This is a great video and history. I was an enlisted air crewman and flew in three VAQ Squadron, VAQ130,132, 135 Det.2 station in NAS Alameda. I made 100 carrier landing in that aircraft. I have toured the museum twice. Thanks so much for sharing this, brings back great memories
Yes I can believe the Whale was used up until the first Gulf War. After all I was with VQ-2 in Rota, Spain 1988-1990. I have many vivid memories of the people I worked with to the many countries I visited. A-3’s & P-3’s all day every day! Thank you for an informative video sir!
Funny how they say that it was built to fly off the newest carrier, yet my dad flew them EKA-3's towards the end of his career off the Ticonderoga in '68-'69, with VAQ-130. He said it never should have been flown off the Essex class carriers. He was an accomplished aviator when he started flying the A-3 at 38yrs old. As OIC of the detachment, he was pulled off the line by CAG and never flew on the line again. Flying that thing off the Tico in his last deployment to Vietnam, at night in the crazy weather basically broke him. The fact he pissed of CAG didn't help. He went into A-3`s without telling my mom they had no ejection seats, especially after he had ejected from an F-8 earlier in his career. She found out at a cocktail party at Whidbey. Still have the seat behind my bar!
I was an aviation electrician for VF-102 Diamondbacks, and we had 12 F4J Phantoms! Our "boat rides" were performed by the U.S.S.Independence. We had 2 or 3 of the A3's on our boat. WOW, huge & heavy! Looked like a commercial jet on the flight deck. Of course the A5 Vigilantes were big too! We had a great variety of aircraft!!! I loved being on the flight deck! Our A3's were used for in-flight refueling of other aircraft.
i flew as photo/nav with VAP61 in 70 and71. still have my log book, Flew out of Korea, Thailand, and Australia. Map and recon most of Nam. Some of Laos, Cambodia, and even Thailand. Night flight over the North ended before I got there. Top hatch was just above my left shoulder, to be used only for ditching. The lower hatch hinged at the front and had step holes to climb into the bird . It could be opened with a switch on the Navigators seat or by standing on a switch built into the hatch. 2 carthridges blew the hatch open in emergency bail out. One of the RA-3B birds I flew in is in a Museum. Lots of memories.
My father earned a Distinguished Flying Cross and 11 Air Medals as the Navigator onboard the A3D during the Viet Nam War. He was stationed in Guam with Vap-61. I think he's one of the few enlisted men to ever get the DFC. He wrote his memoirs in a book called "Flying the Whale" which he self-published a few copies. I was a child at the time and I remember hearing many stories of his friends getting shot down. They were flying "low and slow" at night over North Viet Nam in A3D's painted black taking photos for the B-52's to have some targets to bomb.
I was a vigilante plane captain in RV ah3 naval Air station Key West Florida. We had two, ta 3B aircraft in my squadron for training on the ASB 12 radar system in the vigilante.
I was assigned to VAH123 Whidbey Island after AEAA school in 1961. Completed my enlistment in 1964 and returned to the USN in 1969. In 1970, I was assigned to VAQ308 at NAS Alameda. The squadron was later designated as VAK. Our sister squadron, VAK208, was right next door in the same hanger. Many hours climbing around the ADU compartment changing AC and DC generators and horizontal stabilizer actuators! Catapult shot off the USS America in the North sea was something I won't ever forget! Moving that chunk of metal from 0 to 120 knots in about 250 feet was something!
I was in VAQ-33 NAS Key West . We had A3’s . The models were KA-3B , TA-3B and ERA-3B . I use to love laying in my rack at night and listen to them start and if an engine change was needed , they would do a high power test after installation. No other planes would make that beautiful sound
Served as an Aviation Electricians Mate (AE2) in VAH-9, an A3D squadron aboard the USS Saratoga in the early 60's. Ten of our A3s were bombers while two were configured as tankers. Always kept one of the aircraft loaded with two nukes while deployed in the Med. Spent the late fall and early winter of 1962 in the Caribbean as part of the Cuban Missile Blockade. The reason the aircraft had no ejection seats was to save weight as a carrier born aircraft.
