In 1948, the T-33 Shooting Star first took flight. Over the next eleven years, Lockheed produced 5,691 of the two-seater aircraft, finally ending production
in 1959. Lockheed based the aircraft off the single-seat F-80 fighter and designed them to transition student pilots into jet aircraft and teach basic fighter maneuvers. The T-33 served several decades with air forces of more than twenty different nations.
Hill Air Force Base’s history with the T-33 began in 1953. It was then that the installation gained responsibility for repairing the Allison J33 turbojet engine used in the Shooting Star. Several units assigned to Hill Air Force Base flew this airframe, the 313th Fighter-Bomber Squadron (1955) and the 461st Bombardment Wing (1953 to 1956). Hill’s Flight Test unit was also assigned several T-33 aircraft over the years for pilot familiarization training and flight test support.
Originally delivered to the US Air Force in 1953, the T-33 on display served at various installations across the country in a pilot training capacity. In 1966, the US Air Force transferred this aircraft to the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Utah State University. This T-33 was the first aircraft acquired for the planned Hill AFB Heritage Museum (now the Hill Aerospace Museum) in 1982 by the Aerospace Heritage Foundation of Utah.
Serial Number: 51-9271
Manufacturer: Lockheed Aircraft Corporation
Primary Function: Training
Crew: Two
Engines: One Allison J-33 turbojet; 5,400 lbs thrust
Wingspan: 37 ft 6 in
Length: 37 ft 8 in
Height: 11 ft 7 in
Weight: 15,000 lbs (maximum)
Speed: 455 mph (cruising); 525 mph (maximum)
Range: 1,000 miles
Service Ceiling: 45,000 ft
Armament: Two .50-caliber machine guns
Years of Service: 1948 – 1987
