| PRESERVED WHALES
|
| WHALE ON PARADE
| There are still only ten Whales on public display (at November 2000), a low number given the type's longevity and historical significance. These are located around the USA, some at established aviation museums, others as part of collections aboard preserved aircraft carriers. There is one Whale in Europe - preserved on-base at Rota in Spain. This is 135418, a very rare original A3D-1 preserved at the US Navy museum in Pensacola, Florida. This photo was taken in 1989 so she might be on display indoors now but I was disappointed at her lacking an authentic colour scheme. Apparently she was damaged in an accident and was donated to the museum in 1974. If you look closely at the photo you will see some sort of wiring run along the Whale's fuselage. Full Size Image!
|
|
|
One of the rarest Whales extent is preserved in superb condition at the Pima Aerospace Museum in Tucson, Arizona. She is 130361, an A3D-1 that was one of five converted from the standard bomber into the A3D-1Q electronic reconnaissance role. She would have carried a crew of seven including four ECM operators. The A3D-1Q version was easily recognised by the electronics fin-top fairing and the tear drop shaped fuselage blister below and to the rear of the cockpit. The significance of the Skywarrior to the US Navy should not be underestimated. The US Air Force had developed fleets of strategic bombers and argued that the Navy should relinquish their global nuclear capability (and therefore their expensive aircraft carriers); the Skywarrior's combat radius of well over 1000 miles with an 8700lb payload demonstrated that the Navy was still in the strategic business! At one point (in 1961) there were eighteen squadrons flying the Whale, twelve of which were nuclear capable heavy attack squadrons based aboard Midway class aircraft carriers. Full Size Image!
| OLD SURVIVOR
|
|
| ARIZONA WHALE
| Although not currently on display to the public I have included EKA-3B 142654 because she was on MASDC's "Celebrity Row" when I visited in 1987, she is still in store in AMARC today. As you can see from the photo she is missing her engines and her automatic wing leading edge slats so she was quietly replaced with a more complete Whale. Her markings show that she served with VAQ-135, home based at Whidbey Island, detached to the USS Forrestal. The EKA-3B variant was probably the most modified of all the Skywarriors with four prominent ECM blisters on the fuselage, an ventral electronics canoe and a refuelling installation. Despite her dual role she still carried a crew of three. This Whale would almost certainly have served in the South China Sea during the Vietnam war. Full Size Image!
|
|
|
|
Links to Mike's Other Skywarrior Pages
|
|
Skywarrior at Fairford
With VAQ-34 at Point Magu
With PMTC at Point Magu
Test Duties at Point Magu
Preserved Skywarriors
Skywarriors at MASDC
Skywarriors at AMARC
|
