Lockheed T-33


The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star is a subsonic American jet trainer. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948. 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. The last operator of the T-33, the Bolivian Air Force, retired the type in July 2017, after 44 years of service.

Design and development

The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 by lengthening the fuselage by slightly more than 3 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 on 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 Lockheed test pilot Tony LeVier at the controls. Production at Lockheed ran 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 TF-80C prototypes were modified as prototypes for an all-weather two-seater fighter variant, which became the F-94 Starfire. A total of 6,557 T-33s were produced: 5,691 of them by Lockheed, 210 by Kawasaki, and 656 by Canadair.

Operational history

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 for the Undergraduate Pilot Training program. The T-33 was used to train cadets from the Air Force Academy at Peterson Field. The T-37 replaced the T-33 for Academy training in 1975. The final T-33 used in advanced training was replaced 8 February 1967 at Craig AFB, Alabama. Similar replacement also occurred in the U.S. Navy with the TV-1, 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, with the last being an NT-33 variant retired in April 1997.

Military use by other nations

Some T-33s retained two machine guns for gunnery training, and in some countries, the T-33 was even used in combat: 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.
Lockheed RT-33 reconnaissance plane forced down in December 1957, on display in Gjirokastër, Albania
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 project's cancellation. 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 remained operational until the type was officially retired on 31 July 2017.
On 21 June 1996, 1 T-33A-5-LO from the Hellenic Air Force piloted by Squadron Leader Ioannis Kouratzoglou successfully intercepted a Turkish F-16C violating Athens FIR by engaging in low-altitude high-G maneuvers.

Civilian use

A limited number of T-33s have been owned privately, with two used by Boeing as chase aircraft. In 2010, one T-33 owned by Boeing was used as a chase aircraft during the maiden flight of the Boeing 787. The maiden flight of the Boeing 737 MAX-7 on 16 March 2018 also featured a T-33 chase plane. The maiden flight of the Boeing 777-9 on January 25th 2020 also featured a T-33 chase plane, taking off from KBFI and meeting the 777-9 at KPAE, it stopped at KMWH and it took off again to chase the 777-9 on its way back to KBFI, flying around Mount Rainier before their landing. Actor and pilot Michael Dorn owned a T-33.

Variants

;TP-80C
;T-33A
;AT-33A
;DT-33A
;NT-33A
;QT-33A
;RT-33A
;T-33B
;DT-33B
;DT-33C
;TO-1/TV-1
;TO-2
;TV-2
;TV-2D
;TV-2KD

Canada

;Silver Star Mk 1
;Silver Star Mk 2
;T-33AN/CT-133 Silver Star Mk 3

Other

;L-245
;Aérospatiale Pégase
;Boeing Skyfox: A comprehensive upgrade and re-engine project, powered by 2 Garrett TFE-731 turbofans. The sole prototype remains parked, sans engines, at Rogue Valley International at Medford, Oregon.

Former operators

For operators of Canadian-built aircraft refer to Canadair CT-133 Silver Star.
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Numerous T-33s have been preserved as museum and commemorative displays.

Notable accidents and incidents

;10 August 1955:A T-33 Air Force Jet Trainer crashed on a farm 10 miles southeast of Terre Haute IN. Capt. Lee Jetton and 1st Lt. Harry Sawyer Hall were killed. The plane was en route from Maxwell AFB, AL to Chanute AB, IL. The plane was reported to have exploded before crashing in a cornfield a quarter of a mile east of route 159.
;20 May 1958: An Air National Guard Lockheed T-33A was involved in a mid-air collision with Capital Airlines Flight 300, a Vickers Viscount, over Brunswick, Maryland.
;23 November 1963:A Royal Canadian Navy Canadair CT-133 Silver Star on a naval training flight with two crew members on board, crashed into the heavily forested mountainous area of Mount Strachan in what is now known as Cypress Mountain. The two RCN crew members were killed.
;27 July 1965: A United States Air Force Lockheed T-33A crashed near Allenspark, Colorado while flying low and slow near a thunderstorm to check out newly purchased land. Both occupants, Major Jay. E. Currie and 1st Lt. Donald Darby, were killed.
;20 August 1971: Matiur Rahman was an instructor pilot at PAF Base Masroor in 1971. He was planning to defect to India with a plane to join the Bangladesh Liberation War. On 20 August 1971, Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas was scheduled to fly with a Lockheed T-33 jet trainer. Rahman saw Minhas about to take off and asked to join him, he jumped into the instructor seat. He attempted to hijack the T-33 in midair from Karachi, Pakistan to India to join the liberation movement. Minhas sent a message to control tower that he has been hijacked. Minhas wrestled with Rahman for control and crashed the plane in Pakistan's territory which caused the death of both pilots. The plane never crossed into India's airspace and crashed near the border but in Pakistan.

Specifications (T-33A)