T-33 Shooting Star

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

T-33 Shooting Star
Two T-33s in flight. The further aircraft has been repainted and renumbered in anticipation of its delivery to the Mexican air force.
Type	Training aircraft
Manufacturer	Lockheed
Designed by	Clarence "Kelly" Johnson
Maiden flight	22 March 1948
Primary users	United States Air Force United States Navy Royal Thai Air Force
Produced	1948-1959
Number built	6,557
Developed from	P-80 Shooting Star
Variants	T2V/T-1A Seastar Canadair T-33

The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star is an American-built 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 USN as the initially as TO-2 then TV-2 and after 1962, T-33B. Despite its vintage, the venerable T-33 still remains in service worldwide.

Contents 1 Design and development 2 Operational service 3 Variants 3.1 USAF 3.2 US Navy 3.3 Canada 4 Operators 5 Survivors 6 Specifications (T-33A) 7 See also 8 References 8.1 Notes 8.2 Bibliography 9 External links

[edit] 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. ^[1]

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 US 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. A total of 6,557 Shooting Stars were produced, 5,691 by Lockheed.

[edit] Operational service

The two-place T-33 proved to be a suitable advanced trainer, and it has been used for such tasks as drone director and target towing, and some T-33s retained two machine guns for gunnery training. In some countries, the T-33 was even employed as a combat aircraft. 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 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-33s airframe was retained in the Skyfox, but it was powered by two Garrett TFE731-3A turbofan engines.

A limited number of T-33s have found their way into private hands; Michael Dorn of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame also owns a Canadair T-33. 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 and originally registered as G-OAHB.

[edit] Variants

[edit] USAF

• T-33A: Two-seat jet trainer aircraft.
• AT-33A: Two-seat attack version of the T-33A.
• 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 target drones.
• RT-33A: Two-seat reconnaissance version of the AT-33A.

[edit] US Navy

• 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: Two-seat land-based jet training aircraft for the US Navy. It was the US Navy's version of the T-33A. Later redesignated TV-2.
• TV-2KD: This designation was given to number of TV-2s converted into drone directors.
• T-33B redesignation of Navy's TV-2 in 1962.
• DT-33B redesignation of Navy's TV-2KD.

[edit] Canada

• CT-133 Silver Star : Two-seat jet trainer for the RCAF/ Canadian Forces (also communications, target towing and electronic warfare duties).

[edit] Operators

 Belgium

 Bolivia

 Brazil

 Burma

 Chile

 Republic of China

 Colombia

 Cuba

 Denmark

 Ecuador

 El Salvador

 France

 Germany

 Greece

 Guatemala

 Indonesia

 Iran

 Italy

 Japan

• Japan Air Self Defence Force manifactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries Aerospace Company

 Libya

 Mexico 

T-33s recently retired

 Netherlands

 Nicaragua

 Norway

 Pakistan

 Paraguay

 Peru

 Philippines

 Portugal

 Saudi Arabia

 Singapore

 South Korea

 Spain

 Thailand

• Royal Thai Air Force

 Turkey

 United States

• United States Air Force
• United States Navy

 Uruguay

 Venezuela

 Yugoslavia

[edit] Survivors

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

• T-33A-1-LO, 51-4419 and 17473: On loan from the USAF Museum at the Midland Air Museum, Coventry, England.
• T-33A-1-LO, 51-4301 is on static display at Vance AFB, OK.
• T-33A-1-LO, 58-0629 is on display at Castle Air Museum, Atwater, CA
• The town of Othello, Washington in the United States has a decommissioned T-33 on display in a park near the City Hall.

[edit] Specifications (T-33A)

General characteristics

• Crew: Two
• Length: 37 ft 9 in (11.2 m)
• Wingspan: 38 ft 10.5 in (11.5 m)
• Height: 11 ft 8 in (3.3 m)
• Empty weight: 8,300 lb (3,775 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 15,100 lb (6,865 kg)
• Powerplant: 1× Allison J33-A-35 centrifugal compressor turbojet, 5,400 lbf (23 kN)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 600 mph (970 km/h)
• Range: 1,275 miles ferry (2,050 km)
• Service ceiling 48,000 ft (14,600 m)

Armament

• (AT-33) 2x 0.50 in (12.7 mm) Browning M3 machine guns with 350 rounds per gun
• Up to 2,000 lb (907 kg) of ordnance on two underwing hardpoints. Weapons carried include bombs and rocket pods.

