Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star


A very pleasing design.  I wonder if there are any left that are airworthy?

10 comments:

  1. Great airplane, The US model sucked because it had the Alison-J33 engine. The RCAF T-Bird had the Rolls Royce Nene 10, more powerful and reliable. I have flown them both,4600 lbs of thrust to 5100. Yes, there are a few still out there flying

    ReplyDelete
  2. A development of the P-80/F-80, yes, there are quite a few out there. Basically a P-80 with an extra 3 feet of fuselage to accommodate the second seat, with full flight controls.

    FormerFlyer

    ReplyDelete
  3. The pace plane at the Reno Air Races is a T-33 piloted by Steve Hinton.
    http://www.warbirdaeropress.com/articles/Pace/Pace.html

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think Canada still uses them as their frontline fighter

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was flying in Greenland when a Canadian military Canadair jet with two T-33 escorting had refueled. Shortly after they took off I heard the T-33 ask the Canadair to slow down as they couldn't catch up.

      Delete
  5. Saw an F-80 Shooting Star putting on an aerobatic demonstration at Luke AFB's Luke Days 2016 in April maybe. Pretty cool. Don't think it was a trainer. Polished aluminum and bright yellow with tip tanks.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dad's favorite.
    I can still see him on the deck, coming at our house, and pulling up just before, blowing all mom's clothes off the line. Us kids loved it, mom not so much.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The genius for Kelly Johnson. The P-80 went from a clean sheet of paper to a test flight in 147 days, IIRC. If you've read Ben Rich's book on The Skunk Works, you know some of his most prized possessions were quarters he won in bets from Kelly Johnson. The longevity of the T-33 as a jet trainer is testament to the designs' ability as a first generation jet.

    ReplyDelete
  8. To add more, I have spun, inverted spin and tumbled the 33. I remember that that the USAF ceased spin training in the T-33 and the result was a number of accidents that forced them to reconsider the value of spin training. There was no pilot in the USAF who was qualified to spin a T-33 in 1976... so the folks at 95 training Sqn in Tyndal AFB in Panama City FL flew up to 414 Sqn in North Bay Ontario and were shown how easy this is, first in the CDN bird and then in the US one. They went home proudly with their new qualifications. Do you know that recovery from an inverted spin looses less altitude than from an upright one. You can cartwheel a T Bird too.
    Damn, I miss that bird, sigh!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wasn't this the airplane that when you had to bail out, the backseater had to go first? Otherwise, he'd be decapitated when the frontseater went first?

      Delete