(Image: Matt Ried – website: Rocky Lakes Photography)
As photographer Matt Ried wrote on Flickr, it’s “not every day you run across a 1950’s jet trainer sitting abandoned at a tiny airport with dirt runway.” The seemingly-abandoned aircraft is a withdrawn Lockheed TV-2, a two-seat version of the better known P-80 Shooting Star developed as an advanced trainer for the US Navy.
The TV-2 jet pictured here, wearing the tail number 6617, was photographed in June 2014 at Calhan Airport in Colorado. Despite its situation, and several missing panels, the retired turbojet trainer looks to be in reasonable condition and hopefully a candidate for preservation.
(Image: Google Earth)
The aircraft, which sports the distinctive orange markings of US Navy trainers, is also clearly visible on Google Earth at the dusty little airstrip about 30 miles northeast of Colorado Springs (see here, and the screenshots above and below). Though the Lockheed TV-2 gained a solid reputation as a respected jet trainer, it wasn’t carrier-capable, and for that reason the manufacturers developed a further version able to operate off the flight deck. Somewhat confusingly, this aircraft was christened the T2V SeaStar.
(Image: Google Earth)
As the National Naval Aviation Museum writes:
Though successful as a land-based trainer, the TV-2 was not satisfactory for carrier operations. Early in 1953 Lockheed undertook to develop a carrier-capable prototype. These aircraft differed from the TV-2 in having a humped cockpit to provide better vision from the rear seat. The design sought lower landing and take-off speeds and featured a tailhook, strengthened airframe, redesigned tail and dorsal fin and modified landing gear. Lockheed replaced the TV-2’s J33-A-20 engine with the J33-A-24. The Navy designated it the T2V-1 Seastar.
Related: 21 Abandoned Airplane Graveyards (Where Aviation History Goes to Die)
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