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Aircraft instrument panel restoration

Lockheed T-33A USAF "Shooting Star" trainer aircraft front and rear cockpit instrument panels

The T-33 aircraft

The T-33 was used as a trainer aircraft for the USAF and was derived from the Lockheed P-80C "Shooting Star" jet fighter (later redesignated to F-80). This was the first operational jet fighter of the USAAF and the A version (P-80A) flew for the first time in 1944. The P-80 was phased out of service shortly after the Korean war. The T-33A trainer derived from the one-seater P-80C was also called the TF-80C. The F-94A and F-94B "Starfire" all-weather fighters were derived in 1949 from the T-33A (see picture at lower right below). The Dutch Air Force also used T-33 aircraft for jet training. Some pictures of this aircraft are shown in the gallery below, together with a picture of an F-94C (information Rob West) and one of an F-84 panel, which contained similar instruments as the T-33.

USAF T-33 Nose art starboard side   Lucky Strike T-33 nose art port side
Port and starboard side nose art on a USAF T-33 that was stationed in Germany, BuNo unknown. Nose section was salvaged from a scrap yard. It is being restored by Andreas Bauer, who kindly provided these pictures.

If you want to comment on this page or have T-33 cockpit or other images available, please contact me by e-mail at maartenwaterloo@netscape.net.

USAF T-33 Nose section restoration by Andreas Bauer

Andreas Bauer recently acquired a nose section of a USAF T-33 from a scrap yard in Germany. Below are some images of the present condition of this section.

USAF T-33 Nose section
Nose section of a USAF T-33 that was stationed in Germany. Photo courtesy of Andreas Bauer.

Image gallery

This gallery contains pictures of T-33 aircrafts of the Dutch Air Force. Some of these pictures were used for aircraft recognition purposes. There is an image of an American T-33 and of a T-33 instrument panel that has been used for training purposes at a Dutch Flight School. In one of the lower rows, an F-94C Starfire is shown, as well as a picture of an F-84 instrument panel, which contains similar instrumentation as used in the T-33. I also included scans of the instrument panels as shown in different T-33 flight manuals. Larger images can be viewed by clicking on the images. Note: the typical size of the larger images is between the 100-200 Kb.

Dutch T-33 in flight Dutch T-33 in flight
Two dutch T-33 in flight Formation of dutch T-33 aircraft Formation of dutch T-33 aircraft
Dutch T-33s in flight Dutch T-33 being serviced
Dutch T-33
T-33 going vertical
T-33 seen from below
American T-33 in flight
Dutch T-33 in flight
Dutch T-33
Canadian T-33
Dutch T-33 in formation
T-33 flying in formation
F-94C Starfire
F-94 Starfire
C-11 link trainer panel
C-11 Link trainer panel
T-33 panel Leon Sleegers
T-33 panel from Leon
Rear T-33 panel, Hoofddorp
T-33 at ROC Hoofddorp
F-84 instrument panel, Museum in France
F-84 displayed at Musee d'Aviation du Mas Palegry, France
T-33A cockpit, Mexican Air Force
Port view of T-33A cockpit from Mexican Air Force, previously RCAF (photo courtesy of Héctor Romo de Vivar L.). With K-14 gun sight.
 T-33A cockpit, Mexican Air Force
Starboard view of T-33A cockpit from Mexican Air Force, previously RCAF (photo courtesy of Héctor Romo de Vivar L.).
 T-33A instrument panel, Mexican Air Force
T-33A main panel from Mexican Air Force, previously RCAF (photo courtesy of Héctor Romo de Vivar L.).

USAF T-33 and Navy TV-2 cockpit versions
T-33 and TV-2 flight manual cover page
1952		 Front main panel, type T-33-5 Rear instrument panel, T-33-5
T-33A and TV-2 flight manual cover page
1955		 Front main panel, type T-33-5 and TV-2 Front main panel, type T-33-5
T-33A flight manual cover page
1960		 Front main panel, type T-33-5 and TV-2 Front main panel, type T-33-5
Rear instrument panel, T-33A-5 T-33A flight manual cover page
1961		 T-33 Front instrument panel, T-33-5
Rear instrument panel, T-33A-5 T-33A flight manual cover page
(1968 and) 1973
T-33A flight manual cover page
Side consoles, 1960		 Front left panel, T-33-5
Front right panel, T-33-5 Rear left panel, T-33-5 Rear right panel, T-33-5

USAF T-33 Aircraft on display at the Veterans Memorial Park, Fort Garland, Colorado

John Busby sent me the picture below of a T-33 that is on display at the Veterans Memorial Park, Fort Garland, Colorado. The tail code of the aircraft is 8064. It was donated to Costilla County to serve as a tribute and memorial to all military veterans. This aircraft was previously on display at a private museum in Battle Mountain, Nevada. The aircraft is on display just south of U.S. Highway 160 and was installed on October 29, 2007, by Worldwide Aircraft Recovery, of Omaha, Nebraska.

