After an 11-hour outage, the power is back on at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta airport. Airlines are still scrambling to catch up. Over 1,000 flights were canceled. Passengers are being told to expect further delays. Hundreds of flights are diverted. Here is a breakdown of what to expect:
Hartsfield-Jackson is Delta’s main hub so it has the most cancellations and delays. Passengers with flights between December 17 and 19 are entitled to a waiver if their flight was delayed for 90 minutes or more. Here is a link to details about the waiver:
Southwest’s website says affected passengers that had scheduled flights December 17 or 18 can rebook for free within 14 days.
United is allowing passengers to rebook flights from December 17 through 19, as long as they rebook on or before December 22.
American Airlines has canceled about 19 departures out of ATL. All passengers will be rebooked for free or can request a refund for flights between December 17 and 21, according to an American Airlines’ spokesperson.
Spirit Airlines has put a ‘flexible travel policy’ in place that will waive modification fees for passengers who have to rebook flights affected between December 17 and 18. Customers have until December 21 to make changes.
JetBlue says passengers traveling to or from Atlanta through December 19 will be allowed to rebook, as long as tickets were purchased on or before December 17. Passengers with cancelled flights can get a refund.
Who said flying an extended airliner test flight is boring?
On December 13, 2017 an Airbus A380 testpilot did some pretty cool stuff in the sky by ‘drawing’ a giant Christmas Tree on a flightpath over Germany and Denmark during a testflight of the Airbus A380, soon to be flown by Emirates, the carrier from Dubai.
Video produced by Jerry Taha Productions showing the outline of the flightpath, shared by Flightradar24.
Creating the Christmas tree in the sky
The A380 took off from Hamburg Airport in Germany at 11:45 am local time to do the 5 hour test flight and arrived back into the same airport at 5:07 pm. The outline of the flightpath at 41,000 ft was shared by Flightradar24, a real time air traffic tracking site. The tree was rendered in several colors, reflecting the A380’s varying altitudes.The tree, complete with decorations, stretched for hundreds of miles from Hamburg to Stuttgart in the south, where the trunk of the tree was formed. After the tree was finished, the A380 headed towards northern Denmark to create the Christmas tree top, before returning to Hamburg Airport in Germany. It was almost perfect, except for that one odd round branch on the left side of the tree.
Airbus’ test flights
An Airbus spokesperson explained it was a normal internal test flight, before the delivery of a new aircraft, adding: “There are hundreds of these flights every year. They take off and land at the Airbus Airport in Hamburg”, but the routing of these flights are flexible. Thanks to the co-operation of the air traffic controllers of Eurocontrol and DFS, it was possible to fly that Christmas tree flight path. “It was the idea of test pilots and engineers; an Airbus greeting to all aviation fans during this Christmas season.
More Family Friendly Than The U.S. Navy drawing over Washington State
The crew of this A380 test flight flew a more family-friendly piece of aircraft art than the recent ‘unauthorized’ art by a U.S. Navy E/A-18 Growler. The Growler crew created a giant phalic symbol in the sky over Okanogan County in Washington in November, using the condensed air trail from its exhaust. Pictures of the giant image in the sky immediately went viral on social media.
Vice Admiral Mike Shoemaker, the commander of naval air forces, said in a statement: “Sophomoric and immature antics of a sexual nature have no place in naval aviation today.”
We’re learning more about the fire and resulting challenges that Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport faced Sunday after the world’s busiest airport lost power. Atlanta Mayor Kaseem Reed said stranded travelers were shuttled to the Georgia International Convention Center where they were provided with food and shelter. Crews are working overnight to restore electrical power to the sprawling 6,800,000-square foot airport. Flights are not expected to resume until 8AM Monday.
According to Georgia Power, the fire affected not only the main system, but a switch that accesses the back-up was damaged during the fire as well. With no back-up, the system totally went down.
Mayor Reed said, “because of the intensity of the fire, the switch which accesses the redundant system was damaged. Airport has a very redundant, very robust system.” The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Reed says he has no reason to suspect foul play.
Air traffic controllers have been called back to their posts and are ready to resume work as soon as they are given clearance and flights resume.
Reports of a hellacious day at ATL are starting to stream in…
We’re now also receiving photos from Avgeeks showing the scene after the power went out (MEDIA OUTLETS: contact us here for photo releases). According to some people who shared their story, the terminals were calm but the tension was palatable. With all escalators and elevators out, the elderly and handicapped were stranded.
