Lockheed TV-2 (T-33B) Navy Trainer

The relatively high performance of the turbojet engine, the high altitude environment where jet aircraft routinely operated, and the new and different demands put on pilots flying jet aircraft required that a jet trainer be developed to aid this transition to a new mode of flight.

The answer was the T-33, which was created by inserting a twenty nine inch plug ahead of the wing of a P-80, the Air Force's first operational jet fighter, and a second twelve inch plug behind the wing which provided the extra space for a second cockpit with dual controls. Ejection seats and 235 gallon jettisonable centerline tip tanks were added and, on March 22, 1948, Tony LeVier made the aircraft's first flight. The T-33 flew even better than its single seat ancestor. Cleaned up and refined, the airframe climbed faster, cruised more effortlessly and was slightly faster than its older and smaller cousins. Initially designated as a variant of the P-80/F80, the TP-80C/TF-80C, the designation was subsequently changed to T-33A.The US Navy used the T-33 as a land-based trainer starting in 1949. It was designated the TV-2, but was redesignated the T-33B in 1962.A carrier-capable version of the P-80/T-33 family was subsequently developed by Lockheed, eventually leading to the late 1950s to 1970s T2V-1/T-1A SeaStar

Included with this file are FOUR skins:

* ATU-200 Advanced Training Unit out of NAS Kingsville, Texas in 1954

* FAWTUPAC Fleet All Weather Training Unit Pacific out of NAS North Island, California in 1956

* H&MS-33 Marine headquarters and Maintenance Squadron Thirty-Three, MCAS El Toro,Calif in 1961

* NAS Glenview Naval Air Reserve Training Command, Chicago Illinois in 1962

Please see the enclosed READ-ME file for installation and of course CREDITS.