[edit] See also

Related development

• P-80 Shooting Star
• Canadair T-33
• T2V/T-1A Seastar
  

Comparable aircraft

• T-38 Talon
• T-2 Buckeye
  

Related lists

• List of Lockheed aircraft
  

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] External links

• AeroWeb: T-33s on display list
• Warbird Alley: T-33 page
• Walkaround T-33 Shooting Star (Eskishehir, Turkey)

v • d • e Aircraft produced by Lockheed Manufacturer designations Basic Model Numbers: L-1 · L-2 · L-3 · L-4 · L-5 · L-7 · L-8 · L-9 · L-10 · L-11 · L-012 · (L-013 not assigned) · L-014 · L-015 · L-016 · L-017 · L-018 · L-019 · L-020 · L-021 · L-022 · L-023 · L-024 · (L-025 not assigned) · L-026 · L-027 · (L-028 not assigned) · L-029 · L-030 · L-031 · L-032 · L-033 · L-034 · L-035 · (L-036 not assigned) · L-037 · (L-038 and L-039 not assigned) · L-040 · L-041 · L-042 · L-044 · L-045 · L-049 · L-050 · L-051 · L-052 · L-060 · L-061 · L-062 · L-075 · L-080 · L-081 · L-082 · L-083 · L-084 · L-085 · L-086 · L-087 · L-088 · L-089 · L-090 · L-091 · L-092 · L-093 · L-094 · L-092 · L-099 · L-100 · L-193 · L-245 · L-246 · L-300 · L-329 · L-351 · L-500 · L-645 California Lockheed Temporary Design Numbers (TDN): CL-282 · CL-288 · CL-295 · CL-320 · CL-325 · CL-329 · CL-346 · CL-379 · CL-400 · CL-407 · CL-475 · CL-595 · CL-704 · CL-760 · CL-823 · CL-901 · CL-915 · CL-934 · CL-981 · CL-984 · CL-985 · CL-1026 · CL-1195 · CL-1200 · CL-1400 · CL-1600 · CL-1700 · CL-1800 · CL-1980 · By role Airliners and Civil Transports: Vega · Electra · Electra Junior · Super Electra · Lodestar · Constellation · Saturn · Electra · L-402 · JetStar · L-1011 Military Transports: C-64 · C-121 · R6V · C-130/C-130J · C-141 · C-5 · TriStar Experimental/Prototypes: NF-104A · XFV · XF-90 · XF-104 · XH-51 · XP-49 · XP-58 · XV-4 · YP-24 Fighters: P-38 · P/F-80 · F-94 · F-104 · F-16  · F-117 · F-22 · F-35 Helicopters: XH-51 · AH-56 Patrol: Hudson · PV · P-2 · P-3 · S-3 · CP-140 Reconnaissance: U-2 · A-12 · SR-71 Trainers: T-33 · T2V/T-1

v • d • e USAAC/USAAF/USAF trainer aircraft Advanced Trainer AT-1  • AT-2 • AT-3 • AT-4 • AT-5 • AT-6 • AT-7 • AT-8 • AT-9 • AT-10 • AT-11 • AT-12  • XAT-13  • XAT-14  • XAT-15  • AT-16  • AT-17  • AT-18  • AT-19  • AT-20  • AT-21  • AT-22 • AT-23  • AT-24 Basic Combat BC-1 • BC-2 • BC-3 Basic Trainer BT-1 • BT-2 • YBT-3  • XBT-4  • YBT-5 • BT-6 • Y1BT-7  • BT-8  • BT-9  • Y1BT-10 • BT-11  • BT-12  • BT-13  • BT-14 • BT-15  • XBT-16 • XBT-17 Trainer (1948-1990) T-28  • T-29  • XT-30  • XT-31  • XT-32  • T-33  • T-34  • T-35  • XT-36  • T-37  • T-38  • T-39  • T-40  • T-41  • T-42  • T-43  • T-44  • T-45  • T-46  • T-47  • T-48  • T-50  • T-67

v • d • e USN/USMC trainer aircraft designations 1948-1962 Edo: XTE Grumman: TF North American: TJ • T2J • T3J Lockheed: TO Temco: TT Lockheed: TV-1/TV-2 • T2V

v • d • e Lists relating to aviation General Timeline of aviation · Aircraft (manufacturers) · Aircraft engines (manufacturers) · Airports · Airlines Military Air forces · Aircraft weapons · Missiles · Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) · Experimental aircraft Accidents/incidents General · Military · Commercial (airliners) · Deaths Records Airspeed · Distance · Altitude · Endurance · Most-produced aircraft