According to one report, there was smoke reported in Terminal C. Emergency personnel shutdown the terminal. The fire department sequestered the passengers at the South end for 2.5 hours. With the power out, cell service was also limited. And passengers everywhere were unable to charge any of their devices.
Only emergency, generator powered lights kept the terminal from going completely dark.
Aircraft were unable to depart gates as all jet bridges require electricity to operate.
Delta Airlines is likely to cancel or delay more flights Monday. Passengers are strongly encouraged to confirm flights and connections through ATL.
The power is out at the busiest airport in the world, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL). The outage has completely shut down the airport. Thousands of passengers are stranded and more than 450 Delta flights are cancelled. ATL is Delta’s main hub. In fact, a ground stop is in effect which means no planes can come or go. Arriving and departing flights on all airlines are being diverted to other airports.
Live coverage is embedded below from NBC 11 in Atlanta
The power has been out since 1:00 PM. The passengers on flights that landed at the time of the outage were stuck on the tarmac for hours. Right now, many of them remain stranded inside the airport.
Update: #FAA will retain normal staffing in the Air Traffic Control Tower at @ATLairport throughout the night. Air traffic controllers will be ready to handle flights as soon as they resume.
Please contact the airport and airlines for information about their operations.
One stranded passenger told WSB-TV that they are being evacuated as of about 6:00PM in groups of 50 to try to get to the Park and Ride area. They are asking people to stay away from the airport until further notice so they can work with Georgia Power to determine how this happened. It is unknown if the power will be restored in the next couple of hours.
Flight cancellations and disruptions are expected as a result of the @ATLairport power outage. Delta customers are encouraged to check the status of their flight via the Fly Delta mobile app or https://t.co/yQj0byWQnW before heading to the airport.
Delta passengers can check the status of their flight on https://www.delta.com/ or the Fly Delta mobile app. A travel waiver is being given for customers traveling to, from or through Atlanta today.
Billionaire entrepreneur Jeff Bezos and his Kent, Wash.-based aerospace company Blue Origin conducted a successful flight test of a new ‘2.0’ version of their New Shepard crew capsule on Tuesday, Dec 12, at the company’s west Texas launch site.
Blue Origin has been making progress at a steady rate the last few years in developing and testing a fully reusable, suborbital New Shepherd flight system and making plans to resurrect dormant Cape Canaveral Launch Complex-36 (LC-36) to fly it from, which launched 145 missions to space over 43 years (including NASA’s Mariner flights and Pioneer-10 and 11).
Tuesday’s flight test was the seventh for New Shepherd (mission 7, or M7), but was the first flight of the new ‘capsule 2.0’, which features large windows measuring 2.4 feet wide and 3.6 feet tall.
An instrumented test dummy named “Mannequin Skywalker” was the sole passenger.
“Our New Shepherd flight test program is focused on demonstrating the performance and robustness of the system,” said Bezos in an email March 29. “In parallel, we’ve been designing the capsule interior with an eye toward precision engineering, safety, and comfort.”
A sneak peek inside Blue Origin’s crew capsule design. Image Credit: Blue Origin
The New Shepherd suborbitalrocket and crew capsule caters to paying space tourists on short duration flights, not full orbits of the Earth – but rather 10 minutes or so of experiencing spaceflight and competing directly with Virgin Galactic in the process.
It is designed to accommodate six passengers, or crew, and provides 530 cubic feet interior volume and six large windows to provide “unparalleled views”—the largest ever on a spacecraft, according to Blue Origin.
However, it can also fly small science payloads up to 50 pounds, and they already have; M7 also included 12 commercial, research and education payloads onboard.
“Our New Shepard system is ideal for microgravity physics, gravitational biology, technology demonstrations, and educational programs. You’ll also have the opportunity for Earth, atmospheric, and space science research,” notes Blue Origin on their website.
“Today’s flight of New Shepard was a tremendous success,” said Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith. “It marks the inaugural flight of our next-generation crew capsule as we continue step-by-step progress in our test flight program.”
In a June 2016 flight test, New Shepherd was launched to 331,501 feet (101,041 meters), or 62.7 miles (101 kilometers), barely clearing the universally agreed 62-mile boundary of space before starting the descent back to Earth. Under the power of only two chutes, with one chute intentionally failed, the capsule descended at 23 mph before firing its retrorocket, only 7 mph faster than with all three chutes deployed.
