Canadair CT-133 Silver Star

The Canadair CT-133 Silver Star (company model number CL-30) is the Canadian license-built version of the Lockheed T-33 jet trainer aircraft, in service from the 1950s to 2005. The Canadian version was powered by the Rolls-Royce Nene 10 turbojet, instead of the original Allison J33.

Design and development

The Canadair CT-133 was the result of a 1951 contract to build T-33 Shooting Star trainers for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) with a Rolls-Royce Nene 10 turbojet. A project designation of CL-30 was given by Canadair and the name was changed to Silver Star. The CT-133's appearance is distinctive due to the large fuel tanks usually carried on the wingtips. Canadair built 656 CT-133 aircraft.

Operational history

The CT-133 entered service in the RCAF as its training aircraft for fighters. The designation of the Silver Star in the Canadian Forces was CT-133.

The CT-133's service career in the RCAF (and later the Canadian Forces) was extremely long. One of the more unusual roles it played was as an aerobatic demonstration aircraft, the RCAF's Red Knight. Although the aircraft stopped being used as a trainer in 1976, there were still over 50 aircraft in Canadian Forces inventory in 1995. The newest of these was then 37 years old and had exceeded its expected life by a factor of 2.5. During this period, the Canadair T-33 was employed in communication, target towing, and enemy simulation.

The final Silver Star Mk. 3 was retired from the Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment at CFB Cold Lake, Alberta, where it was used as an ejection seat testbed for 46 years, when it was sold as surplus on the civil market, with fifteen other CT-133s to join fifty others on the US Civil Register.

Variants

• T-33A Silver Star Mk 1: Two-seat jet trainer for the RCAF built by Lockheed in the United States, 30 loaned to the RCAF.
• CT-133ANX Silver Star Mk 2: The first Canadian prototype. One built.
• : Two-seat jet training aircraft for the RCAF.
• Silver Star Mk 3PT: Unarmed version.
• Silver Star Mk 3AT: Armed version, two Browning machine guns in nose and underwing pylons for bombs and HVAR rockets.
• Silver Star Mk 3PR: Photo-reconnaissance version.
• CE-133: Electronic warfare training aircraft.
• CX-133: Ejection seat testbed.
• ET-133: Aerial threat simulator aircraft.
• TE-133: Anti-ship threat simulator aircraft.

Operators

• Bolivian Air Force operated 20 AT-33A-Ns (former Canadian Forces)

• Royal Canadian Air Force
• Red Knight (aerobatic team)
• Royal Canadian Navy
• Canadian Forces
• National Research Council

• French Air Force delivered between 1959 and 1962

• Hellenic Air Force (former RCAF aircraft)

• Portuguese Air Force

• Turkish Air Force

Aircraft on display

The following locations have CT-133 Silver Stars on display or in flyable condition:

Alberta

• 21081 near Airdrie, Alberta, in the yard of a private owner.
• Approximately 7 CT-133's are on display or in storage at CFB Cold Lake.
• 21072 is displayed at CFB Edmonton.
• 21506 and 21533 are in the Alberta Aviation Museum's collection in Edmonton, Alberta.
• 21097 is mounted on a pylon in Edson, Alberta.
• 21518 is on display in Leduc, Alberta.
• 21578 is outside the Royal Canadian Legion in Lethbridge, Alberta.
• 21272 is on a pylon outside the Bomber Command Museum of Canada in Nanton, Alberta.
• 21437 is on a pedestal at Rocky Mountain House, Alberta.
• 21271 is outside the Royal Canadian Legion in St. Albert, Alberta.
• CT-133 given serial number 133419 is located in Warner, Alberta.
• 21089 and 21351 are at the Reynolds-Alberta Museum in Wetaskiwin, Alberta.
• CX-133 133413 is on display at The Military Museums, in Calgary, Alberta, restored as a CT-133 Mk 3.

