T-33 Stuck in Albania

[Wildchild]

http://jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=6 ... e#comments

So..... How did this thing get there???

[P51Mstg]

On display at the Gjirokaster Castle (National Museum of Arms), Southern Albania. On 23 December 1957 this plane landed at Tirana Airport after being intercepted by Albanian Air Force MiGs. Legend says that the plane was on a spying mission. The fate of the US pilot remains unclear.

Mark H

PS: I read the caption for the picture.......

[Wildchild]

On display at the Gjirokaster Castle (National Museum of Arms), Southern Albania. On 23 December 1957 this plane landed at Tirana Airport after being intercepted by Albanian Air Force MiGs. Legend says that the plane was on a spying mission. The fate of the US pilot remains unclear.

Mark H

PS: I read the caption for the picture.......

I ment the real story, as in why was it spying on albania of all places and what happened to the pilot

[P51Mstg]

I saw "Wag the Dog", they started a war with us.......

Try this..........

http://www.milavia.net/specials/albania_t-33/index.htm

He got lost.....

Mark H

[Ken]

If you google T-33, Albania, 1957, a number of references surface.

http://www.milavia.net/specials/albania_t-33/index.htm

Only one hit even mentions "RT-33", most say the airplane was repositioning from Greece to France during the heyday of USAFE. It wouldn't be a surprise for the Albanian gov't of 1957 to claim spying and thump its chest over forcing the T-33 down - certainly more impressive sounding than watching a guy lost and low on fuel make a precautionary landing. Of course, he may have been snooping around too, but that just seems less likely. The pilot's fate would be nice to know regardless.

Ken

[jmkendall]

I posted this, but for some reason it didn't post. The pilot was released within a couple of weeks and said he had been treated fairly. The fault was due to faulty instruments.

[JohnB]

Does the aircraft have a RT-33 nose? No.
If it doesn't, I doubt it was on a spy mission.


If it was on a spy mission, the Albanians would be able to find the gear.
Hec, give me a screw driver and I could find the gear.
To the communists of the 50s...ANY western jet was on a spy misson...if it made military sense or not.

[Wildchild]

I posted this on another fourm and a guy replyed with ALOT of pictures and information on the T-33

*Everything below me was originally posted by someone elts, not me*

http://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/t ... cseen.html

[quote author=shyrsio link=topic=16573.msg309062#msg309062 date=1350043868]
Than is a T-33 indeed. it forced to land in 23rd December 1957 while on a route from France to Greece or Yugoslavia.






it was preserved at the museum in the Castle of Gjirokaster for decades in a very good condition by the regime, and its still there, but it looks horrible now. The democratic governments from 1991 on didn't really pay attention to anything left from the comunist period sadly, however valuable it might be.


You are right Sleepingdragon! right after the breakup with the Soviets we connected with China, wich was a very prosperous time for Albania. When we parted ways with China too, it was the darkest period of the comunism in Albania.
About the Migs: Only a few Mig-15 bis were Soviet, tehre were some Czechoslovakian Mig-15 UTIs, and the rest were all Chinese build.
here are some pictures i took some years ago

in the sixth pic you can see a pathetic restoration attempt.
















[/quote]

[JDK]

To the communists of the 50s...ANY western jet was on a spy misson...if it made military sense or not.

To be fair John, there were an awful lot of western jets that were spying.

And the spy aircraft didn't need to be jets or have photo or monitoring equipment 'fitted'. The RAF operated camera equipped Percival Pembrokes - fitted with hidden camera kit - and from Gatow in Berlin, several DHC Chipmunks equipped with Mk.I eyeball, pencil and paper on now disclosed spying missions.

Interestingly several of the Berlin Chippies and at least one 'spy' Pembroke are preserved.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRIXMIS

http://www.classicflightclub.com/aircra ... e+&acID=12

However the base rule of conspiracy theory applies in this case, I'd agree - secret plans give way to human error most of the time.

Regards,

[maxum96]

In his book, Chuck Yeager talked about flying with Jackie Cochran to Russia and taking pictures and spying when they flew there in her personal Lodestar back in the 50's.

[score1952]

This T-33A was assigned to the USAFE's Chateauroux Air Station in Chateauroux, France. My father and family including me lived there from 1957 to 1960 when my father was assigned to Chateauroux Air Station. For decades, I heard my father talk about a pilot from Chateauroux Air Station flying a T-33A from France to neighboring Italy. Somehow the USAF pilot became lost and ended up over-flying Italy getting lost and finally landing in Albania behind the Iron Curtain of that time. It was not until decades later with the advent of the Internet that I could find out the details of this story and whether this actually occurred. Obviously, from the photos it did. A T-33A assigned to a base would most likely be used for "pilot proficiency" flying. Chateauroux Air Station was a major air depot for maintenance of USAF aircraft in Europe. Many rated officers were assigned to desk jobs there. To keep up their flight proficiency, a plane like the T-33A was perfect. The USAF had at the time a career path for a rated pilot to train in a specialty outside flying where assignments alternated between desk jobs and full time flying assignments. Just prior to this assignment in 1957 to Chateauroux Air Station, my father had been a full time instument instructor pilot in the T-33A and the C-47 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. I would imagine that during my father's time from 1957 to 1960 in France that he was possibly an instrument instructor check pilot for the T-33A where he would fly with and evaluate other pilots which in this case would be the T-33A. My father stated that the pilot for this T-33A who got lost flying and ended up in Albania was not a competent instrument pilot and should not have been allowed to fly the T-33A at the time of the incident. I do not know if my father ever flew with the pilot who became lost on a short flight from France to Italy flyng this T-33A to the communist country of Albania. I would imagine that my father most likely had flown this specific T-33A before it was lost to the communist country of Albania. In spite of the other posts, there was no spy mission going on in this case as my father apparently knew the pilot, possibly had flown with this pilot, and felt that the pilot was not a capable instrument pilot. Attached is a link to this late December, 1957 event.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1 ... 54,2048231

[Tillerman]

I took some pictures of this T-33 in August 2014: http://www.panoramio.com/user/311774/tags/T-33

Re: the"pathetic restoration attempt" as mentioned by wildchild is not so much as pathetic; it is more a lack of funds. Albania is the poorest country of Europe -yet it is the 3rd economy in terms of growth. In other words: they work very, very hard to overcome the poverty from the Hoxha period. A museum piece is therefore not a priority. Visit Albania and experience the friendliness and hospitality of the people, as well the beauty of the country. We did and fell in love with the country and its people.

Tillerman.

[Chris Brame]

Looks like a few generations of Albanian kids had fun playing on it - must have been pretty strong kids to have bent the fin over like that.
Well, we gave them a T-33, and they gave us John and Jim Belushi - let's call it even.

[shrike]

Well, we gave them a T-33, and they gave us John and Jim Belushi - let's call it even.

I'd rather be grateful for Eliza Dushku, m'self.



PS My brother was Jim's locker partner at Wheaton Central