * Paraguayan Air Force operated six AT-33A donated by Taiwan in 1990. The belonged to the Grupo Aerotáctico (GAT) 2nd. Fighter Squadron called "Indios". They were withdrawn from use in 1998.
 * 🇵🇪 (all retired)
 * $\phi$
 * Philippine Air Force (all retired)
 * Portuguese Air Force (all retired)
 * 🇸🇦 (all retired)
 * Republic of Singapore Air Force: ex-French Air Force (Armée de l'Air) machines, (all retired)
 * Republic of Korea Air Force: T-33A is First introduction Time: August, 1955. It also served with the ROKAF Black Eagles aerobatic team, (all retired)
 * Spanish Air Force (all retired)
 * Royal Thai Air Force (all retired)
 * Turkish Air Force (all retired)
 * Boeing Commercial Airplanes (two Canadair T-33s, N109X and N416X)
 * United States Air Force (all retired)
 * United States Navy (all retired)
 * United States Marine Corps (all retired)
 * (all retired)
 * (all retired)
 * Paraguayan Air Force operated six AT-33A donated by Taiwan in 1990. The belonged to the Grupo Aerotáctico (GAT) 2nd. Fighter Squadron called "Indios". They were withdrawn from use in 1998.
 * 🇵🇪 (all retired)
 * $\phi$
 * Philippine Air Force (all retired)
 * Portuguese Air Force (all retired)
 * 🇸🇦 (all retired)
 * Republic of Singapore Air Force: ex-French Air Force (Armée de l'Air) machines, (all retired)
 * Republic of Korea Air Force: T-33A is First introduction Time: August, 1955. It also served with the ROKAF Black Eagles aerobatic team, (all retired)
 * Spanish Air Force (all retired)
 * Royal Thai Air Force (all retired)
 * Turkish Air Force (all retired)
 * Boeing Commercial Airplanes (two Canadair T-33s, N109X and N416X)
 * United States Air Force (all retired)
 * United States Navy (all retired)
 * United States Marine Corps (all retired)
 * (all retired)
 * (all retired)
 * Boeing Commercial Airplanes (two Canadair T-33s, N109X and N416X)
 * United States Air Force (all retired)
 * United States Navy (all retired)
 * United States Marine Corps (all retired)
 * (all retired)
 * (all retired)
 * (all retired)

Survivors
Numerous T-33s have been preserved as museum and commemorative displays including:

Albania

 * On display
 * RT-33A 51-4413 of the USAF was forced to land in December 1957 at Rinas Airport (Albania) by a squadron of 2 Albanian MiG-15bis - on display at Gjirokastra Museum

Burma

 * On display
 * Unknown T-33 - Armed Forces Museum in Yangon.

Brazil

 * On display
 * Unknown T-33 - Brazilian Museu Aeroespacial - Musal in Rio de Janeiro.
 * Unknown T-33 - Assis Airport in Assis.

Canada
Most examples in Canada are Canadair CT-133 Silver Stars


 * On display
 * T-33A 53-5413 of the United States Air Force at Happy Valley, Goose Bay

Denmark

 * On display
 * T-33A RDAF DT-102 at Danmarks Flymuseum, Stauning


 * T-33A RDAF DT-289 at Garnisonsmuseet, Aalborg
 * T-33A RDAF DT-491 at Danmarks Tekniske Museum, Helsingør
 * T-33A RDAF DT-497 a Gate Guard at RDAF Flying School
 * T-33A RDAF DT-905 at Gedhus museum


 * Stored or under restoration
 * T-33A RDAF DT-104 in storage at Aalborg Air Force Base
 * T-33A RDAF DT-884 under restoration at Skrydstrup Air Force Base
 * T-33A RDAF DT-923 in storage at Danmarks Tekniske Museum, Helsingør

Greece

 * On display
 * T-33A TR-516 in the Hellenic Airforce Museum
 * T-33A TR-029 in the Hellenic Airforce Museum
 * T-33A TR-516 in Elatia Lokridos, near Lamia

Germany

 * On display
 * Unknown Luftwaffe T-33 at Deutsches Museum Flugwerft Schleißheim near Munich.

Japan

 * On display
 * T-33A 61-5221 of the JASDF Air Development and Test Command at the Kakamigahara Aerospace Science Museum, Kakamigahara, Gifu.
 * T-33A 71-5293 of the JASDF 8th Air Wing at the Amagi Railway Amagi Line Tachiarai Station, Chikuzen, Fukuoka.

Mexico

 * Various T-33s are on static display at the Mexican Air Force Museum, Mexican Army and Air Force Museum and individual air bases.

Norway

 * On display
 * T-33A 117546 of the Royal Norwegian Air Force at the Forsvarets flysamling Gardermoen, Oslo Airport, Gardermoen near Oslo
 * T-33A DT-571 of the Royal Danish Air Force painted as 16571 of the Royal Norwegain Air Force at Flyhistorisk Museum, Sola, Stavanger Airport, Sola, near Stavanger

Pakistan

 * T-33A at the Pakistan Air Force Museum, Karachi.

People's Republic of China

 * On display
 * Former Republic of China (Taiwan) Air Force Lockheed T-33A #3024 on static display at the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution in Beijing, this example fell into Chinese hands when a ROCAF Lieutenant defected to mainland China in the aircraft.

Peru

 * On display
 * T-33A at Las Palmas Air Base, Lima.

Philippines

 * On display
 * T-33 at the Philippine Air Force Museum at Villamor Air Base
 * T-33 at the Clark Air Base Pampanga Province.
 * T-33 at the Basa Air Base in Pampanga Province.

Saudi Arabia

 * T-33A on display at the Royal Saudi Air Force Museum, Riyadh.

