Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star (Canadair CT-133A Silver Star) "Ace Maker III"
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 Even after it was withdrawn from training units in the mid-1950s, it soldiered on as a “hack” aircraft for units, a familiarization aircraft, advanced trainer, and aggressor aircraft,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.
Though painted as a T-33A, "Ace Maker III" is actually a Canadair-built CT-133A; it entered service with the RCAF in the late 1950s as 133610. It was one of the last CT-133s to be retired from service in 2005, and may have been flying with the Aerospace Engineering Test Center (AETC) at CAF Cold Lake, Alberta at the time. About 15 CT-133s were put on the open market between 2005-2008, a windfall for warbird collectors. 133610 was bought by Dash One of Wilmington, Delaware and flew for several years still in its CAF colors. In 2010, it was sold to Tactical Air Support at Reno, Nevada, a private company that provides aggressor aircraft to the US armed forces. 133610 went through several other owners until it was bought by David Colyer's Ace Maker Aviation in 2019. It joined two other flyable former CT-133s, appropriately as "Ace Maker III."
Seeing "Ace Maker III" was entirely an accident. My good friend Nate and I went up to the Great Falls International Airport to watch the Collings Foundation aircraft fly in from Kalispell. We saw a T-33 sitting on the ramp, and to our surprise, it was "Ace Maker III"! The pilot (sorry, Scorch, I never did get your real name) had intended to fly to an airshow at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, but a bad fuel pump caused him to land in Great Falls. Unfortunately, T-33 fuel pumps can't exactly be bought at Wal-Mart, so "Ace Maker III" was in for an unscheduled extended stay in Great Falls. Luckily for us, it was ready to go for the Mission Over Malmstrom Airshow the next weekend, where Scorch put on quite a show. Colyer and his pilots know how to get the very most out of the venerable T-33.
Like all of Colyer's T-33s, 133610 is painted as an aircraft of the 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing, based at Suwon, South Korea. The 51st FIW operated several T-33s as familiarization aircraft, and these were painted the same colors as their F-86s, with checkerboard tail markings and the large yellow recognition stripes carried by USAF F-86s in theater. It carries the false registration of "52-1610." All of Colyer's aircraft also carry nose art of an Iron Maiden-like fighter pilot. Note the open inspection panel behind the cockpit.
To see one of these old birds is something--to be able to touch one and get to meet a pilot who still flings these aircraft around was a rather nice surprise.
Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star (Canadair CT-133A Silver Star) "Ace Maker III"
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.
Though painted as a T-33A, "Ace Maker III" is actually a Canadair-built CT-133A; it entered service with the RCAF in the late 1950s as 133610. It was one of the last CT-133s to be retired from service in 2005, and may have been flying with the Aerospace Engineering Test Center (AETC) at CAF Cold Lake, Alberta at the time. About 15 CT-133s were put on the open market between 2005-2008, a windfall for warbird collectors. 133610 was bought by Dash One of Wilmington, Delaware and flew for several years still in its CAF colors. In 2010, it was sold to Tactical Air Support at Reno, Nevada, a private company that provides aggressor aircraft to the US armed forces. 133610 went through several other owners until it was bought by David Colyer's Ace Maker Aviation in 2019. It joined two other flyable former CT-133s, appropriately as "Ace Maker III."
Seeing "Ace Maker III" was entirely an accident. My good friend Nate and I went up to the Great Falls International Airport to watch the Collings Foundation aircraft fly in from Kalispell. We saw a T-33 sitting on the ramp, and to our surprise, it was "Ace Maker III"! The pilot (sorry, Scorch, I never did get your real name) had intended to fly to an airshow at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, but a bad fuel pump caused him to land in Great Falls. Unfortunately, T-33 fuel pumps can't exactly be bought at Wal-Mart, so "Ace Maker III" was in for an unscheduled extended stay in Great Falls. Luckily for us, it was ready to go for the Mission Over Malmstrom Airshow the next weekend, where Scorch put on quite a show. Colyer and his pilots know how to get the very most out of the venerable T-33.
Like all of Colyer's T-33s, 133610 is painted as an aircraft of the 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing, based at Suwon, South Korea. The 51st FIW operated several T-33s as familiarization aircraft, and these were painted the same colors as their F-86s, with checkerboard tail markings and the large yellow recognition stripes carried by USAF F-86s in theater. It carries the false registration of "52-1610." All of Colyer's aircraft also carry nose art of an Iron Maiden-like fighter pilot. Note the open inspection panel behind the cockpit.
To see one of these old birds is something--to be able to touch one and get to meet a pilot who still flings these aircraft around was a rather nice surprise.