Lost T-33A Shooting Star (PICS)

[Robbie Stuart]

[quote="Shay]
Ineveitalbly he wrote to the extent "you can't save them all.

All I asked him for was a little information on 510's overall condition since he saw her 2 months ago and maybe his point of contact up at Grayling range. His response was "I do not want you using my picture for your cause"

Sounds like this a-hole might have been taking pictures someplace he shouldn't & he didn't wanna tell you that! I can understand how this whole deal has got you upset. Don't loose hope, someday you will come across one you can help save.
Robbie

[Shay]

Howdy all,

Just a little update. Believe it or not I was able to track down 58-0510's last crew cheif via the all and powerful internet. MSgt. (Ret.) Russ L. Sisco seems to be a real nice guy and was also able to to explain the circumstances that led to 510 arriving at Youngstown ARB. I've copied and paste'ed his email to me and am posting his pictures with his full permission.

Hello Shay,

Wow, was this an unexpected email! Thank you for the link to your pictures of 510. I spoke to someone at Youngstown a long while back and they told me that she had ended up as a target at Avon Park range in Florida, but the picture on airliners.net seems to say that it is in Michigan. Hmmmm....

Anyway, on to the story:

I was assigned to 510 in 1984, as I recall. Before that I was Crew Chief of 58-0671. (See photo attached)
The pilot assigned to the aircraft was Lt. Paul Lockhart, who went on to become a Shuttle Astronaut. He flew twice before the Columbia accident, and has now apparently retired. Run a Google search and you will find info about him.

In December of 1985 a 2nd Lt. by the name of Glasgow took 510 on a cross country flight. While flying over Ohio the canopy suddenly departed the aircraft for no apparent reason. That was his story and he was sticking to it...) He IFE'd into Youngstown, a little cold but otherwise OK. We sent a team out to inspect the airplane and try to determine what happened and what was needed to repair it. Unfortunately, I was not able to go, but I was told by the team leader that there was nothing wrong with the canopy latching system in the aircraft, and the corresponding rollers on the recovered canopy showed no damage other that that received when it hit the ground. Lt Glasgow (afterward known as "Where'd the glass go?") wasn't disciplined for the incident, and went on with his career unimpeded and the cause, as far as I know, remained "unknown" As the T-33 was about to be phased out anyway, there wasn't a lot of effort expended in the investigation, and we were never allowed to repair the ship. It was just left at Youngstown, finally becoming a training bird for ABDR, apparently. I was hoping that it would have become a gate guard, at least...

The general consensus among the crew chiefs was this:

Lt. Glasgow hadn't been out of pilot training all that long, this being his first duty assignment and, as I said, his first solo cross country in the T-33. As such, we figured he was probably a little nervous. Now, in the T-38, which he had been flying in training, the canopy locking handle is in pretty much the same place as the T-33's, but it works in the opposite manner. That is, what is locked on the T-33 is unlocked in the T-38. We decided that he had what we all called a "Double "aw SH1T" experience".
While flying along in a relatively unfamiliar aircraft, he glanced at the canopy locking handle and, reverting back to his many hours in the T-38, instinctively felt that it was unlocked.
"Aw, SH1T..." he thought as he grabbed the handle and rammed it to the opposite position.
"Aw, SH1T!" he yelled as the canopy disappeared into the sky...

And with that, my beautiful airplane became a range target. Thanks a lot.

The 49th FIS was deactivated in 1987 and I went to McConnell AFB, Kansas as the first crew chief of B-1B #96, 86-0136. After two years I moved up to Flightline Expediter, and then retired in 1994 when I got orders to Barksdale. I had been there TDY, attending the NCO Academy, and knew that you were in a Gang War Zone as soon as you went out the gate, so I decided to take Bill Clinton up on his generous early retirement offer.The rest is pretty boring, so I'll spare you.

Attached are some pix that I thought you might like. One is a shot of 510 in a hangar at Youngstown with Lt Glasgow sitting in the pilots seat helping to perpetuate his new nickname. Also, a very bad B&W shot of 510 in better days, in the Hangar at Griffiss. Also a close up of my name on the nose door. You wouldn't have a corresponding shot of your own, would you? Or any others that you didn't post? I'd love to see anything else that you might have. Thanks.

Well, it was really nice to hear from you, and I hope you enjoyed my ramblings. Also, thanks for steering me to the Warbird Forum. I'll have to join and post some info there as well.
I look forward to hearing from you again.

Take care!

Russ



R.L. Sisco
MSgt, USAF, Retired

This is 58-0671 sistership to 510 and give you a nice idea of what 510 looked like in here hey day in full color.


Here is a black and white of 510 in a hangar up at Griffis AFB.


This is of 510 in a hanger at Youngstown minus canopy and tail tip.


Here we have a shot of 2ndLt. Glasgow in the cockpit of 510 explaining what happened.


This is the recovered canopy with future astronaut LtCol. Paul Lockharts name on it.


This is a shot of the starboard side nose door with MSgt. Sisco's name on it.