Serbia

 * On display
 * T-33A Yugoslav 10024 at the Yugoslav Aeronautical Museum, Nikola Tesla Airport, Belgrade.
 * Stored or under restoration
 * T-33A Yugoslav 10242 at the Yugoslav Aeronautical Museum in Belgrade.

Singapore

 * On display
 * T-33A at the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) Museum.

South Korea

 * On display
 * T-33A at the War Memorial of Korea, Seoul.

Taiwan

 * On display
 * T-33, 57-0532 of the Republic of China Air Force at Chung Cheng Aviation Museum.

Thailand

 * On display
 * T-33A F11-23/13 of the Thai Air Force at the Royal Thai Air Force Museum, Don Muang AFB.
 * T-33A F11-27/13 of the Thai Air Force at Chitladda Palace.

United Kingdom

 * On display
 * T-33A 14286 of the French Air Force on display in USAF markings at the American Air Museum, Duxford.
 * T-33A 14419 of the French Air Force on display in USAF markings at the Midland Air Museum, Coventry.
 * T-33A 17473 of the French Air Force on display in Royal Canadian Air Force markings at the Midland Air Museum, Coventry.
 * T-33A 54439 of the French Air Force at the North East Aircraft Museum, Sunderland.

United States

 * On display
 * T-33 is on outside display in Memorial Park, Flagler, Colorado (tail number 0-70587). A Mace missile (tail number 81463) also on display.
 * T-33 as a gate guard at the DeFuniak Springs Airport in Walton county Fla. Has been there since 1970 or earlier.
 * T-33A 51-2129? at the Collings Foundation in Stow, Massachusetts.
 * T-33A 51-4301 at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma.
 * T-33A 51-9091 at Houma, Louisiana, since May 1970
 * T-33A 51-6612 at Masonic Lodge Willacoochee, Georgia, on U.S. Route 82
 * T-33A 51-6635 at Veterans of Foreign Wars facility Louisville, Georgia
 * T-33A 52-9497 at Air Mobility Command Museum, Dover Air Force Base, Delaware
 * T-33A 53-5205 at Aerospace Museum, McClellan Park (former McClellan AFB) Sacramento, California.
 * T-33A 53-5974 at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
 * T-33A 53-6073 at Kindley Park in Gravette, Arkansas, since June 1966
 * T-33A 53-5226 at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
 * T-33A 53-5038 at the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; painted as 0-36038.
 * T-33A 56-1710 at the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum, Denver, Colorado
 * T-33A 56-1747 at the American Airpower Museum, Farmingdale, New York
 * T-33A 58-0548 at the Strategic Air & Space Museum, Ashland, Nebraska
 * T-33A 58-0509 at Jackson County Airport (Michigan)
 * T-33A 58-0629 at Castle Air Museum at the former Castle Air Force Base in Atwater, California.
 * T-33A 58-2106 at McChord Air Museum, McChord Air Force Base, Washington.
 * T-33A 58-0542 at the JROTC Gen C Powell Hall, Central High School, Highway 67 San Angelo, Texas
 * T-33A at Jacksonville Air National Guard Base, Florida
 * T-33A at National Guard Armory Waynesboro, Georgia
 * T-33A 53-0421 has been modified as a play structure at Oak Meadow Park Los Gatos, California.
 * Two unknown T-33As at the Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum, Cape May, New Jersey
 * T-33A at city park Hart, Michigan.
 * T-33A 52-9785 at Harrison County Airport, Cadiz, Ohio,.
 * T-33A 53-4932 at Wood County Regional Airport, Bowling Green, Ohio.
 * T-33A 53-6053 at Tiger Stadium, Louisiana State University Campus, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
 * T-33A at a VFW post in Wilmington, North Carolina.
 * T-33A 51-4505 at Tri-County Airport west of Ahoskie, North Carolina.
 * T-33A 53-5979 at the Prairie Aviation Museum in Bloomington, Illinois.
 * T-33 on display at the Palm Springs Air Museum, Palm Springs, California.
 * T-33A 51-9263 at City Hall of Brooklyn, Ohio, USA.
 * T-33A in Williams Park in Gibsonburg, Ohio.
 * T-33A at Hector Municipal Airport in Hector, Minnesota.
 * T-33A at the Vintage Flying Museum, Meacham International Airport, Fort Worth, Texas.
 * T-33A Kansas Aviation Museum, Wichita, Kansas.
 * T-33A as Gate Guard at Davis Field, Muskogee, Oklahoma
 * T-33A at Illinois Aviation Museum, Bolingbrook, Illinois
 * T-33A in Moline, Kansas.
 * T-33A used as storage facility sign. On US 23 south of McDonough, Georgia
 * T-33A at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum, Titusville, Florida. On loan from National Naval Aviation Museum
 * United States Navy TV-2 138048 at the New England Air Museum, Bradley International Airport, Windsor Locks, CT.
 * T-33A at city park Othello, Washington near City Hall.
 * T-33A at Greenville, Mississippi airport.
 * T-33A at Southeast Iowa Regional Airport in Burlington, Iowa.
 * Stored or under restoration
 * Unknown T-33, is under restoration to flying condition with the Collings Foundation out of their Houston, Texas facility.
 * Unknown T-33 in storage at Carolinas Aviation Museum, Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, Charlotte, North Carolina.
 * Second unknown T-33 in storage at Carolinas Aviation Museum, Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, Charlotte, North Carolina.

Uruguay

 * On display
 * Uruguayan Air Force Airbase #2 (St. Bernardina, Durazno)
 * Airbase #1 (Carrasco Intl. Airport)
 * ETA (Technical Air School)
 * Cnel. (Av.) Jaime Meregalli.Museo Aeronáutico (Air Museum)