I was a AME in R.V.A.H.3 in Key west and worked on these. To egress you clipped your parachute laynard as the hatch blew open and locked! then you slid out! IF YOU COULD! Would like to see something on the RA5C Vigi. Thanks1
As a 19 yr old Navy AEAN out of A School, Jacksonville, Fla (c. '66), I had volunteered for West Coast duty where I attended B Schools at NAS San Diego for training on Navy patrol planes, primarily the retiring P-5 Martin seaplane, and the more venerated, operational P2-V Neptune for land-based ASW duty. I also attended survival school to qualify for flight duty if, when serving overseas in 'Nam. Instead I was sent to MCAS Iwakuni, Japan with VP-2, an ASW outfit as electrical troubleshooter maintaining the Neptune for spook missions around the Korean and South China Seas (the Pueblo would be captured the following year). On rotation that fall back to NAS Whidbey Is, Washington State, as an AE3 I transferred to VAH-4, a tailhook outfit flying the A3-D, this version having lost its twin aft '50s, now replaced by a tanker package for inflight refueling carrier bound. In early '67 our 3 plane detachment deployed for WestPac from NAS North Island, San Diego, aboard the USS Bon Homme Richard CVA-31 (Det Lima), for wartime operations out of NAS Cubi Pt, Philippines, and then rotation on to Yankee Station, Tonkin Gulf, after that. The following year, in '68, I was assigned to Det 14, also with VAH-4 and deployed aboard the USS Ticonderoga CVA-14, where I was first able to fly aboard the Whale on Yankee Station, but only as a substitute 3rd seat crewman (our plane having been redesignated by then as the KA-3B). Known in jest before that as the 'All 3 Dead' I didn't think too much of what would happen should we ditch on takeoff or had to bail out in the Whale, other than to know enough to reset circuit breakers and trigger the blow-down hatch beneath my 3rd seat station if airborne. Otherwise, it was out the cockpit hatch for those of us still alive to make it.
was a crew leader on an EA-3B crew VQ-1 68-70--made some cats & traps on the Connie-Ranger-America in the GOT-and out of danang (many combat missions)for two years----was a great adventure !!!
I was attached to 2 different A3B training squadron in the late early 70s. First I was assigned to VAH-123 in NAS Whidbey Island Washington, and later transferred to VAQ-130 in Alameda, CA. I was a Yeoman 2nd Class at that time. I was allowed to fly along on training missions with various pilots during their training curriculum. To do that I had to complete Combat Conditioning Swim (including experiencing the famous "Dempsey Dumpster" and had to learn how to pack a droughe chute, which helped slow the plane on short landings. I rode in the 3rd seat and the most exciting flights was a night refueling flight. I even kept a flight log. (I wish I knew what happened to it.). Good memories
The A3 was one of the many aircraft my father served in. I think he was in VAQ 33 when he was operating the sky warrior. And it blew my mind when he told me that there was no ejection seats and that in the case of emergency they were supposed to pull out one of the pieces of radio equipment and after opening the door in the floor, they were supposed to slide that piece of radio equipment out the hatch first because it was going to take out all the extra antennas that were on the belly of the airplanes so that the air crew wouldn't hit them. And if God forbid there was any kind of an emergency when you were download, you were pretty much screwed. Hence the all three dead nickname
@michaelfrench3396...HI, Michael. Do you remember when your father was in VAQ-33, and if he was stationed at N.A.S., Norfolk? I was in VAQ-33 from 71-75 at Norfolk, and I was one of the Plane Captains for our ERA-3B's. I come across so few men who mention VAQ-33, so I am very curious about your father.
@@marbleman52 I know I was born in Norfolk in 1979. Well actually at Portsmouth naval hospital. My mom was an aviation store keeper. I think at that point though my dad was at NAS Norfolk he was a master chief. I think he retired 80. And as far as I can remember, his last 2 years or year at Norfolk was as like an MP kind of thing. Whatever the Navy calls those sorts of people. But he might have been with VAQ 33 at Norfolk and then when they moved down to maybe he opted to stay in Norfolk? I'm actually in the process of trying to get a copy of his DD214. Cuz when I was little he told me a bunch of stuff and then we had our fallings out and whatnot and a couple years before he died. I did a paper for college class I was taking on the Vietnam war. My father-in-law was a 105 artillery man. And when I did that paper I interviewed my father and my father-in-law. And a lot of the stuff that my dad said for that paper was different than what he told me when I was younger. And he claimed that he didn't remember telling me the things he did when I was little. I've got a slight jacket and he's got patches that most people I've talked to including on the VAQ 33 website or Facebook page rather haven't been able to identify
@@michaelfrench3396 Michael, thanks for sharing all of that information and your memories with me...and us. Your dad would have needed to have been in VAQ-33 at the Norfolk Naval Air Station four or more years before you were born ( 71-75 ), if there was any chance that I might have known or heard of him. I know my memory is not as clear today as it was back then. You say that your dad was a Master Chief. Do you have any idea what his job was? I would like to think that his last name, French, somehow sounds familiar, but I might just be confusing him with the actor, Victor French, who was on the family show Little House On the Prairie. For sure...his DD214 will tell you where he was when he was discharged and his last duty station. That would help you fill in a gap or two. I hope that you and your Dad were able to make peace with each other before he passed on.
