It's funny when you think of it, when the Jet age began, apparently that first generation of planes were so good it left little room for improvement and many of the current day jets still incorporate features from those first generation jets.
But every so now and then it's the two seat trainer version of a jet which becomes the true hero, sometimes overshadowing the original single seat version.
Which happened to the first US-built jet fighter to actively enter service: the Lockheed P-80 (Later the P for "Pursuit" would be changed to F for "Fighter" making it the F-80) Shooting star.
http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/URG/images/p80shootingstar-2.jpg
The Shooting star was yet another winner produced by the legendary "Skunk works" and entered service in the late stages of the second world war but never saw action. But the pilots who flew the Shooting star quickly found that their new plane was very forgiving and easy to fly and with that feedback Lockheed tried their hand at turning the F-80 into a trainer aircraft. Resulting into the TF-80C, or to use the designation that everybody knows it by: the T-33.
http://eindhoven-in-beeld.nl.s3.amazonaws.com/10230.jpg
A T-33 from the Royal Netherlands Air Force.
With the T-33 the USAF now had an advanced trainer that could be used to school pilots for flying jets, it also meant that other builders didn't need to develop twin seat versions of their fighters. Because of the T-33 being develloped from a fighter itself and thus having the performance of that fighter. As a result, there were no twin seat versions of contemporary jets like the Republic F-84 Thunderjet or the North American F-86 Sabre, they simply weren't needed, the T-33 was the perfect jet platform for the pilots to hone their skills on.
And with that Lockheed had a hot item on their hands and produced way more T-33's than F-80's. A total of 6,557 T-33 in all versions and license made in Canada and Japan were produced compared to 1,714 of it's older single seat sibling. And as a testament to it's design: the T-33 is still in frontline service with several airforces sixty years after it first took to the air.
At the other side of the iron curtain, another early Jet-fighter had a similar fate although it's single seat version is far better known in the West, it was the trainer version of that Jet on which many eastern bloc pilot cut their teeth on and was in service longer than it's single seat sibling.
http://www.ufonet.be/RESIMLER/savasucak/buyukler/mig15.jpg
The MiG 15.
Now I don't need to tell about where the reputation that the word "MiG" got came from, it was this stubby, rough but at the same time powerful and dangerous jet. The MiG 15 was the Telecaster of the Jets: made to be able to perform under the roughest conditions, easy to built, easy to maintain and easy to fly. In the Korean war the Mig 15 proved itself a capable warrior.
http://dictatorshipoftheair.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/mig15uti.jpg
But it was it's twin seat version that was the unsung hero here. Similar to what happened to the T-33 in the USA, the MiG 15 UTI (Russian for "Utschebno Trenirowotschnyi Istrebitjel" meaning Advanced Fighter trainer) was such a capable aircraft that there wasn't any need for twin seat versions of contemporary jet fighters like the MiG 17, the MiG 19, the Su 9 and even the earliest versions of the MiG 21.
So while the single seat version of the feared MiG 15 was quickly deemed obsolete, it's twin seat version flew for many decades, only being phased out well into the Seventies when the Aero L-29 Delphin, Aero L-39 Albatross and the MiG 21 UTI replaced it. Giving it a respectable service length of almost 30 years.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1147/4724521971_0102d8a1e2.jpg
Currently none of the many MiG 15 UTI's is still in military service but many of those jets are still being flown by flight clubs and jet enthusiasts, they are easy to find, easy to maintain and easy to fly, the reasons why it was such a succes in the first place.
But every so now and then it's the two seat trainer version of a jet which becomes the true hero, sometimes overshadowing the original single seat version.
Which happened to the first US-built jet fighter to actively enter service: the Lockheed P-80 (Later the P for "Pursuit" would be changed to F for "Fighter" making it the F-80) Shooting star.
http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/URG/images/p80shootingstar-2.jpg
The Shooting star was yet another winner produced by the legendary "Skunk works" and entered service in the late stages of the second world war but never saw action. But the pilots who flew the Shooting star quickly found that their new plane was very forgiving and easy to fly and with that feedback Lockheed tried their hand at turning the F-80 into a trainer aircraft. Resulting into the TF-80C, or to use the designation that everybody knows it by: the T-33.
http://eindhoven-in-beeld.nl.s3.amazonaws.com/10230.jpg
A T-33 from the Royal Netherlands Air Force.
With the T-33 the USAF now had an advanced trainer that could be used to school pilots for flying jets, it also meant that other builders didn't need to develop twin seat versions of their fighters. Because of the T-33 being develloped from a fighter itself and thus having the performance of that fighter. As a result, there were no twin seat versions of contemporary jets like the Republic F-84 Thunderjet or the North American F-86 Sabre, they simply weren't needed, the T-33 was the perfect jet platform for the pilots to hone their skills on.
And with that Lockheed had a hot item on their hands and produced way more T-33's than F-80's. A total of 6,557 T-33 in all versions and license made in Canada and Japan were produced compared to 1,714 of it's older single seat sibling. And as a testament to it's design: the T-33 is still in frontline service with several airforces sixty years after it first took to the air.
At the other side of the iron curtain, another early Jet-fighter had a similar fate although it's single seat version is far better known in the West, it was the trainer version of that Jet on which many eastern bloc pilot cut their teeth on and was in service longer than it's single seat sibling.
http://www.ufonet.be/RESIMLER/savasucak/buyukler/mig15.jpg
The MiG 15.
Now I don't need to tell about where the reputation that the word "MiG" got came from, it was this stubby, rough but at the same time powerful and dangerous jet. The MiG 15 was the Telecaster of the Jets: made to be able to perform under the roughest conditions, easy to built, easy to maintain and easy to fly. In the Korean war the Mig 15 proved itself a capable warrior.
http://dictatorshipoftheair.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/mig15uti.jpg
But it was it's twin seat version that was the unsung hero here. Similar to what happened to the T-33 in the USA, the MiG 15 UTI (Russian for "Utschebno Trenirowotschnyi Istrebitjel" meaning Advanced Fighter trainer) was such a capable aircraft that there wasn't any need for twin seat versions of contemporary jet fighters like the MiG 17, the MiG 19, the Su 9 and even the earliest versions of the MiG 21.
So while the single seat version of the feared MiG 15 was quickly deemed obsolete, it's twin seat version flew for many decades, only being phased out well into the Seventies when the Aero L-29 Delphin, Aero L-39 Albatross and the MiG 21 UTI replaced it. Giving it a respectable service length of almost 30 years.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1147/4724521971_0102d8a1e2.jpg
Currently none of the many MiG 15 UTI's is still in military service but many of those jets are still being flown by flight clubs and jet enthusiasts, they are easy to find, easy to maintain and easy to fly, the reasons why it was such a succes in the first place.
