Lockheed T-33
Lockheed T-33 T-Bird | |
---|---|
Lockheed T-33A of the USAF |
|
Type: | Training aircraft |
Design country: | |
Manufacturer: | |
First flight: |
March 22, 1948 |
Commissioning: |
1949 |
Production time: |
1948 to 1959 |
Number of pieces: |
6557 |
The Lockheed T-33 T-Bird is a single-engine training aircraft made by the US manufacturer Lockheed .
development
The T-33 was developed as a two-seat version of the Lockheed F-80C fighter-bomber . The F-80 first flew on 8 January 1944 (then under the name P-80) and was the first operational combat aircraft with jet engine of the US. The F-80 was powered by an enlarged Rolls-Royce Derwent engine, the Allison J33 . The F-80C, of which 670 were built, was equipped with a J33-A-23 engine and had a larger gun load than the F-80B. With the delivery of the last F-80C in June 1950, production of the F-80 ended.
A 97.8 cm long section was inserted into the fuselage of the F-80C to create space in the cockpit for a second seat, the corresponding controls and instruments. Furthermore, the T-33 was equipped with two centrally mounted additional tanks at the wing ends (the first TF-80C had the tanks under the wing tips). The first flight of the T-33 took place on March 22, 1948. The machine was originally called the TP-80C. In June 1948, the designation for fighter aircraft was changed from “P” (for “pursuit”) to “F” (for “fighter”). The TP-80C became the TF-80C. On May 5, 1949, the TF-80C was renamed the T-33A.
Lockheed produced 5,691 T-33s from 1948 to 1957. Canadair manufactured 656 T-33s as CT-133 "Silver Star" under license, 210 machines were manufactured by Kawasaki , so that a total of 6557 T-33s were built. The T-33 was officially called the “Shooting Star” like the F-80, but its unofficial name “T-Bird” was better known.
Mostly for smaller air forces, T-33s were converted for special tasks. This is how the AT-33A light attack aircraft and the RT-33A reconnaissance aircraft were born.
In the 1980s, a modernized T-33 was offered as the " Boeing Skyfox". 70% of the parts of the T-33 were retained during the modernization. The most important difference was the replacement of the J33 engine with two TFE731-3A turbofan engines from Garrett-Honeywell. However, the project was discontinued due to a lack of customers.
commitment
About 30 states used the T-33, some of these machines still fly today. The United States Air Force used the T-33 as its standard trainer for about 20 years, but the last machine was not retired from the Air National Guard until 1994.
A USAF T-33A (serial number 51-4413) was forced to land in Albania on December 23, 1957. The remains of the aircraft can still be seen today in the "National Arms Museum" in Gjirokastra (as of 2019).
The Federal Air Force received 192 T-33A from 1956 to 1959. They received the tactical characteristics of their respective associations, such as B. "AB + 101" Aviation Training School (FFS) B in Fürstenfeldbruck . From 1968 the remaining machines got the registrations 94 + 01 to 95 + 26. The machines achieved almost 200,000 flight hours in the Luftwaffe until they were decommissioned in 1976, before some of them were passed on to Greece and Turkey . In Canada , the last T-33 was not retired until 2005.
The United States Navy took over 699 T-33Bs, which were designated TV-2 until 1962 . However, these were not suitable for the tough take-offs and landings on aircraft carriers . Lockheed then built a T-33 at its own risk, which was suitable for use on aircraft carriers. For this, the cockpit was raised for better visibility during landing. The landing gear was reinforced, the tail unit enlarged and the wings received slats and flaps that were blown to reduce landing speed. There was also the more powerful J33-A-24 engine, avionics from the US Navy and a catch hook. The aircraft had its maiden flight on December 16, 1953 and was first referred to as the "T2V-1 Seastar ", from 1962 as the T-1A . A total of 150 Seastar were built.
