First Flight After Restoration! T-33 Silver Star  

Thanks for the memory. The thrill of flying that "Jet" all alone in the sky or as number four in a four ship will never be forgotten. There may be better airplanes in the sky, but none of them will duplicate the love of flying that I got from the old T-bird.

First aircraft I ever worked on in the early 50s, and, some years later on the job, got to ride the back seat Long live the T-Bird !!

My dad was a RCAF Pilot. His very first T-33 flight was on 346 on March 18, 1957. He would eventually log 2434 hrs on the T-33. His name was Wayne Plumbtree.

My father was an RCAF engineering officer on the team that reopened Gimli, MacDonald and Portage in 1950 to start up the training program for "pipeliners" for NORAD and No. 1 Air Division in NATO. They trained pilots for nine squadrons of CF100Ss (18 fighters) for Air Defence Command and twelve squadrons (25 fighters) of Canadair Sabre 2, 5 and 6 for NATO/4ATAF. At one time his office was next to the jet engine test cell (RR Nene I believe) and he developed hearing loss as a result, late in life. He became chief instructor at RCAF Clinton after 1955. The RCAF was pretty impressive at that time. The Pinetree Line radar stations crossed Canada and our air defence responsibilities covered half of the Western world.

When I was in 410 Sqn in Cold Lake I used to watch AETE T-birds all the time. They are beautiful aircraft.

Excelente video desde chile abrazo y feliz año 2021 esos aviones lo tuvimos 😮😮🇨🇱

Memories. I worked Avionics on these while stationed at OSAN AB S. Korea

We had a informal chat with the Borden museum people and they have plans for all of them or they are waiting to transfer to their new homes. Hope we can find one and give it a good home sooner then later.

Will do. I love to make it up there and check those out. I wish I would have gotten my pilot's license, it was a turbojet rating, because that is one plain I would love to fly. Just saw where there's one for sale for $279,000 online. That would be a dream purchase. Thanks for the info. If I make it up to Ontario I will certainly visit.

I'm a bit late to the party haha, video posted almost 10 years ago. Anyhow, I was a technician in Baden Germany working on these during the Cold War. We had 133345 on the inventory, 346's older sister. ;-) She was the 1st T-bird in the CF to log 10,000 flying hours, 1983 if memory serves. I had some memorable back seat rides in this Lockheed masterpiece. The pilot that took her up in this clip clearly has a few hours in T-33, wheels up toute de suite & a nice banking climb once he had the flaps up & some airspeed..... noice....

Thanks for the video. Saw more than one of these while in the Air Force and there's usually 1 or 2 of 'em at the Stead, Nevada airport, a couple being in Canadian markings. Wish someone would come out with a video explaining the procedure in buying one....not that I could afford one, but still.... What did it cost to buy, then having it gone thru to make sure it was mechanically air worthy, flying it, qualifications of the pilot, training a newbie, etc.

I flew this jet

Great aircraft.. :)

Why the modern dull grey national markings? But still a beautifully restored plane!

Mr finnigan yes there are please do research,only 1 in flying condition and a few replicas,yes you are right at the numbers there is more p-80s

When I was in the USAF, back in the early eighties, I was in munitions line delivery. One day, while sitting in our vehicle on the flight line, I looked over at the main taxi way, and my jaw dropped. There were six, shiny T33s taxiing out to the end of runway for takeoff. I couldn't believe it. These planes had long been retired from active service, and were mostly museum pieces and privately owned airshow birds. But there they were. It turns out that the 48th Fighter Interceptor Squadron maintained several for training purposes. They were adequate for training and a hell of a lot cheaper to operate than the big F15s that were in use at the time. I had an ear to ear grin. I've always wondered what became of those planes. I hope they didn't get sent to the Arizona desert for scrapping. That would be a tragedy.

my father was pilot on this plane since 1957 to 1976 in Yugoslav army and he was realy good in his yob

Hey Guys! Congratulations! I know I'm 12 years late, but how about restoring a CF-100? I know there is one sitting in Hamilton. What are the chances? Have a chat with AgentJayz ,I'm sure he could hook you up with a couple of engines. 😃👍

If this was the 1st flight after a restore then why are there 2 people in the plane? FAA REGS states you need some many hours(25 to 40 I believe) before passengers are allowed.

You guy should take one of CF-100 in Base borden, becauce, they own Three of them!!

air show pilot died on take off T-33 Northrop Grumman wile ago?

You can see one in the classic Sci-Fi movie "This Island Earth"

T-33: aka F-80 Shooting Star: aka P-80 Shooting Star.

Beautiful bird. What engine is in this restoration? Is it still a J33?

I flew F4-J,but sat in a T-33 ...superb jet..more like a vintage car than the Phantom.which was like 70`s supercars.

