Douglas A-3 Skywarrior : livres - histoire et déploiement

Douglas A-3 Skywarrior

Nicknamed "The Whale" due to its enormous size and weight, the Navy's A-3 Skywarrior was one of the longest serving, carrier-based jet aircraft. Designed by famed Douglas engineer Ed Heinemann, the A-3 featured a 36Á swept wing, semi-monocoque fuselage, and two J57 turbojets in underwing nacelles. It typically carried a crew of three in a frame canopy with the pilot and bombardier/navigator sitting side by side.

The A-3 was an outgrowth of a development program that dated to 1948 and was intended to serve as a strategic bomber. The prototype XA3D-1 first flew in 1952. Production problems pushed back introduction of the first A3D-1 aircraft to 1956, and 282 left the assembly line by the time production ceased in 1961. By that time the aircraft's role as a nuclear delivery platform had been handed off to the A3J Vigilante.
Skywarriors served in Vietnam as conventional bombers and in other capacities including as an electronic warfare platform (designated EA-3B), as tactical reconnaissance and photography platform (RA-3B), and as a refueling aircraft (KA-3B). The EA-3B also performed critical functions for the fleet as electronic intelligence gathering platforms, and could carry a crew of up to seven. EA-3Bs participated in the Gulf War in 1991 before being retired by the Navy.

Originally created in 1968 and revised in 1970, this Skywarrior instruction manual was standard issue for Navy pilots and crews, and features the A-3A / A-3B aircraft. In its pages you will find a description of the aircraft, performance data, and normal and emergency operations procedures.
Originally "restricted", this manual was declassified years ago and is here reprinted in book form, in its entirety.

A-3 Skywarrior Units of the Vietnam War

The Douglas A-3 Skywarrior, though something of a cult favourite, remains a largely unremarked classic of Naval Aviation. Built for nuclear weapon delivery, the A-3 made its name in Vietnam as a conventional bomber, tanker and Electronic Warfare platform. It was the largest aircraft ever regularly operated from the decks of aircraft carriers, earning it the fleet-wide nickname 'Whale'. It excelled in every mission area assigned to it and operated in the US Navy for more than four decades, from 1956 through to 1991.
Fully illustrated to depict the incredible array of paint schemes and its awesome size, this volume focuses on the type's Vietnam service, which saw the aircraft briefly used as a bomber over both North and South Vietnam from March 1965, before the Skywarrior proved far more valuable as a multi-role tanker (KA-3B) and tanker/tactical jammer (EKA-3B). The title includes details on all of these operations as well as more clandestine reconnaissance missions, and provides information about the men that flew them.

Contents: Jet Bombers At Sea: 1956-1964 - Heavy Attack in action - Bombs and Tanking 1964-1967 - Electronic Warrior - 1967-73 - Who Are Those Guys? VAP and VQ - Appendices: Aircraft Losses, Cruise and deployment List.