Flyhistorisk Museum Sola · Military aircraft
Lockheed T-33A
The T-33 is a development of the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star, a fighter used mostly against ground targets. The first T-33 flew in 1948. Its results in the Korean War were middling, but once it gained a second seat and became a trainer it was a success. Lockheed delivered the last T-33 in 1959 after 5,691 had been built, and the type served with most Western-aligned air forces. Norway received a number of T-33s under the US military aid programme; they went to the jet training wing (later 718 Squadron) at Sola, first alongside the Vampire and then replacing it. The first T-33s arrived by ship at Kastrup in 1953, were assembled there and flown to Sola. 718 Squadron's main task was the further training of new pilots fresh from basic training in the USA and Canada. The T-33 remained operational with 718 Squadron until 1968, when the last were transferred to Italy and France and replaced by the F-5A/B. The museum's aircraft was built for the US Air Force in 1952.