Here are some more of my pictures that I came across.


This is the same nose gear door 10 years later.


Here's a shot of 510's SIX.


A shot of 510's "Travel Pod". which attaches at the old JATO AND RATO attachment points.


This shot was taken from the front of the 76th Aerial Port Squadron's (my unit) Hanger. If you look closely under the C-130's No. 3 engien you can just make out 510 off in the distance.


And here is me posing as "Johnny Come Get Some" on 510's wing. Actually I was trying to keep from sliding off the snow covered wing.


Shay
____________
Semper Fortis

Last edited by Shay on Mon Oct 09, 2006 2:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[APG85]

Neat story...

[b1bmsgt]

Hello to all!

Just thought I would chime in here and say "hello".


Hope everyone is enjoying Shay's pictures and story. I know I am...


Russ

[Shay]

Welcome aboard Russ! It's great to see ya posting.

It didn't occur to me until I was comparing your pictures to mine of 510's lack of a tip on it's Vertical Stabilizer. I guess I always assumed that it went missing while on the ground all those years at YARB. It looks like it might of come off during the accident as a result of the canopy striking it. Maybe? If that were the case then 2ndLt. Glasgow was a very lucky guy that day. Do you have idea as to where they located the lost canopy? I was told that the incident occurred over Lake Erie, but obiviously that is not the case. I think part of the reason I didn't buy into the base oldtimer's story of the lost canopy was because by the time I saw 510 she had one and it was painted in the same shade of gray. My thought was that maybe she had been a gate guard at one time seeing as her plexi had been painted over.

Anyways great to see you on the board. I'll let you know when and if I have anymore information concerning 510.

Shay
____________
Semper Fortis

[Shay]

Russ

Should go ahead and make a "new post" introducing yourself to the rest of WIX.

Shay
____________
Semper Fortis

[b1bmsgt]

Will do.

Yes, the canopy took off the stab tip. This also bent the rear fuselage slightly and caused some dimpling of the skin. If you look at your picture taken from the left rear, you can see a wrinkle under the left hand tab of the left horizontal stab, just aft of the national insignia.

I was told that the original canopy was recovered from a field somewhere, but I'm afraid I don't know just where. I don't know where the new canopy came from, to tell you the truth. Your pictures were the first I knew of it.

Any other questions, feel free to ask.

Also, if anyone has any B-1B questions, ask away as well!

See y'all around...

Russ

[DamienB]

Sounds like this a-hole might have been taking pictures someplace he shouldn't & he didn't wanna tell you that!

I honestly don't understand how you can insult this photographer for not wanting his picture used in some campaign to 'save' a wreck from a firing range. If you have a look at his other photos you'll see he has plenty of shots taken at the range and no doubt doesn't want to harm his chances for future access by becoming attached in any way to anything that could possibly cause hassle for the range personnel! That's entirely understandable in my opinion and certainly doesn't warrant the abuse quoted above.

[Robbie Stuart]

Sounds like this a-hole might have been taking pictures someplace he shouldn't & he didn't wanna tell you that!

I honestly don't understand how you can insult this photographer for not wanting his picture used in some campaign to 'save' a wreck from a firing range. If you have a look at his other photos you'll see he has plenty of shots taken at the range and no doubt doesn't want to harm his chances for future access by becoming attached in any way to anything that could possibly cause hassle for the range personnel! That's entirely understandable in my opinion and certainly doesn't warrant the abuse quoted above.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guess I was a little harsh. I stand corrected & my applogies are offered. Thank you for calling me on it.
Robbie

[DamienB]

The mark of a true gentleman - nice one Robbie

[Boneyard]

Just saw this thread mentioning the T-33s at AMARC. If anyone wants one and is in the position to obtain one they had better get in quick, I believe they are not going to be around that long.

[Chris Brame]

Here's a link to a video shot at the range; you can glimpse the A-7 but not the T-Bird:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u6dUE18ax0

[Broken-Wrench]

It would have been neet it it wasn't for the craupy music. I couldn't make it thru the film

[EXPAT0149]

Hi Shay
I expeced the old girl to be tie'd down good n proper
I used to be the RAF equivalent if you ..... i was a member of UKMAMS which was akin to your MAPS
Cheers
Bob <S>

[astixjr]

Crazy Jim Glasgow. He got stuck being my last flight instructor, just before I got my PPL when I turned 17. I had been flying with instuctors since I was 12 so there was not much left to do but go out and fly around and have fun. Fun is certainly what we had. Down the river below the trees, under bridges, landing on sand bars on the Missouri River. Myself and one of the other line boys at the airport liked to play tricks on Jim. One day we hooked up grounds to all the spark plugs on his 66 Mustang. We used safetly wire hidden below the rubber insulators. It took him a week to figure out why the car would not start. One time we put a dead animal under the spare tire in his trunk. I remember him telling me all about the mysterious canopy departure when I was home for Xmas break in 84 or 85. Interesting to hear the "real" story. Last I heard he was flying A-10s in Korea in the late 80s.