British Columbia

• Canadian Museum of Flight
• Comox Air Force Museum
• Princeton Airport

Manitoba

• Gimli
• Winnipeg Air Force Heritage Museum and Park

Nova Scotia

• Atlantic Canada Aviation Museum
• Greenwood Military Aviation Museum Greenwood, Nova Scotia
• Shearwater Aviation Museum

Ontario

• Canadian Air and Space Museum
• Canada Aviation Museum
• Canadian Historical Aircraft Association
• Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum
• Fort Erie - Sugarbowl Park
• Jet Aircraft Museum – two operational, two static examples
• London International Airport
• National Air Force Museum of Canada

Quebec

• s/n 133333, Canadian Forces Base Bagotville
• s/n 133267, Val-d'Or

Saskatchewan

• 21630 is located near Saskatoon John G. Diefenbaker International Airport in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

United Kingdom

• RAF Manston History Museum, at RAF Manston, Kent, England
• Yorkshire Air Museum, at RAF Elvington, England

Surviving aircraft

Canada

• Jet Aircraft Museum – two operational examples
• Waterloo Warbirds - one operational example

United States

Airworthy

;CT-133

• RCAF s/n 21024 - privately owned in Scottsdale, Arizona.
• RCAF s/n 21052 (CF s/n 133052) - privately owned in Mobile, Alabama.
• RCAF s/n 21098 - privately owned in Waller, Texas.
• RCAF s/n 21129 - privately owned in Salt Lake City, Utah.
• RCAF s/n 21157 - privately owned in Houston, Texas.
• RCAF s/n 21159 - privately owned in Belgrade, Montana.
• RCAF s/n 21165 (CF s/n 133165) - Vintage Flying Museum in Fort Worth, Texas.
• RCAF s/n 21192 - privately owned in Guthrie, Oklahoma.
• RCAF s/n 21298 - operated by Boeing Aircraft in Seattle, Washington.
• RCAF s/n 21306 - privately owned in San Rafael, California.
• RCAF s/n 21369 - operated by Boeing Aircraft in Seattle, Washington.
• RCAF s/n 21375 - privately owned in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
• RCAF s/n 21377 (CF s/n 133377) - Planes of Fame in Chino, California.
• RCAF s/n 21440 - privately owned in Delanson, New York.
• RCAF s/n 21456 - privately owned in Brigham City, Utah.
• RCAF s/n 21467 (CF s/n 133467) - privately owned in Litchfield Park, Arizona.
• RCAF s/n 21479 (CF s/n 133479) - privately owned in Bulverde, Texas.
• RCAF s/n 21504 (CF s/n 133504) - privately owned in Scottsdale, Arizona.
• RCAF s/n 21556 - privately owned in Chicago, Illinois.
• RCAF s/n 21557 (CF s/n 133557) - privately owned in Mesa, Arizona.
• RCAF s/n 21559 - privately owned in Parowan, Utah.
• RCAF s/n 21566 - Tennessee Museum of Aviation in Sevierville, Tennessee.
• RCAF s/n 21579 (CF s/n 133579) - privately owned in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.
• RCAF s/n 21582 - War Eagles Air Museum in Santa Teresa, New Mexico.
• RCAF s/n 21590 (CF s/n 133590) - privately owned in Carson City, Nevada.
• RCAF s/n 21604 (CF s/n 133604) - privately owned in Jurupa Valley, California.
• CF s/n 133452 - privately owned in San Rafael, California.
• CF s/n 133610 - privately owned in San Rafael, California.
• CF s/n 133564 - privately owned in San Antonio, Texas.

Under restoration

;CT-133

• RCAF s/n 21483 (CF s/n 133483) - to airworthiness by private owner in Houston, Texas.
• RCAF s/n 21560 (CF s/n 133560) - to airworthiness by private owner in Houston, Texas.
• RCAF s/n 21571 (CF s/n 133571) - to airworthiness by private owner in Houston, Texas.
• RCAF s/n 21613 (CF s/n 133613) - to airworthiness by private owner in Ione, California.
• RCAF s/n 21615 (CF s/n 133615) - to airworthiness by private owner in Jordan Valley, Oregon.
• CF s/n 133083 - to airworthiness the Military Aircraft Restoration Corporation in Anaheim, California.

Specifications (CT-133)

See also

References

Notes

Bibliography

• "Canada's Fab Four". Air Forces Monthly. Stamford, Lincolnshire, UK: Key Publishing Limited, August 2003. ISSN 0955-7091.
• Flight Comment: The Canadian Forces Flight Safety Magazine. Ottawa: Publishing and Depository Services, Summer 2005. ISSN 0015-3702, .
• Andrade, John: Militair 1982. London: 1982.
• Francillon, René. Lockheed Aircraft Since 1913. London: Putnam, 1982. .
• Pickler, Ron and Larry Milberry. Canadair: The First 50 Years. Toronto: Canav Books, 1995. .
• "Silver Star Stand Down". Air Classics April 2006, Canoga Park, California: Challenge Publications. ISSN 0002-2241.

External links

• Canadian Forces CT-133 Silver Star page