Launch of Blue Origin’s New Shepherd suborbital rocket and capsule June 19, 2016. Photo Credit: Blue Origin
The capsule and booster was put through another test again on Oct. 5, 2016, this time performing an in-flight abort test of the capsule’s full-envelope escape system, which is designed to quickly propel the crew capsule to safety if a problem is detected with the booster.
In the M7 test this week, the crew capsule 2.0 reached an apogee of 322,405 feet AGL/326,075 feet MSL (98.27 kilometers AGL/99.39 kilometers MSL). The booster reached an apogee of 322,032 feet AGL/325,702 feet MSL (98.16 kilometers AGL/99.27 kilometers MSL).
Max speed reached on ascent was Mach 2.94, and even faster on the way down at Mach 3.74.
Soon, people will be able to purchase tickets to fly on Bezos’ New Shepherd rocket and capsule for a suborbital experience, although the price tag as of now is still not known. You can visit Blue Origin’s website for an idea of their “astronaut experience” HERE, and sign up for email updates as things come together for those first crewed flights.
The company hopes to begin flight tests with crews sometime in 2018, with the first commercial flights lifting off in 2020 from Florida’s Launch Complex 36, which was selected as their launch site by Bezos due to the amount of talent and skills specific to spaceflight that exist on the Space Coast.
Blue Origin recently began moving into their new 750,000-square-foot rocket factory next to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, about 10 miles from LC-36, where they will manufacturer and assemble their New Glenn rockets and serve as the Launch and Landing Control Center for all their missions.
– Follow Mike Killian on Instagram and Facebook, @MikeKillianPhotography
December 17th. A day to remember and celebrate in aviation history. First flights. Last flights. Without December 17th we might not even have a place like Avgeekery.com to read about aviation and aerospace technology. The first of many first flights we recognize is that of the Wright Brothers, who made four powered controlled flights in their Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on December 17th in 1903. Wilbur and Orville spent years working on the design of their Flyer before they achieved success. Their first flight was only 120 feet- less than the wingspan of many modern aircraft. By the end of the day they had flown a distance 850 feet once. Aviation has come a long way!
Official US Air Force photograph
Fast forward to 1935. The Douglas DC-3 flew for the first time. This pioneering aircraft entered airline service with American Airlines in 1936. Only 607 DC-3s were built, but add the military C-47 derivatives and the number jumps to 16,079 examples of C-47 Dakotas/Skytrains and C-53 Skytroopers built by Douglas, more than 4,900 Lisunov Li-2 Cabs license-built in the Soviet Union, and 487 L2D Type 0 Tabby transports built by Showa and Nakajima in Japan during World War II. Hundreds of these experienced DC-3 and derivative airframes still fly today.
Official US Air Force photograph
In 1941, an American Curtiss P-40E Warhawk pilot became the first United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) ace of World War II. First Lieutenant David “Buzz” Wagner was stationed in the Philippines with the 17th Pursuit Squadron Hooters of the 24th Pursuit Group. Only nine days after the Japanese began their assault on the Philippines, Wagner achieved his fifth aerial victory. Wagner went on to tally eight victories, the final three while flying Bell P-39D Airacobras with the 35th Fighter Squadron Pantones of the 8th Fighter Group, before he was sent home. At the time he was the youngest Lieutenant Colonel in the USAAC.
Official US Air Force photograph
In 1944, Major Richard Ira Bong scored his 40th and final aerial victory while flying his P-38J-15-LO Lightning serial number 42-103993 over the Philippines. Bong’s tally of 40 aerial victories is the highest achieved by any other American pilot before or since. 5th Air Force commanding General George Kenney is fond of recounting how he discovered Bong while the two were stationed in the San Francisco area in 1942. Bong was supposedly guilty of buzzing houses and flying loops around the center span of the Golden Gate Bridge. Kenney, then with the 4th Air Force, was to reprimand the young Bong but leniency was his decision. Dick Bong later became one of Kenney’s “Kids.”
Official US Air Force photograph
In 1947 the Boeing B-47 Stratojet strategic bomber flew for the first time. The B-47 became synonymous with Strategic Air Command (SAC) and the nation’s ability to not only defend itself but strike back in the event of, well, the end of the world. Boeing built more than 2,000 of these versatile bombers. The aircraft were used for electronic and photographic reconnaissance, weather reconnaissance, for testing weapons and systems in development, and as trainers and later as target drones. B-47s also starred in the 1955 movie “Strategic Air Command” and had a supporting role in 1957’s “Bombers B-52”. By the time December 17th 1954 rolled around Boeing had built the 1,000th B-47 for SAC.
