T-33 T-Bird M-46
The M-46 was a T33A which, at the time of its crash, was flown by the Dutch demo team "Whiskey Four". The crash occured while flying their airshow demo at Woensdrecht airbase (8-6-1965) during the part where the 4 T33's split up low level in pairs. During this manoeuvre the lead (M-57) somehow got disorientated and his wingtip hit the trees, making the aircraft roll and explode into the ground. The explosion damaged the wing of his wingman (M-46) which made him also crash into the ground. Both pilots died in these crashes.
The crash site wasn't cleaned very thoroughly. Many parts of the cockpit could still be found. Interesting dig site - but somewhat harsh when keeping in mind that the pilot, Ruud Liem, died on this location. Nevertheless I found some interesting aircraft technology. Below I show some of the highlights - besides these I found many switches, instrument parts, plating, cockpit furnishings, etc.
(and it was a good training finding aircraft parts in the old T33 IPC and internet!)
Since not many photographs of the M-46 exist, I post these full color pics of a model made by a colleague of mine.
