The Gloster TC.33 was a large four-engined biplane designed for troop carrying and medical evacuation in the early 1930s.

Up to 1930, all but one of their machines had been single-engined, the exception being the A.S.31, which was not originally a Gloster design but based on the de Havilland DH.67B.

The lower wing was unusual in that its centre section had marked anhedral so that the main spars met at the top of the fuselage, leaving the interior unobstructed.

The biplane tail unit had conventional fabric covered endplate fins and rudders, but the tailplanes had an unusual configuration with the upper tailplane and elevator strut mounted above the fuselage and the much narrower chord lower part fixed to the lower fuselage.

Once in the air, the TC.33 was judged a pleasant machine to fly, but it was crucially let down by its full load take off performance.

Because of these concerns over take off performance at English temperatures and altitudes, the Air Ministry did not place an order, judging it would not cope with the hot and high conditions found at many RAF fields across the Empire.