Official US Air Force photograph
In 1950 the North American F-86A Sabre jet fighter began operations over MiG Alley in Korea. Sabres from the 336th Fighter Squadron Rocketeers, led by Lieutenant Colonel Bruce H. Hinton, first tangled with MiG-15 fighters near the Yalu and scored a single kill. At first the early-model Sabres the American pilots, many of whom were World War II veterans and even some aces, were not as evenly matched with the MiGs as they would be when the improved F-86E variants later reached service. It wasn’t until years later that it became apparent that American F-86 pilots were actually engaged in aerial combat often times against Russian pilots flying those deadly MiG-15s.
Official US Navy photograph
In 1956 the Grumman E-1 Tracer airborne early warning aircraft flew for the first time. This derivative of Grumman’s versatile S-2 Tracker or Stoof antisubmarine warfare aircraft was better known as the Stoof With a Roof thanks to the large radar antenna housed in an aerodynamically neutral fairing mounted on top of the fuselage. Grumman went on to build only 88 Tracers but they served on American aircraft carriers around the world, protecting the carriers and the task forces with them from attack from airborne, surface, and subsurface threats until they were replaced once and for all in 1977 by Grumman’s E-2 Hawkeye. Let’s be real here Avgeeks…Stoof with a Roof is one of the best nicknames for an aircraft. Ever!
Official US Air Force photograph
In 1963 Lockheed’s C-141 Starlifter flew for the first time. This strategic airlifter went on to serve honorably with the Air Force’s Military Air Transport Service (MATS) and as time wore on with Military Airlift Command (MAC) and eventually with Air Mobility Command (AMC). Starlifters also served in the Air Force Reserve (AFRES) and later Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) in Airlift Wings (AW) and Air Mobility Wing (AMWs). During their 41 years of service C-141s also equipped Air National Guard (ANG) squadrons and finally one AMW of the Air Education and Training Command (AETC) dedicated to C-141, C-5, C-17 and KC-135 training.
F-22 Raptor in flight near Area 51 in Nevada. Official US Air Force photograph
In 1969 the USAF finally closed the book on Project Blue Book, the 22 year investigation into unidentified flying objects (UFOs). This program was actually divided into “eras” based upon who was running the vast and divergent investigations into sightings and strange goings on. Project Blue Book was supposed to determine if UFOs were a threat to national security and scientifically analyze UFO-related data. Over 22 years 12,618 UFO reports were investigated. The conclusions were predictable enough. UFOs were never a threat to national security, never completely unexplained or unexplainable, and there was no evidence that extraterrestrial vehicles were involved. But the controversy over UFOs and sightings thereof continue to this day. Is the truth out there?
On Tuesday, Delta Airlines is saying goodbye to the Queen of the Skies as the 747-400 returns from Seoul Incheon to Detroit. It will be the final passenger flight on a regularly scheduled route that Delta will ever operate with a 747. Once Delta’s farewell flights are complete later this month, the 747 passenger planes with a widget on the tail will completely disappear from the skies.
Delta is the only remaining major domestic airline flying the passenger version of the iconic 747. United Airlines retired their fleet in November. (Ya, we know Atlas Air still operates two pax aircraft for charters but they are not on regularly scheduled routes.) The 747s will be brought to the airline boneyard in Arizona in January. Delta’s new flagship passenger plane is the Airbus A350.
Farewell flights represent the last hurrah for Delta’s Queen Of The Skies
The distinctive 747 jets herald back to a time when the two-decker super jumbos reigned supreme. With their massive size and whale-like hump, 747s became one of the most recognizable planes in the world. Their retirement marks the end of an era in commercial aviation. To celebrate, Delta has an Employee Farewell Tour which starts December 18 and goes through four main hubs.
The farewell flight will go from Detroit to Seattle, from Seattle to Atlanta and make then its final landing December 20 in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Paine Field in Seattle is the home of the final assembly production line that produced Delta’s Boeing 747 fleet.
The Employee Farewell Tour is open to current and former employees at a discount. If you have SkyMiles, you might be able to use them to secure a spot through Delta SkyMiles Experiences. The program lets users bid on the farewell Tour Hangar Party for 15,000 miles or even a seat on board one of the last farewell flights, which are currently going for 40,000 and up. Proceeds will benefit the 747 Experience exhibit at the Delta Flight Museum in Atlanta. Delta encourages fans of the 747 to share tributes and social media postings using the #DL747farewell hashtag.