@@marbleman52 So he was an electronics warfare technician. He designed those little underwing pods that the EA6b had under the wings. And I know he was the aggressor squadron for the Atlantic fleet. He used to be on boats. I'm going to guess destroyer pickets showing them how to deal with their radars when they've been jammed as VAQ. Whatever I guess was flying overhead jamming the radars it would be showing them how to deal with it. How to get through it. I suppose we kind of made amends. Sort of anyway. You know it's funny how cyclical life is. Both my parents came from shitty families and were abused by their parents. Mostly just getting beatings and working way too hard from way too young and not at age because they were dirt. Poor. And there was some you know kind of messed up shit that happened to both of them. And the funny thing is they repeated the cycle. Like they thought that because they were successful monetarily and like you know we had a nice house and money and things that we were fine as kind. My earliest memory though was my dad telling me that I was a piece of shit and I've never fly an airplane. Knowing cool well that he was my hero and I was 6 years old looking up at one of the planes flying over from the local airport. That's one of the reasons I want to get my hands on his GD214. I want to know what the hell made him so fucked in the head. Like neither one of my parents drank neither one of them did drugs and my dad could be a super nice guy. But I can remember getting beat with the belt and when he was beating me for whatever offense that I had committed, he was not beating me. He was beating some demon that he was unable to overcome. I have a 5-year-old son. I've never laid a hand on him. My dad and I might not have gotten along well and we might not have mended things. But you know life is life and maybe some people aren't supposed to be in yours. You know I never asked to be born and I never asked for them to be my parents. All I can do is be the best dad possible. And I'm pretty goddamn sure I'm doing all right.
The engines were J57P10,s i was an ADJ (jet engine mechanic) during Vietnam War in VQ-1 and i think they were a great bird. I thought having a foldable tail as well as wings was really cool
I was with VQ1 1968-70 as air intelligence officer home ported in Naval Air Station Atsugi Japan and Danang Airbase Vietnam. We had three types. EA3B Skywarrior, EC121M Super Constellation and EP3 Orion (1969). At the time, our A3s were land based. But we would have our A3s occasionally go out to a carrier. In 1968, I was on a flight from Danang to the USS Constellation on one of our A3s to brief the Carrier Air Group about our missions out of Danang. First trap and first catapult for me. The EA3 had a crew of seven, with four technician positions in the fuselage. We also supported VAP61 missions out of Danang for photo reconnaissance. The Air Force also flew a variant of the A3 as the B66.
Did you by chance know Gary Cook ? He was probably an ATAN at that time, he was an Aircrewman on the EC-121 at that time, he was my LCPO when I was in HC-1 Det 2 aboard USS Midway 1982-84 , he was an ATC by then , he was also aircrew on the SH-3G , then in 1984 he made he made ATCS and went to COMFAIRWESTPAC and began flying a desk , I heard he made AVCM a couple years later
When Vietnam arose a long range high altitude strategic bomber was not suited for fighting guerillas crawling through the jungle. Right from the start tankers were needed to reduce flight deck operations.
You REALLY short changed the A3! During Vietnam EVERY carrier had a squadron of A3s on board as tankers. They were vital to operations saving many aircraft. I was a computer tech with VAH2 and made 1 flight in the 4th seat. Also, our commanding officer convinced command that since the plane was originally a bomber, we should be dropping bombs there also. There were several missions flown to drop bombs, but when one of the planes came back with a couple of bullet hokes in it, command decided that we were much more valuable as a tanker and shut down the bombing. Yes, some planes were converted to electronic missions, but there was, at most, one on board. They did end their days doing electronic missions, but again, their primary use was as a tanker! Get your facts right before you go on air!