T-33 at the Veterans Memorial Park, Fort Garland, Colorado
Lockheed USAF T-33 trainer aircraft displayed at the Veterans Memorial Park, Fort Garland, Colorado. Image made in April 2008 by John Busby.

T-33 Aircraft on display at Affligem, Belgium

Patrick Vanhamel pointed out to me that there is a Lockheed T-33 on display along the E-40/A-10 Brussels - Oostende highway, near the exit to Affligem (exit 19a not far from Brussels). The airplane is clearly visible from the highway when travelling in the direction of Gent. The aircraft rests in a field of car dealer P. Fouquaert and you can get quite close to it when you take the exit and drive towards Essene/Affligem. This Lockheed T-33 aircraft was used by the Belgian Air Force and had tail number FT-25 (BuNo. 53-5742). Apparantly it had an oxygen fire and was deemed beyond repairs and scrapped. The image below shows the aircraft as photographed by Tom Houquet in June 2004 (source www.airliners.net).

T-33 near Affligem, Belgium, June 2004
Lockheed T-33 trainer aircraft displayed along the E-40 highway  near Affligem, Belgium. Image made in June 2004 by Tom Houguet, source http://www.airliners.net.

The aircraft was already in a poor state in 2004 but is now literally falling apart. The burden of heavy snowfall on the wings in March 2006 has caused them to bend/break off the fuselage and both tiptanks are now resting on the soil. This aircraft would form a nice restoration project for someone with space, time and dedication.

T-33 near Affligem, Belgium, April 2006
The same T-33 aircraft at Affligem, Belgium. Photograph made on 15 April, 2006 by M.J. Waterloo.

Tail section of the FT-25 T-33 airplane, Affligem, April 2006
  Tailsection, T-33, Affligem, April 2006.
 Nose section of the FT-25 T-33 airplane, Affligem, April 2006
Nose section starboard side, T-33, Affligem, April 2006.
Nose detail, T-33, Affligem, April 2006
Nose section port side, T-33 Affligem, April 2006.
 Lockheed T-33, Affligem, Belgium
Front view detail, T-33 Affligem, Belgium.
T-33, Affligem, April 2006
Starboard view T-33, Affligem. April 2006.
 T-33 front view, Affligem, April 2006.
Front view T-33, Affligem. April 2006.

Lockheed T-33 Front and rear instrument panels

Pictures of front and rear panels can be viewed below. The first one is the front "student" panel with black paint finish. This panel is nearly complete, only missing the "obtain course setting from other cockpit" warning light. The second one is the rear panel, which is complete, except for the lighting. You can click on the images to see larger versions.

T-33A front panel, Mexican Air Force
T-33A main panel and sub-panels from the Mexican Air Force, previously bought from the RCAF (photo courtesy of Héctor Romo de Vivar L.).

USAF T-33 Front instrument panel
USAF T-33A front pilot's instrument panel (Photograph: veaceonee).

Canadian CT-133 AUP Ejection seat test aircraft

Anthony is a technician on Boeing 757-200 aircraft for Continental Airlines in Newark, NJ. He bought a surplus Canadiar CT-133 AUP Ejection Seat Testbed aircraft from the Canadian DND and sent me the following picture of its front instrument panel (there is no backseat on this aircraft). He is always on the lookout for spares, especially for the Nene 10 engine of this aircraft. If you have any parts available, please contact me at maartenwaterloo@netscape.net and I will relay your message to him.

CT-133 front panel
Front cockpit instrument panel of a CT-133 AUP Ejection Seat Testbed aircraft with tail no. 133648. The avionics is modernised. Image courtesy of Anthony.

T-33 Links

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If you want to comment on this page, please contact me by e-mail at maartenwaterloo@netscape.net.


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