Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star
The T-33 was designed to be simple, robust, and easy to fly for trainee pilots, though it was intended at first to be only used for propeller-qualified pilots to transition into jets. As propeller aircraft were mostly phased out of the independent US Air Force’s inventory, the service made the decision to go to an “all-jet” training syllabus, and as a result pilots began flying T-33s in flight school.
The “T-Bird,” as it became known, could still be unforgiving in certain circumstances, and was less forgiving as the T-37 Tweet or the T-38 Talon that would eventually replace it. It also was an aircraft for practical jokers: the in-and-outs of the T-33 was something only experienced pilots knew well, and trainees could be subjected to all kinds of tricks by the instructor pilot. The T-33 was, however, eminently reliable. Even after it was withdrawn from training units in the mid-1950s, it soldiered on as a “hack” aircraft for units, a familiarization aircraft, advanced trainer, and aggressor aircraft, especially in Air Defense Command and Air National Guard units.
Well into the 1980s, T-33s could be found in frontline USAF units, and it was said that, when the last F-16 was retired, the pilot would hitch a ride home in a T-Bird. While this did not prove true, it was not off by much—the last USAF T-33s did not leave the inventory until around 1988. The US Navy also used T-33s, including both standard Shooting Stars and the heavily modified TV-1 Seastar, which had a larger engine, reworked tail, and strengthened fuselage for carrier operations. While the Seastar was replaced in the 1960s by the T-2 Buckeye, standard T-33s remained as test and chase aircraft for the Navy’s test squadrons into the 1990s.
Because of its robustness and cheap flyaway price, the T-33 was also popular with foreign air forces: no less than 41 nations operated T-33s at one time or another, and it was license-built in Japan by Kawasaki and in Canada as the CT-133 Silver Star, which differed from US-built aircraft only in using a Rolls-Royce Nene engine. While it was usually used in the trainer role, many were modified for a variety of roles, including armed AT-33s and reconnaissance RT-33s (some of which were also used by the USAF). AT-33s, which were basically two-seat F-80s, were used in several conflicts worldwide, mainly in South America; many of these nations did not retire their Shooting Stars until the late 1990s—Canada did not retire its last CT-133s until 2008, and Boeing Aircraft has two T-33As on charge as chase aircraft. 6557 T-33s were built overall, and today over 80 and possibly as many as a hundred survive, with many still flyable.
57-0590's history is a little murky; it may have spent its entire career with the 5th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron ("Spittin' Kittens") at Minot AFB, North Dakota. When it was retired in 1978, it was donated to the South Dakota Air and Space Museum at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota. It retains the famous Spittin' Kittens lightning bolt on the tail and patch on the fuselage; the squadron colors are repeated on the tiptanks. Like all T-33s assigned to Air Defense Command as "hacks" and familiarization trainers, 57-0590 is painted in overall ADC Gray.
Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star
The T-33 was designed to be simple, robust, and easy to fly for trainee pilots, though it was intended at first to be only used for propeller-qualified pilots to transition into jets. As propeller aircraft were mostly phased out of the independent US Air Force’s inventory, the service made the decision to go to an “all-jet” training syllabus, and as a result pilots began flying T-33s in flight school.
The “T-Bird,” as it became known, could still be unforgiving in certain circumstances, and was less forgiving as the T-37 Tweet or the T-38 Talon that would eventually replace it. It also was an aircraft for practical jokers: the in-and-outs of the T-33 was something only experienced pilots knew well, and trainees could be subjected to all kinds of tricks by the instructor pilot. The T-33 was, however, eminently reliable. Even after it was withdrawn from training units in the mid-1950s, it soldiered on as a “hack” aircraft for units, a familiarization aircraft, advanced trainer, and aggressor aircraft, especially in Air Defense Command and Air National Guard units.
Well into the 1980s, T-33s could be found in frontline USAF units, and it was said that, when the last F-16 was retired, the pilot would hitch a ride home in a T-Bird. While this did not prove true, it was not off by much—the last USAF T-33s did not leave the inventory until around 1988. The US Navy also used T-33s, including both standard Shooting Stars and the heavily modified TV-1 Seastar, which had a larger engine, reworked tail, and strengthened fuselage for carrier operations. While the Seastar was replaced in the 1960s by the T-2 Buckeye, standard T-33s remained as test and chase aircraft for the Navy’s test squadrons into the 1990s.
Because of its robustness and cheap flyaway price, the T-33 was also popular with foreign air forces: no less than 41 nations operated T-33s at one time or another, and it was license-built in Japan by Kawasaki and in Canada as the CT-133 Silver Star, which differed from US-built aircraft only in using a Rolls-Royce Nene engine. While it was usually used in the trainer role, many were modified for a variety of roles, including armed AT-33s and reconnaissance RT-33s (some of which were also used by the USAF). AT-33s, which were basically two-seat F-80s, were used in several conflicts worldwide, mainly in South America; many of these nations did not retire their Shooting Stars until the late 1990s—Canada did not retire its last CT-133s until 2008, and Boeing Aircraft has two T-33As on charge as chase aircraft. 6557 T-33s were built overall, and today over 80 and possibly as many as a hundred survive, with many still flyable.
57-0590's history is a little murky; it may have spent its entire career with the 5th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron ("Spittin' Kittens") at Minot AFB, North Dakota. When it was retired in 1978, it was donated to the South Dakota Air and Space Museum at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota. It retains the famous Spittin' Kittens lightning bolt on the tail and patch on the fuselage; the squadron colors are repeated on the tiptanks. Like all T-33s assigned to Air Defense Command as "hacks" and familiarization trainers, 57-0590 is painted in overall ADC Gray.