Hi, Thanks for the comment. In this case, our focus - as a channel - for this run was on Reconnaissance & Electronic Warfare uses of the type among others from WWI forward. Hence the aircraft is grouped into a series with - all - other ELINT or Reconnaissance aircraft. We have done tankers in the past but felt that this plane had some unique uses to cover that folks would not realize - focusing on the tanker use is the obvious much covered topic - not the unique use of the plane. The EA-3 variant was used in critical electronic intelligence (ELINT) roles operating from aircraft carrier decks and ashore supplementing the larger Lockheed EP-3. Its last service was as an ELINT platform during Desert Storm. The EA-3B variant was modified for electronic intelligence against the Warsaw Pact. Missions were flown around the globe beginning in 1956, with the U.S. Air Force EB-47 Stratojet flying a similar mission. The EA-3B carried a crew of seven, with flight crew of three in the cockpit and an Electronic Warfare Officer and three electronic systems operators/evaluators in the converted weapons bay. It offered unique electronic reconnaissance capabilities in numerous Cold War-era conflicts and the Vietnam War. Specifically, For most of the Vietnam War, EA-3Bs of Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 1 (VQ-1) flew from Da Nang Air Base in South Vietnam, providing continuous electronic reconnaissance capability over the area, including the Ho Chi Minh Trail and all the way north to Haiphong harbor. This was known as VQ-1 Det.B. The aircrew and ground support personnel were temporarily assigned from their home base at Naval Air Station Atsugi, Japan and after 1970, Naval Air Station Agana, Guam. After Det B was disestablished, VQ-1 provided detachments of two EA-3B aircraft that deployed with Western Pacific and Indian Ocean (WESTPAC/IO) bound aircraft carrier battle groups up until the late 1980s when it was replaced by the Lockheed ES-3A Shadow. In addition, a version of the A-3B was modified into the RA-3B and used in Vietnam as a photo reconnaissance aircraft. Heavy Photographic Squadron 61 (VAP-61) at Naval Air Station Agana, Guam and sister squadron VAP-62 at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida furnished crews and flew out of Da Nang AB performing mapping and intelligence gathering flight over the Southeast Asia area. With 12 camera stations the RA-3B was well equipped to perform cartographic mapping of areas where no detail maps existed. With IR gear installed, the RA-3B was used at night to monitor the movement of troops down roads and trails in Laos. Other locations included Det Tango at Don Muang Royal Thai Air Force Base in Bangkok, Thailand, Det Southpaw at RAAF Base Townsville, Australia, as well as work out of Osan Air Base, South Korea. A handful of EA-3Bs remained in service long enough to participate in the first Gulf War in 1991. The Skywarrior was withdrawn from USN service during September 1991, the last examples of the type being retired on 27 September 1991. U.S. Navy RDT&E units, notably Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) activities at Naval Air Station Point Mugu and NAWS China Lake, attempted to retain their A-3 testbeds. These ambitions were ultimately unsuccessful when Vice Admiral Richard Dunleavy, as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Air Warfare and a former A-3 bombardier/navigator himself, made the final decision to retire the type. Again thank you for your comments on the segment.
These guys just don't know all of these applications. It's "ancient history " to them! We used 'em as a tanker in 70 & 71 on our Med cruise...The A5 Vigilante was originally slated for delivery of nukes! Then, in Vietnam it was used as a camera, taking photos both before and again after an ordnance strike! Had a speed of Mach 2+
Was the Commanding Officer you referred to Captain Robert E Fraser? He was my grandpa, and a superhero in my book. I believe he served as Commanding Officer for VAH-2, and then VAQ-132 and VAQ-129. I know he loved flying the A-3! He had over 900 carrier landings in his carrier, and would rather fly than eat any day!
@@ariellebons8084 I honestly don’t remember. If it was your grandad he was who I had my flight with. Wish I could remember his name because he was a great CO.
This is a great video and history. I was an enlisted air crewman and flew in three VAQ Squadron, VAQ130,132, 135 Det.2 station in NAS Alameda. I made 100 carrier landing in that aircraft. I have toured the museum twice. Thanks so much for sharing this, brings back great memories
Yes I can believe the Whale was used up until the first Gulf War. After all I was with VQ-2 in Rota, Spain 1988-1990. I have many vivid memories of the people I worked with to the many countries I visited.
A-3’s & P-3’s all day every day!
Thank you for an informative video sir!
I was in VQ2 from 67 thru Dec 70. Great squadron in a great town.
It also spawned the B-66/RB-66E that the AF used to replace the B-57 during Nam.
Fred, you did a very good presentation. I was a ERA-3 & TA-3 Skywarrier Aircrew man from 1976 to 1980 with VAQ-33 FIREBIRDS... good job !!!
I was stationed at VAQ-33 in the late 80's. I am always happy to see others, who were in that Squadron.