Civil use at the National Championship Air Races
T-33s have been used for years at the National Championship Air Races in Reno (Nevada) as “pace planes” for the “Unlimited” class. The machines enable the flying start of the field and assist racing aircraft in an emergency. Since 2007, the T-33 has also been used as a competitor in the jet class and has to compete against the Aero L-29 , L-39 and the Fouga Magister . In addition, a number of copies are used by civilian users, especially within the USA.
variants
- T-33A : Two-seat trainer, originally TF-80C
- AT-33A : armed T-33A
- DT-33A : T-33A converted to drone control aircraft
- JT-33 : T-33A equipped with ATRAN radar (Mace-A cruise missile)
- NT-33A : test aircraft
- QT-33A : T-33A converted as target aircraft
- RT-33A : Reconnaissance aircraft in which the second seat was removed and replaced by reconnaissance equipment
- T-33B : US Navy T-33A, originally TO-2 / TV-2, 699 built
- DT-33B : T-33B converted to drone control aircraft, originally referred to as "TV-2KD"
- Canadair T-33
- T-33A Silver Star Mk 1:30 Lockheed built T-33A
- T-33ANX Silver Star Mk 2 : a Canadair prototype with a Rolls-Royce Nene 10 engine
- CT-133 Silver Star Mk 3 : Production version
- CT-133 Silver Star Mk 3PT : unarmed version
- CT-133 Silver Star Mk 3AT : armed version
- CT-133 Silver Star Mk 3PR : reconnaissance aircraft
- CE-133 : Training aircraft with EloKa equipment
- CX-133 : Test aircraft for ejection seats
- ET-133 : enemy display aircraft
- TE-133 : enemy representation aircraft for the Navy
- T-1 Seastar
- T-1A : heavily modified T-33 for use on aircraft carriers, 150 built, originally referred to as "T2V-1"
US production
Acceptance of the T-33 by the USAF:
version | 1948 | 1949 | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | TOTAL |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
TF-80C | 20th | 27 | 47 | ||||||||||
T-33A | 58 | 112 | 163 | 817 | 961 | 745 | 319 | 241 | 253 | 256 | 165 | 4090 | |
TV-2 Navy | 26th | 41 | 105 | 124 | 150 | 209 | 8th | 36 | 699 | ||||
T-33A MDAP | 54 | 62 | 180 | 131 | 258 | 65 | 750 | ||||||
T-33A RCAF | 14th | 14th | |||||||||||
RT-33A | 18th | 67 | 85 | ||||||||||
TOTAL | 20th | 85 | 138 | 272 | 984 | 1265 | 1044 | 853 | 314 | 289 | 256 | 165 | 5685 |
Users
The T-33 was used by the following air forces:
- Ethiopia
- Bangladesh
- Belgium
- 38 × T-33A, 1 × RT-33A since 1952
- Bolivia
- Canadair CT-133 (until July 31, 2017)
- Brazil
- Chile
- Denmark
- Germany
- the Air Force of the Armed Forces received 1,956 to 59,192 T-33A
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- France
- also Canadair CT-133
- Greece
- also Canadair CT-133
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Italy
- Japan
- Yugoslavia
- Canada
- Canadair CT-133
- Colombia
- Cuba
- Laos
- Libya
- Mexico
- Myanmar
- Nicaragua
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Philippines
- Portugal
- also Canadair CT-133
- Saudi Arabia
- Singapore
- Republic of Singapore Air Force
- Spain
- South Korea
- Taiwan
- Air Force of the Republic of China
- Thailand
- Turkey
- also Canadair CT-133
- United States
- US Air Force
- US Navy T2V-1 / T-1 / T-1A "Sea Star"
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
Technical specifications
Parameter | T-33A | T-1A |
---|---|---|
crew | Flight instructor and student pilot | |
length | 11.51 m | 11.75 m |
span | 11.85 m | 13.05 m |
height | 3.56 m | 4.06 m |
Wing area | 21.81 m² | k. A. |
Empty mass | 3,667 kg | 5,438 kg |
Takeoff mass | 6,551 kg | 7,636 kg |
drive | Allison J33-A-35 with 24.1 kN thrust | Allison J33-A-24 / 24A with 27.7 kN thrust |
Top speed | 879 km / h | 973 km / h |
Service ceiling | 14,630 m | 12,200 m |
Largest range | 700 km | 1,448 km |
Armament | 2 × 12.7 mm MG possible | no |
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Airventure page about Reno
- ↑ Statistical Digest of the USAF 1948, p. 16; 1949, p. 164 f .; 1951, p. 158; 1952, p. 158; 1953, p. 185 f .; 1954, pp. 70 f .; 1955, p. 80 f .; 1956, p. 91 f .; 1957, p. 97 f .; 1958, p. 72 f .; 1959, p. 68 f.
- ↑ User ( Memento from July 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive )