military-aircraft-skyfox

Conceived by the Skyfox Corporation, the Skyfox is a radical development of the Lockheed T-33 trainer, popularly known as the "T-Bird". The design team's objective was to produce a modern air combat trainer considerable cheaper than any new plane of comparable performance. To this end the team retained some 70 per cent of the T-33's structure including the basic wing and fuselage. However, the machine looks entirely different because of the replacement of the T-33's single internal turbojet by two turbofans located on the upper fuselage sides between the wing and the tail unit. The tail plane is mounted appreciatively one-third of the way up the swept vertical surface of the tail unit. The updated cockpit under a more streamlined canopy has completely modern avionics and tandem ejector seats. The Skyfox prototype flew in August 1983, and in 1985 Boeing acquired a world wide license for the conversion and updating the T-33's. Many of the original type are still in service, and some 700 are though to be suitable for conversion. By 1990 no orders had be reported.

Description	Specifications
Manufacturer: Boeing	Length: 46 ft. 0 in.
First Flight: August 1983	Height: 12 ft. 4 in.
Model:	Wing Span: 38 ft. 10 in.
Crew: Two	Wing Area: 239.2 sq. ft.
Nickname: Skyfox	Empty Weight: 10,284 lb.
Basic Role: Air combat trainer.	Max. Weight: 20,000 lb.
Other Versions: Skyfox (T-33 conversion)	Armament: Up to 6,000 lb. of disposable stores carried on under wing hard points.
Principal User: USA.	Propulsion
Performance	Power Plant: Garrett TFE731-3A turbofans.
Range: 2,255 miles.	Horsepower: 3,700-lb thrust.
Max. Speed: 581 mph.	No. Of Engines: Two
Ceiling: 50,000 ft.
Climb Rate: 7,500 ft. per minute.