Funny how they say that it was built to fly off the newest carrier, yet my dad flew them EKA-3's towards the end of his career off the Ticonderoga in '68-'69, with VAQ-130. He said it never should have been flown off the Essex class carriers. He was an accomplished aviator when he started flying the A-3 at 38yrs old. As OIC of the detachment, he was pulled off the line by CAG and never flew on the line again. Flying that thing off the Tico in his last deployment to Vietnam, at night in the crazy weather
basically broke him. The fact he pissed of CAG didn't help. He went into A-3`s without telling my mom they had no ejection seats, especially after he had ejected from an F-8 earlier in his career. She found out at a cocktail party at Whidbey. Still have the seat behind my bar!
I was an aviation electrician for VF-102 Diamondbacks, and we had 12 F4J Phantoms! Our "boat rides" were performed by the U.S.S.Independence. We had 2 or 3 of the A3's on our boat. WOW, huge & heavy! Looked like a commercial jet on the flight deck. Of course the A5 Vigilantes were big too! We had a great variety of aircraft!!! I loved being on the flight deck! Our A3's were used for in-flight refueling of other aircraft.
I served from 1970 to 1974 as a aircrewman and plane captain in VAQ-135 and VAQ-130 in the EKA-3b operating off the USS Coral Sea.
i flew as photo/nav with VAP61 in 70 and71. still have my log book, Flew out of Korea, Thailand, and Australia. Map and recon most of Nam. Some of Laos, Cambodia, and even Thailand. Night flight over the North ended before I got there. Top hatch was just above my left shoulder, to be used only for ditching. The lower hatch hinged at the front and had step holes to climb into the bird . It could be opened with a switch on the Navigators seat or by standing on a switch built into the hatch. 2 carthridges blew the hatch open in emergency bail out. One of the RA-3B birds I flew in is in a Museum. Lots of memories.
My father earned a Distinguished Flying Cross and 11 Air Medals as the Navigator onboard the A3D during the Viet Nam War. He was stationed in Guam with Vap-61. I think he's one of the few enlisted men to ever get the DFC. He wrote his memoirs in a book called "Flying the Whale" which he self-published a few copies. I was a child at the time and I remember hearing many stories of his friends getting shot down. They were flying "low and slow" at night over North Viet Nam in A3D's painted black taking photos for the B-52's to have some targets to bomb.
EM operator A-3 pacific missile range. 2 yrs in 1967-1969. What a trip flying looking at where we been. 15 feet of the deck EdwardsAB sand blowers.
I was a vigilante plane captain in RV ah3 naval Air station Key West Florida. We had two, ta 3B aircraft in my squadron for training on the ASB 12 radar system in the vigilante.
I’m married to an A-3 Skywarrior pilot and he’s amazing♥
I was assigned to VAH123 Whidbey Island after AEAA school in 1961. Completed my enlistment in 1964 and returned to the USN in 1969. In 1970, I was assigned to VAQ308 at NAS Alameda. The squadron was later designated as VAK. Our sister squadron, VAK208, was right next door in the same hanger. Many hours climbing around the ADU compartment changing AC and DC generators and horizontal stabilizer actuators!
Catapult shot off the USS America in the North sea was something I won't ever forget! Moving that chunk of metal from 0 to 120 knots in about 250 feet was something!
I flew eka-3b's from 1974 to 1978 and it was a great time and would do it again!!
I was in VAQ-33 NAS Key West . We had A3’s . The models were KA-3B , TA-3B and ERA-3B . I use to love laying in my rack at night and listen to them start and if an engine change was needed , they would do a high power test after installation. No other planes would make that beautiful sound
I was stationed there too!
Served as an Aviation Electricians Mate (AE2) in VAH-9, an A3D squadron aboard the USS Saratoga in the early 60's. Ten of our A3s were bombers while two were configured as tankers. Always kept one of the aircraft loaded with two nukes while deployed in the Med. Spent the late fall and early winter of 1962 in the Caribbean as part of the Cuban Missile Blockade. The reason the aircraft had no ejection seats was to save weight as a carrier born aircraft.
I was a AME in R.V.A.H.3 in Key west and worked on these. To egress you clipped your parachute laynard as the hatch blew open and locked! then you slid out! IF YOU COULD! Would like to see something on the RA5C Vigi. Thanks1
As a 19 yr old Navy AEAN out of A School, Jacksonville, Fla (c. '66), I had volunteered for West Coast duty where I attended B Schools at NAS San Diego for training on Navy patrol planes, primarily the retiring P-5 Martin seaplane, and the more venerated, operational P2-V Neptune for land-based ASW duty. I also attended survival school to qualify for flight duty if, when serving overseas in 'Nam. Instead I was sent to MCAS Iwakuni, Japan with VP-2, an ASW outfit as electrical troubleshooter maintaining the Neptune for spook missions around the Korean and South China Seas (the Pueblo would be captured the following year). On rotation that fall back to NAS Whidbey Is, Washington State, as an AE3 I transferred to VAH-4, a tailhook outfit flying the A3-D, this version having lost its twin aft '50s, now replaced by a tanker package for inflight refueling carrier bound. In early '67 our 3 plane detachment deployed for WestPac from NAS North Island, San Diego, aboard the USS Bon Homme Richard CVA-31 (Det Lima), for wartime operations out of NAS Cubi Pt, Philippines, and then rotation on to Yankee Station, Tonkin Gulf, after that. The following year, in '68, I was assigned to Det 14, also with VAH-4 and deployed aboard the USS Ticonderoga CVA-14, where I was first able to fly aboard the Whale on Yankee Station, but only as a substitute 3rd seat crewman (our plane having been redesignated by then as the KA-3B). Known in jest before that as the 'All 3 Dead' I didn't think too much of what would happen should we ditch on takeoff or had to bail out in the Whale, other than to know enough to reset circuit breakers and trigger the blow-down hatch beneath my 3rd seat station if airborne. Otherwise, it was out the cockpit hatch for those of us still alive to make it.
Salute
was a crew leader on an EA-3B crew VQ-1 68-70--made some cats & traps on the Connie-Ranger-America in the GOT-and out of danang (many combat missions)for two years----was a great adventure !!!
I was attached to VQ-1; 1967 thru 1967 as an AMS; so I worked on the Whale and the Willie Victor. Atsugi, Japan and Danang. Great times. 14:37
Should have been 67 thru 1969
I was attached to 2 different A3B training squadron in the late early 70s. First I was assigned to VAH-123 in NAS Whidbey Island Washington, and later transferred to VAQ-130 in Alameda, CA. I was a Yeoman 2nd Class at that time. I was allowed to fly along on training missions with various pilots during their training curriculum. To do that I had to complete Combat Conditioning Swim (including experiencing the famous "Dempsey Dumpster" and had to learn how to pack a droughe chute, which helped slow the plane on short landings. I rode in the 3rd seat and the most exciting flights was a night refueling flight. I even kept a flight log. (I wish I knew what happened to it.). Good memories
We also use them for supply during carrier qualifications for the vigilante.
The A3 was one of the many aircraft my father served in. I think he was in VAQ 33 when he was operating the sky warrior. And it blew my mind when he told me that there was no ejection seats and that in the case of emergency they were supposed to pull out one of the pieces of radio equipment and after opening the door in the floor, they were supposed to slide that piece of radio equipment out the hatch first because it was going to take out all the extra antennas that were on the belly of the airplanes so that the air crew wouldn't hit them. And if God forbid there was any kind of an emergency when you were download, you were pretty much screwed. Hence the all three dead nickname
@michaelfrench3396...HI, Michael. Do you remember when your father was in VAQ-33, and if he was stationed at N.A.S., Norfolk? I was in VAQ-33 from 71-75 at Norfolk, and I was one of the Plane Captains for our ERA-3B's. I come across so few men who mention VAQ-33, so I am very curious about your father.
@@marbleman52 I know I was born in Norfolk in 1979. Well actually at Portsmouth naval hospital. My mom was an aviation store keeper. I think at that point though my dad was at NAS Norfolk he was a master chief. I think he retired 80. And as far as I can remember, his last 2 years or year at Norfolk was as like an MP kind of thing. Whatever the Navy calls those sorts of people. But he might have been with VAQ 33 at Norfolk and then when they moved down to maybe he opted to stay in Norfolk? I'm actually in the process of trying to get a copy of his DD214. Cuz when I was little he told me a bunch of stuff and then we had our fallings out and whatnot and a couple years before he died. I did a paper for college class I was taking on the Vietnam war. My father-in-law was a 105 artillery man. And when I did that paper I interviewed my father and my father-in-law. And a lot of the stuff that my dad said for that paper was different than what he told me when I was younger. And he claimed that he didn't remember telling me the things he did when I was little. I've got a slight jacket and he's got patches that most people I've talked to including on the VAQ 33 website or Facebook page rather haven't been able to identify
@@marbleman52 by the way, his name was Richard Wayne French but everybody called him Dick
@@michaelfrench3396 Michael, thanks for sharing all of that information and your memories with me...and us. Your dad would have needed to have been in VAQ-33 at the Norfolk Naval Air Station four or more years before you were born ( 71-75 ), if there was any chance that I might have known or heard of him. I know my memory is not as clear today as it was back then. You say that your dad was a Master Chief. Do you have any idea what his job was? I would like to think that his last name, French, somehow sounds familiar, but I might just be confusing him with the actor, Victor French, who was on the family show Little House On the Prairie.
