Sad,sad looking T-33

[steve dickey]

This one is located in Truth or Consequences N.M. It used to sit in a park(and I do mean sit! Its gear sunk into the ground which I think contributed to the nasty hole in the fuselage) for many years. The city wanted to get rid of it many years ago and a local group at the airport put it on display there.
Whats really astounding is this bird is nearly complete! A virtual time capsule! Most everything is still in the cockpit, inside the engine compartment still have the fire detection probes in situ.
I really got a kick outta the warning placard for the speed brakes! Makes me wonder if any current flying ones have this?

[peter]

She is sad looking but the pics show a pretty stripped cockpit with all instrument stick grips and other parts long gone. Hopefully soething can be done to save it as it would be a good restoration project.

[Lynn Allen]

Did we get a GPS for Xmas...?

Lynn

[PbyCat-Guy]

any known owners? or is it just in a field somewhere?

[steve dickey]

Its on display at the entrance to the airport. I didn't stop in to ask who was the owner.

[steve dickey]

Did we get a GPS for Xmas...?

Lynn

A "newer" one!

[richkolasa]

Anyone know of a rental place that has Chinooks or Skycranes?

Rich

[noizeedave]

EVERGREEN will rent you that Skycrane for heavy lifting

[viking73]

Sad, right down to the crushed Budweiser can in the front seat...

She isn't looking much better than the picture of her on page 48 of Rhodes Arnold's book "Shooting Star T-Bird & Starfire". This book was published back in 1981 and the picture in the book has her up on some posts at Ralph Edwards Park missing a wheel and canopy. So at least those items were replaced but the holes in the skin, yikes!

Thanks for the current pics.

[Dan K]

Aww shucks, she reminds me of Charlie Brown's Christmas tree: She just needs a little love.

(Ok, ok; she needs a whole lotta' lovin')

[TheFlash]

For many years, in Vasona Park in Los Gatos, CA. there sat a T-33 in the children's playground. It slowly was deteriorating over a period of 30 yeras and was very sad to see.

In 2005, some funds were contributed and a 'restoration' was completed. She'll never fly again considering some of the work completed included "several layers of epoxy and fiberglass cloth".

Some additional comments/excerpts:
"Serial number 53-5421, nicknamed "Shooting Star", it has been on loan since 1974 and is a kid favorite.
Concrete has been poured into the plane to prevent children crawling inside and becoming trapped (which used to happen.) You can also see the steps that allow even little kids to pretend they are jet pilots."

Here are some pics from another website (waymarking.com):









Here's a link to an article with more information about the history and restoration:
http://www.svcn.com/archives/lgwt/20050 ... ews1.shtml

Regards,
Mike

[bdk]

Well, at least it has been conserved/restored...

There is/was a gunite covered F9F in a park in Orange County, CA.

[BigGrey]

I grew up in the 60's playing in and around a Sabre Dog at Palmview Park in West Covina, CA. It was great fun crawling from the nose to the tail inside until I started to get too big. I never did get stuck. I did get burnt many times as the skin got very hot in the heat of the summer. They eventually covered this plane with gunite also.

Les

[Clifford Bossie]

That T-bird looked pretty sad the first time I remember seeing her. This is the way she looked in 1988.




By 2001 she was at the T or C airport and at least has he conopy back.

[Chris Brame]

I grew up in the 60's playing in and around a Sabre Dog at Palmview Park in West Covina, CA.

Got your sandbox Sabredog right here (scroll down a bit):

http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/p ... c&start=45

I'd like to see how it looked in the park before it was "mummified"!