Isn't there anyone on this planet that can hold a camera steady?

That’s cool. It’s an old Canadian jet. Lol

My favourite dream jet ❤️👍

Flew these from '63 to '67. About 1400 hours in USAF T-Birds, one flight in the Canadian version. The USAF J-33 Allison engine had 4600 pounds of thrust and the Canadian Nene engine about 5400. Great airplane, especially for teaching instruments. Also, for taking cross-countries, as every AF Base seemed to have T-Birds and the necessary maintenance and support.

Esta "Chulada" de avión da un pilotaje brutal. Lástima que consumía mucho combustible y lo descontinuaron en México. Excelente video. Saludos desde Tehuacán, Puebla y buenos vuelos. 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽

I live in La Paz, Bolivia South America, and the Bolivian Air Force still has a couple of this beautiful planes flying now and then!

I live in squadron housing HWY 24 AFB EH? I know pilot in one got fly over top by a new jet fighter EH? VA spent money on MIG & T-33 dog fight Kingsville TX air show. B-28 gas in my eyes EH? T-22 in GGW air show EH? Michael's Navy EH?

Not sure my last reply went through. Anyway, I was saying that if I ever get the opportunity, I will definitely come to the Jet Aircraft Museum in Ontario. That would be a real treat. Plus I operate a small Aviation blog so the photos and stories would be a great article. I wish I would have gotten my pilot's license and gotten a turbojet rating because if I was ever going to fly a former military bird, the T-33 would have been it. Thanks for the invitation JAM. I'll look you guys up if I get the chance.

The P80 flew just a couple of years after Germanys Me262 fabled jet of WWII and its still flying. are the Me262's NO

The T-33 (#2)and of course the F-104G Starfighter (#1) are my all-time favorite jets.... I grew up having seen both fly in the Belgian Air Force where they were the mainstay or decades and could be admired on pretty much every airshow.

There is one for sale at Bartow Air Base in Florida. It can be bought cheap. It needs work. It has not flown in about 4 years. Ask around who owns it. Everyone on the base knows the present owner. I cannot put it on this post.

They had one flying at Detroit Aero Mechannics High School back in sixty three. I think Popeye flew it back then.

I grew up in Milwaukee Wisconsin right near the airport. As kid we saw this aircraft and the F-89 Scorpion flying around all the time. Thanks for posting this video, great memories.

I noticed that none of the ground crew appear to be wearing ear protectors. This is bound to damage their hearing, especially of higher frequencies.

F. U. P. M. ... Priceless!

My stepfather and his friend are mounting a CT-133 or T-33 to a post and trying to make a weathervane. They got the plane in pieces and it has come a long ways. Will be nice to see it all done just outside the Princeton, BC Canada airport. :)

The guys got the CT-133 weathervane mounted today!! It looks great and actually works. I took a short video of it this evening with my old Sony Cybershot non HD cam. I hope the video response works here. I have photos of it too. The thing looks totally amazing considering it would have been total scrap.

Cool airplane! I rode on one during AFROTC basic training. Beautiful restoration!

Yeah I will do that if they want to see them. :) I will have them on my Facebook page and also might do a walk around video and throw up on youtube next week when they hoist her into place. It looks decent considering it was going to be scrap! The guy who had it sat on it for years without doing anything. The plane parts were in rat infested boxes and in very sad shape. Too bad the dang rodents chewed up some nice old parts and wiring! All in all it should look great for little old Princeton.

I miss that place I went on a class trip there

Worked on some a hundred years ago

To bad there isn't a cf100 flying

I was one of the last RCAF students to train on the T-33 and I believe Colonel Tinson and I flew the last flight out of Moose Jaw to play bridge at the officer's mess in Rivers circa 1969. I loved that Rolls Royce engine. If I could find one and had the money, I would own one.

Great plane... I wish I had the money to restore one and fly it.

That sounds like a massive weathervane! Be sure to send pictures to the museum when it's complete! Wish all T-33's could be kept airworthy but having it on display in such a unique way will sure be interesting!

Outstanding ! Well done Canada ! Love those classic first-generation jets like the T-33 and the F9F Panther !

Not only is that Cold War, that is cool.

Indeed, we couldn't agree more! Something about it's shape is just right.

He missed the woof test at the beginning.

So much resect for the efforts - thanks.

Stupid question. Did any model of the T33 have an autopilot?

A very nice resoration and she seemed to fly great!

how much did this cost to Restore this Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star to airworthy condition????

Absolutely.. it looks like an aircraft.. a pilots plane! Not like the computers with wings that pilots wrap around themselves these days.. no offence intended to the latest designs of modern jets and drones but they look more sci-fi than anything else..

One of the view aeros with radiator engine (like this f.. Me 262)

Where is this plane located?