For sure...his DD214 will tell you where he was when he was discharged and his last duty station. That would help you fill in a gap or two.
I hope that you and your Dad were able to make peace with each other before he passed on.
@@marbleman52 So he was an electronics warfare technician. He designed those little underwing pods that the EA6b had under the wings. And I know he was the aggressor squadron for the Atlantic fleet. He used to be on boats. I'm going to guess destroyer pickets showing them how to deal with their radars when they've been jammed as VAQ. Whatever I guess was flying overhead jamming the radars it would be showing them how to deal with it. How to get through it. I suppose we kind of made amends. Sort of anyway. You know it's funny how cyclical life is. Both my parents came from shitty families and were abused by their parents. Mostly just getting beatings and working way too hard from way too young and not at age because they were dirt. Poor. And there was some you know kind of messed up shit that happened to both of them. And the funny thing is they repeated the cycle. Like they thought that because they were successful monetarily and like you know we had a nice house and money and things that we were fine as kind. My earliest memory though was my dad telling me that I was a piece of shit and I've never fly an airplane. Knowing cool well that he was my hero and I was 6 years old looking up at one of the planes flying over from the local airport. That's one of the reasons I want to get my hands on his GD214. I want to know what the hell made him so fucked in the head. Like neither one of my parents drank neither one of them did drugs and my dad could be a super nice guy. But I can remember getting beat with the belt and when he was beating me for whatever offense that I had committed, he was not beating me. He was beating some demon that he was unable to overcome. I have a 5-year-old son. I've never laid a hand on him. My dad and I might not have gotten along well and we might not have mended things. But you know life is life and maybe some people aren't supposed to be in yours. You know I never asked to be born and I never asked for them to be my parents. All I can do is be the best dad possible. And I'm pretty goddamn sure I'm doing all right.
The engines were J57P10,s i was an ADJ (jet engine mechanic) during Vietnam War in VQ-1 and i think they were a great bird. I thought having a foldable tail as well as wings was really cool
I was with VQ1 1968-70 as air intelligence officer home ported in Naval Air Station Atsugi Japan and Danang Airbase Vietnam. We had three types. EA3B Skywarrior, EC121M Super Constellation and EP3 Orion (1969). At the time, our A3s were land based. But we would have our A3s occasionally go out to a carrier. In 1968, I was on a flight from Danang to the USS Constellation on one of our A3s to brief the Carrier Air Group about our missions out of Danang. First trap and first catapult for me. The EA3 had a crew of seven, with four technician positions in the fuselage. We also supported VAP61 missions out of Danang for photo reconnaissance. The Air Force also flew a variant of the A3 as the B66.
Did you by chance know Gary Cook ? He was probably an ATAN at that time, he was an Aircrewman on the EC-121 at that time, he was my LCPO when I was in HC-1 Det 2 aboard USS Midway 1982-84 , he was an ATC by then , he was also aircrew on the SH-3G , then in 1984 he made he made ATCS and went to COMFAIRWESTPAC and began flying a desk , I heard he made AVCM a couple years later
@@gp3393 Sorry, no. Making Master Chief, though, is impressive.
I was an Aviation Hydraulic Mechanic (AMH2)with VAK-208 from 1986-89. Our bureau # was AF just like your model.
I served in VAQ-208 from 1976-78. AT3 and flight crew
The aircraft was an A3D, and with no ejection seats, and the crew referred to the aircraft as "All Three Dead" a little gallows humor.
I flew on the EA-3B for ten years it was a beast. Night landings were a little scary but I would do it all over again. J J
Dad flew them. Tanker and e-countermeasures.
My dad was a Navigator on an A3D
A big adaptable airframe. Started out when the Navy was desperate to not be left behind the Air Force. But adapted for better uses
When Vietnam arose a long range high altitude strategic bomber was not suited for fighting guerillas crawling through the jungle. Right from the start tankers were needed to reduce flight deck operations.
Guys I served with would tell me that if the A3 wasn't leaving hydraulic fluid, don't get in it (that meant it was emoty).
I flew in the Whale from 1966 through 1976
Why didn’t put afterburner s on the to make safer on cat shots!