File Image of a Delta Air Lines 747-451 on approach. Photo by AF1621 (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
This is Delta’s Second Time Delta Will Retire The 747
According to the delta.com website, Delta’s very first 747, Ship 101, was delivered on October 7, 1970 and was piloted by Captain T.P. Ball, the carrier’s then-Vice President. Governor Lester G. Maddox christened Ship 101 by sprinkling gold dust from Georgia’s Dahlonega mines over its nose and nicknaming it Georgia Belle.
The early 747s in Delta Airlines’ fleet offered the “world’s first flying penthouse” which was located above the first class cabin and featured six seats and a designated flight attendant. Celebrities and dignitaries were known to prefer this exclusive option when flying the Queen of the Skies.
Imagine what it would be like to have to stow your luggage in an open rack above your seat. That is hard to envision and you can thank Boeing for making Delta’s 747s the first-ever aircraft to offer closing overhead bins. The planes were also three times bigger than other passenger jets when they were introduced and revolutionized the aviation industry, boasting four engines and unheard of long-haul capability.
Pan Am originally launched the 747 in 1969. Delta Airlines operated 747-100s from 1970 to 1976 and then inherited 16 747-400s in the 2008 Northwest merger. Delta’s good-bye celebrations this week mark a decades-long history with the beloved plane.
The 747 is still being used as a cargo plane and flown by international carriers like Lufthansa, British Airways and Korean Air. Korean Air, Lufthansa, and Air China regularly operate the upgraded 747-8 on international passenger services.
Editors Note: An earlier version of this story stated that the final scheduled flight will land on Sunday, December 17th. Delta Air Lines decided to add an additional flight pushing the final flight to Tuesday, December 19th.
This morning, Delta Airlines officially announced an agreement to purchase up to 200 A321neos from Airbus. Delta will take the first delivery of 100 jets in 2020 and has an option for an additional 100. This is a direct hit to Airbus’ arch rival Boeing.
Airbus makes most of the planes in Hamburg, Germany but has opened a manufacturing plant in Mobile, Alabama where spokespersons say the majority of the 100 new aircraft will be assembled.
Delta and Boeing have almost incited an international trade war over the Bombardier C Series, with Boeing accusing Bombardier of selling the planes to Delta for suspiciously low prices. The Department of Commerce put a recommendation in place that would require a whopping 300% tariff on the imports. In what may have been a move to avoid the tariff, Airbus opened the Alabama assembly lines.
Airbus says it has plans to expand manufacturing at the Alabama plant beyond the four planes currently made there each year. The Canadian government and Bombardier have denied being involved in unfair trade practices.
It is probably not a coincidence that Delta made today’s announcement to purchase the A321neos from Airbus just days after Canada backed out of a deal with Boeing to buy F/A-18 Super Hornets. Canada instead inked a deal with Australia to buy used fighter jets.
The new A321neo has 197 seats and provides an option for a larger single-aisle airplane that can be flown on both short international flights and domestic routes. Atlanta-based Delta will be retiring part of its aging fleet which consists of some McDonnel Douglas MD-88s from the 1980s. The A321neos consume 40% less fuel than the older aircraft.
ATLANTA — World aviation racing champion Thom Richard will discuss his experiences, including the history of air racing, during a presentation on Saturday hosted by the Commemorative Air Force Dixie Wing in Peachtree City.
The thrill of air racing is something Thom knows personally — both in the air and on the ground.
Richard began to realize his love for extreme flying at age seven. “I set my sights on Unlimited Air Racing when I was seven years old after reading a magazine article about the 1979 Reno Air Races,” Richard explained. “I did not have the means or time to start racing until 2008.”
Based at Warbird Adventures in Kissimmee, Florida, the Swedish-born pilot has nearly 11,000 hours in his log book. His success includes racing a popular P-51 Mustang, Precious Metal, at the US National Championships, and in F1 air racing.
“I managed to fly two Formula 1 racers in 2009 and won both the Gold and Silver that year, which apparently had never been done before in the National Championships,” Richard added.
Pilot Thom Richard wins the golden World Cup at Air Race 1 in 2015.
