The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star (or T-Bird) is a subsonic jet trainer designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer Lockheed.
Originally designated TP-80C/TF-80C at an early stage of its development, the T-33 was derived from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 jet fighter by lengthening the fuselage and adding a second seat. The T-33A conducted its maiden flight on 22 March 1948 and was introduced as an advanced trainer with the United States Air Force (USAF) shortly thereafter. It quickly proved popular with other operators, multiple variants were flown by the United States Navy, including the TO-2, TV-2 (later redesignated as T-33B), and the Lockheed T2V SeaStar (a carrier-capable derivative). A total of 6,557 T-33s were produced: 5,691 aircraft were completed by Lockheed, while a further 210 were built under licence by Kawasaki and 656 by Canadair (as the Canadair T-33AN/CT-133 Silver Star).
While the majority of T-33s were unarmed, some were fitted with a pair of machine guns for gunnery training. In addition to their use as a trainer, some services opted to deploy the T-33 into frontline combat on occasion. The Cuban Air Force used the type during the Bay of Pigs Invasion, while the Indonesian Air Force opted to rearm its T-33 to perform counter-insurgency strikes in East Timor. Various private operators also flew the type, Boeing frequently used a pair of T-33s as chase aircraft. The final operator of the type was the Bolivian Air Force, which withdrew their last T-33s in July 2017 after 44 years of service.
The origins of the T-33 are closely connected to the Lockheed P-80/F-80, an early jet powered fighter aircraft. During early operations of the P-80 accidents were commonplace; in 1946, the type was recorded as having the highest accident rate of any fighter operated by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), and limited pilot experience was an identified contributing factor. During August 1947, a P-80C airframe was taken off the production line and extended by 38.5 inches to accommodate a second seat (provisioned with duel controls) under a lengthened single-piece clamshell canopy. Most other aspects of the aircraft, including the majority of the fuselage, empennage, flight controls, landing gear, wings, and powerplant remained identical. This prototype was initially designated as a variant of the P-80/F-80, the TP-80C/TF-80C.
The cockpit featured a three-panel windshield, the center panel being bulletproof and of sufficient strength to protect against at least one bird strike. The cockpit is pressurized at a differential pressure of 3.5 psi, although it remains unpressured below 8,000 feet; oxygen masks are required when flying above 15,000 feet. The canopy could not usually be opened mid-flight but could be jettisoned in an emergency; some aircraft were outfitted with ejection seats. To avoid encountering buffeting (reducing the effectiveness of the aircraft's elevators), which was a known phenomenon produced by high-speed compressibility while at a high altitude, pilots generally avoided flying the T-33 at speeds in excess of Mach 0.8.
On account of the centrifugal-flow engine design, throttle advancement had to be performed slowly while at low airspeeds to prevent excessive exhaust gas temperatures, which prevented the engine from achieving full power during takeoff and thus the aircraft's takeoff acceleration was relatively slow. An aileron boost system was present; this setup frequently caused inexperienced pilots to encounter a Dutch roll motion. While the ailerons are hydraulically-boosted, neither the rudder or elevators are boosted. The type was approved to perform conventional aerobatic manoeuvres, however, rolls were typically avoided while the tip tanks remained full; the T-33 could fly while inverted for a maximum of 30 seconds. The TâÂÂ33 lacked spoilers, but was equipped with a pair of hydraulically-actuated rectangular speed brakes that swung down and forward from the belly.
Roughly one gallon of fuel is consumed per mile flown; fuel was burned first from the tip tanks, then from the leading-edge tanks, and then from the wing tanks, all which feed into a central fuselage tank that contains about 20 minutes worth of fuel. The tip tanks are automatically balanced; despite this, in the unusual circumstance of one tip tank remaining full while the other had emptied, the tips could be jettisoned prior to landing, as such an imbalance could be hazardous. Some pilots avoided trimming the ailerons to avoid unintentionally masking a fuel imbalance.
On 22 March 1948, the prototype T-33 conducted its maiden flight with Lockheed test pilot Tony LeVier at the controls. During 1948, quantity production of the T-33 commenced; Lockheed continued to build the type until 1959, by which point it had been produced in larger quantities than any other derivative/variant of the P-80. The rate of production was so great that Lockheed allegedly only test-flew one out of every four aircraft prior to delivery.
The largest customer of the T-33 was the United States Air Force (USAF), for which it served as the primary trainer for two decades. The United States Navy (USN) used the T-33 as a land-based trainer starting in 1949; it was originally designated the TV-2, but was redesignated the T-33B in 1962. The USN also operated some ex-USAF P-80Cs as the TO-1, which was subsequently redesignated as the TV-1. A carrier-capable version of the P-80/T-33 family was subsequently developed by Lockheed, the T2V-1/T-1A SeaStar. Both of the TF-80C prototypes were modified as prototypes for an all-weather twin-seater fighter derivative, which entered USAF service as the F-94 Starfire.
The two-place T-33 proved suitable as an advanced trainer, and it was used for such tasks as drone director and target towing. A reconnaissance version known as the RT-33A with a camera installed in the nose and additional equipment in the rear cockpit was also produced. Although it was primarily intended for export, the U.S. Air Force used a single example of the type for secret overflights of South Vietnam and Laos from 1961, with these flights codenamed FIELD GOAL. This lasted until the aircraft were replaced by the more capable McDonnell RF-101 Voodoo in this role.
The USAF began phasing the T-33 out of front-line pilot training duties in the Air Training Command in the early 1960s, as the newer Cessna T-37 Tweet and Northrop T-38 Talon trainers began replacing it for the Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) program. 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. 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 (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 retired, with the last being an NT-33 variant retired in April 1997.
Foreign interest in the T-33 solidified into numerous export sales, leading to it being adopted by the military air services of roughly 25 countries around the world, typically its capacity as a trainer. Furthermore, the Canadian aerospace company Canadair produced 656 T-33s under licence for service in the Royal Canadian Air Force as the CT-133 Silver Star; separately, the Japanese conglomerate Kawasaki also manufactured 210 T-33s under licence. Other major operators of the type included Brazil, Turkey, and Thailand.
Some T-33s retained two machine guns, although typically used for gunnery training, some countries opted to use the T-33 in front-line combat. In April 1961, the Cuban Air Force deployed their T-33s, which were the service's only available jet aircraft, in response to the Bay of Pigs Invasion. During the ensuing clash, the rocket-armed T-33 proved to be effective against the Cuban exilesâ Martin B-26 Marauders, scoring several aerial kills as well as conducting strafing runs on exile ground forces.
The Indonesian Air Force received 19 unarmed T-33A in 1973 to supplant the Aero L-29 Delfin trainers. Several aircraft were later rearmed with two machine guns, gunsight taken from scrapped Il-28 bombers, and bomb racks taken from retired B-25 Mitchell. The rearmed T-33s were deployed to East Timor to conduct counter-insurgency strikes in 1976. During 1980, the Indonesian Air Force retired the last of their T-33s.
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.
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 (trainer TR-602) 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.
A few T-33s have been owned privately, with two used by Boeing as chase aircraft. In 2010, one of Boeing's T-33s 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 25 January 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. On 4 December 2020, Boeing retired their T-33 chase planes after 66 years of service. Both T-33s operated by Boeing were replaced by a single T-38 Talon. Actor and pilot Michael Dorn owned a T-33, which he jokingly referred to as his "starship".
For operators of Canadian-built aircraft, refer to Canadair CT-133 Silver Star.
Numerous T-33s have been preserved as museum and commemorative displays.