Playin with madness?😳
Jman
You REALLY short changed the A3! During Vietnam EVERY carrier had a squadron of A3s on board as tankers. They were vital to operations saving many aircraft. I was a computer tech with VAH2 and made 1 flight in the 4th seat. Also, our commanding officer convinced command that since the plane was originally a bomber, we should be dropping bombs there also. There were several missions flown to drop bombs, but when one of the planes came back with a couple of bullet hokes in it, command decided that we were much more valuable as a tanker and shut down the bombing. Yes, some planes were converted to electronic missions, but there was, at most, one on board. They did end their days doing electronic missions, but again, their primary use was as a tanker! Get your facts right before you go on air!
Hi,
Thanks for the comment. In this case, our focus - as a channel - for this run was on Reconnaissance & Electronic Warfare uses of the type among others from WWI forward. Hence the aircraft is grouped into a series with - all - other ELINT or Reconnaissance aircraft. We have done tankers in the past but felt that this plane had some unique uses to cover that folks would not realize - focusing on the tanker use is the obvious much covered topic - not the unique use of the plane.
The EA-3 variant was used in critical electronic intelligence (ELINT) roles operating from aircraft carrier decks and ashore supplementing the larger Lockheed EP-3. Its last service was as an ELINT platform during Desert Storm. The EA-3B variant was modified for electronic intelligence against the Warsaw Pact. Missions were flown around the globe beginning in 1956, with the U.S. Air Force EB-47 Stratojet flying a similar mission. The EA-3B carried a crew of seven, with flight crew of three in the cockpit and an Electronic Warfare Officer and three electronic systems operators/evaluators in the converted weapons bay. It offered unique electronic reconnaissance capabilities in numerous Cold War-era conflicts and the Vietnam War. Specifically, For most of the Vietnam War, EA-3Bs of Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 1 (VQ-1) flew from Da Nang Air Base in South Vietnam, providing continuous electronic reconnaissance capability over the area, including the Ho Chi Minh Trail and all the way north to Haiphong harbor. This was known as VQ-1 Det.B. The aircrew and ground support personnel were temporarily assigned from their home base at Naval Air Station Atsugi, Japan and after 1970, Naval Air Station Agana, Guam. After Det B was disestablished, VQ-1 provided detachments of two EA-3B aircraft that deployed with Western Pacific and Indian Ocean (WESTPAC/IO) bound aircraft carrier battle groups up until the late 1980s when it was replaced by the Lockheed ES-3A Shadow.
In addition, a version of the A-3B was modified into the RA-3B and used in Vietnam as a photo reconnaissance aircraft. Heavy Photographic Squadron 61 (VAP-61) at Naval Air Station Agana, Guam and sister squadron VAP-62 at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida furnished crews and flew out of Da Nang AB performing mapping and intelligence gathering flight over the Southeast Asia area. With 12 camera stations the RA-3B was well equipped to perform cartographic mapping of areas where no detail maps existed. With IR gear installed, the RA-3B was used at night to monitor the movement of troops down roads and trails in Laos. Other locations included Det Tango at Don Muang Royal Thai Air Force Base in Bangkok, Thailand, Det Southpaw at RAAF Base Townsville, Australia, as well as work out of Osan Air Base, South Korea.
A handful of EA-3Bs remained in service long enough to participate in the first Gulf War in 1991. The Skywarrior was withdrawn from USN service during September 1991, the last examples of the type being retired on 27 September 1991. U.S. Navy RDT&E units, notably Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) activities at Naval Air Station Point Mugu and NAWS China Lake, attempted to retain their A-3 testbeds. These ambitions were ultimately unsuccessful when Vice Admiral Richard Dunleavy, as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Air Warfare and a former A-3 bombardier/navigator himself, made the final decision to retire the type.
Again thank you for your comments on the segment.
These guys just don't know all of these applications. It's "ancient history " to them! We used 'em as a tanker in 70 & 71 on our Med cruise...The A5 Vigilante was originally slated for delivery of nukes! Then, in Vietnam it was used as a camera, taking photos both before and again after an ordnance strike! Had a speed of Mach 2+
Was the Commanding Officer you referred to Captain Robert E Fraser? He was my grandpa, and a superhero in my book. I believe he served as Commanding Officer for VAH-2, and then VAQ-132 and VAQ-129. I know he loved flying the A-3! He had over 900 carrier landings in his carrier, and would rather fly than eat any day!
@@ariellebons8084 I honestly don’t remember. If it was your grandad he was who I had my flight with. Wish I could remember his name because he was a great CO.
Flight deck fun with the whales, tomcats, prowlers, corsairs, intruders, vikings real airwings then not todays watered down stuff...America 80-84 v-1