In June 2015, Richard earned the World Cup in air racing as he piloted his popular aircraft, Hot Stuff, to a gold finish during Air Race 1 in Lleida, Spain. Air Race 1 covered three continents, and included Richard winning during the first F1 race held in Africa.
One year later, a rival aircraft slammed into his Formula 1 plane Hot Stuff as he sat on the runway prior to take-off — grounded due to an engine issue — during the National Championship Reno Air Races. Just after he cranked open his cockpit canopy to signal air officials of the issue, an aircraft taking off on the same runway smashed into his idle Hot Stuff, causing a broken wing and propeller to nearly miss hitting him.
Today, Richard has expressed that the accident has not affected his flying. He continues to enjoy piloting warbirds in aerobatic maneuvers including the F-4U Corsair, the North American T-6 Texan, and P-40M Warhawk.
Richard’s presentation will begin at 11:00 a.m. on December 16 at the museum hangar located on 1200 Echo Court in Peachtree City. Admission is $10, and veterans and active military members will be admitted for free.
(Charles A Atkeison reports on aerospace and technology. Follow his updates via social media @Military_Flight.)
The AD-1 Skyraider was designed and manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company in Southern California during the early 1940s. The Skyraider prototype first flight occurred on March 18, 1945. In 1946, the United State’s Navy, Marine Corp. and Air Force began receiving their first orders of the aircraft. Powering the AD-1 Skyraider was a single Wright R-3350 engine outputting 2,700 horsepower.
The aircraft’s power plant allowed for a top speed around 300 MPH and a range of 900 miles. The Skyraider became noted in history for being the only aircraft of its time capable of carrying 8,000 pounds of ordnance, 3,000 pounds more than the four engine B-17 Flying Fortress of WWII. An assortment of ordnance could be mounted to 15 different external hardpoints on the aircraft. In 1950, Skyraiders served in the Korean War. By 1955, the United States Navy had stationed 29 Skyraider squadrons on aircraft carriers. Douglas ended production of the Skyraider in 1957, yielding a total of 3,180 aircraft and 28 variations.
To extent the capability of the aircraft, the United States Navy, U.S Air Force and South Vietnamese Air Force modified the Skyraider for service in the Vietnam War. The Naval Aviation Museum noted in “June 1965, a pair of Skyraiders shot down a North Vietnamese MiG-17 in air-to-air combat.” (http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org) After retiring from attack aircraft service in 1968, the Skyraider was repurposed as multiple role aircraft consisting of; photo reconnaissance, electronic countermeasures, and search and rescue missions. The aircraft was later retired in 1972 in favor of a newer jet aircraft (A-4 Skyhawk).
The AD-1 Skyraider “Bad News” featured in the video is operated and maintained by Warbird Heritage Foundation. The Warbird Heritage Foundation believes the aircraft is the oldest standard production Skyraider still flying today.
Engineered to Deliver The Bomb, These Amazing Jets Delivered Alright
Development of the North American A3J (after 1962 the A-5) Vigilante began in 1953 as a privately-funded program to build a carrier-based supersonic bomber capable of filling the nuclear strike role for the United States Navy (USN). North American called the program the North American General Purpose Attack Weapon (NAGPAW). After engineering tweaks were incorporated into the design in 1955, the Navy’s Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) accepted the design. A contract for two prototypes followed in August of 1956, and North American chief test pilot Dick Wenzel flew the YA3J-1 for the first time almost exactly two years later.
Official US Navy photograph
Shocked and Awestruck
That’s how the Viggie got started. Nothing terribly surprising there. But the jet was nothing short of revolutionary for its time. The first production A3J-1 flew in 1960. Carrier qualification was completed aboard the carrier USS Saratoga (CVA-60) in 1960. When the A3J-1 became operational with Heavy Attack Squadron THREE (VAH-3) Sea Dragons at Naval Air Station (NAS) Sanford in Florida during June of 1961 it was the one of the largest, fastest, and most complex aircraft ever to be based aboard Navy aircraft carriers. Though only 156 of these awe-inspiring jets were produced, veterans of its era will never forget its combination of speed and power.
Official US Navy photograph
Power = Speed!
That power came from two General Electric J79-GE-8 afterburning turbojet engines- the very same power plants used in the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II and the Convair B-58 Hustler bomber among others. And the speed? Well the Viggie was easily capable of Mach 2 speeds at high altitudes (during a record-setting attempt the aircraft topped Mach 2.5) and supersonic speeds down low. McNamara’s 1962 Tri-Services Designation plan changed the bomber A3J-1 designator to A-5A, the bomber A3J-2 designator to A-5B, the bomber A3J-3 designator to A-5C, and the reconnaissance A3J-2P designator to RA-5C. Alphabet soup!
Official US Navy photograph
Firsts and Foremosts
The revolutionary aspects of the Vigilante included a number of firsts, including the first fly-by-wire control system (with mechanical backup) in a production jet, the computerized AN/ASB-12 attack/navigation system displayed on a head-up display (HUD) or Pilot’s Projected Display Indicator (PPDI) as it was called at the time, the multi-mode mono-pulse radar system with terrain-avoidance features, the radar-equipped inertial navigation system (REINS) which was based on similar tech used in North American’s SM-64 Navaho missile, the closed-circuit television camera under the jet’s nose, and the Versatile Digital Analyzer (VERDAN, a small digital computer) capable of integrating the “take” from the sensors.
Official US Navy photograph
Precious Metals
Other features of the Viggie’s design that weren’t necessarily firsts included the small-area highly-loaded 37.5 degree swept wing equipped with boundary-layer control system (or blown) flaps without ailerons (spoilers/deflectors were used for roll control), the one-piece powered (all-moving) vertical and horizontal stabilizers, the variable engine inlets with both profile and area adjustments, the fully retractable refueling probe, the extensive use of titanium in the structure of the jet, the one-piece aluminum-lithium alloy wing skins, and even gold film and plating in the engine bays to reduce heat radiated through the structure.
Official US Navy photograph
Origami Jet
The Vigilante also incorporated other new or emerging engineering such as an internal bomb bay (more about that later), a one-piece acrylic frameless windshield, and the use of inert nitrogen rather than flammable hydraulic fluid in hotter areas of the airframe. The jet was built with folding wings and vertical stabilizer as well as a nose radome that could be swung back along the side of the forward fuselage to decrease footprint aboard ship. The aircraft’s high-mounted swept wings and narrow-track landing gear, coupled with high approach speeds and angle of attack, could and sometimes did make for “interesting” carrier recoveries although the jet’s auto-throttle feature helped.
Official US Navy photograph
Train in the Tunnel
One unique aspect of the A-5 design was the linear bomb bay. Rather than release ordnance using conventional bomb bay doors in the aircraft’s underside, the Vigilante was designed to release “special” weapons from the aft fuselage horizontally between the two engines. Typically consisting of a Mark 28 thermonuclear bomb with a pair of attached fuel tanks, the payload was dubbed a “stores train.” Never (thankfully) used as designed, the internal bomb bay was instead used to carry additional fuel and occasionally mission electronics, especially in the RA-5C variants- although several times during cat shots the internal fuel tanks were left on the deck.
We’ve seen some very impressive footage of ginormous 747 and DC-10 aerial firefighting aircraft dropping fire retardant in areas affected by the California wildfires. United States Navy (USN) Sikorsky MH-60S Knighthawk helicopters are also dropping water directly onto fires using 320 gallon buckets suspended from cargo hooks under the fuselage. Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron THREE (HSC-3) Merlins and HSC-21 Blackjacks are flying such missions from Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton near Oceanside in California. This video, shot by Navy Mass Communication Specialist First Class Paolo Bayas and uploaded by YouTubers Gung Ho Vids, gives us a glimpse into the rotary-wing firefighting efforts.
Also working the fires are Bell UH-1Y Venom-equipped United States Marine Corps (USMC) Light Attack Helicopter Training Squadron 303 (HMLAT-303) Atlas and Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 267 (HMLA-267) Stingers. Each drop from these modernized Hueys amounts to more than 300 gallons of water. Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 462 (HMH-462) Heavy Haulers, who fly the Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter, are also flying water-bucket missions in the area dropping about 900 gallons of water per load.
Official US Marine Corps photograph
The 146th Airlift Wing, California Air National Guard (ANG), has equipped two of their Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules airlifters with the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS). The MAFFS system enables the five pressurized tanks aboard the C-130Js to put out about 2,700 gallons of fire-retardant slurry or water in five seconds. The 129th Rescue Wing, California ANG is on standby to provide rescue services centered around one of the Wing’s Lockheed MC-130P Combat Shadow rescue and recovery airlifters. The 129th Wing earned some well-deserved notoriety over the summer when they were instrumental in rescues in the wake of hurricane Harvey.
