the A3D into service. Ironically the Skywarrior would eventually operate from the decks of all Navy attack aircraft carrier classes- from the smaller Essex-class all the way up to the Nimitz-class.
The A3D was not really a revolutionary design apart from its sheer size and weight. Equipped with folding wings as well as a folding vertical stabilizer, the Whale was always the easiest aircraft to identify on a carrier deck- it was still huge even when all folded up. The original J40 engines intended to power the aircraft turned out to be unsuitable and they were replaced with the widely-used and proven Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojets- which also powered everything from Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses and 707 commercial airliners to Lockheed U-2s and Vought F-8 Crusaders. A distinctive A3D design feature is the hollow point bullet-shaped oil cooler installed forward of the engine intake in each nacelle.
Skywarriors carried crews ranging in size from three to seven or even more- none of whom sat in ejection seats. The less popular and more morbid nickname for the Whale became “All 3 Dead”, derived from the aircraft designator but referring to the lack of a way to quickly exit the aircraft in extremis. Electronic warfare, VIP transport, and training versions of the Whale carried personnel in the pressurized bomb bay. The A3D-1 Whales were equipped with twin remote controlled 20 millimeter cannon mounted in their tails. Electronic countermeasures “boat tails” replaced the guns in short order on most of the Whales. Others simply had the guns removed and the original production tail left in place.
On July 31st 1956, an A3D-1 Skywarrior flew nonstop and unrefueled from Hawaii to New Mexico (3200 miles) in just 5 hours and 40 minutes. In 1957 two A3D-1s launched from the aircraft carrier Bonne Homme Richard (CVA-19) and trapped aboard the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga (CVA-60). This flight is unremarkable except that Bonnie Dick was steaming in the Pacific Ocean and Super Sara was underway in the Atlantic Ocean at the time.
Once the Navy switched from carrier-based strategic bombers to Polaris missile submarines to fulfill its end of the nuclear deterrence equation, Skywarriors were adapted to perform several other roles for the fleet. Like every other aircraft in the inventory the Whale endured a top-to-bottom designator change in 1962. Alphabet soup anyone? Here goes: The basic attack A3D-1 became the A-3A. The photo reconnaissance A3D-1P became the RA-3A. The electronic warfare A3D-1Q became the EA-3A. The conventional attack A3D-2 became the A-3B. The photo reconnaissance A3D-2P became the RA-3B. The electronic warfare A3D-2Q became the EA-3B. The trainer A3D-2T became the TA-3B. The first A3D-2s (A-3Bs) were delivered to VAH-2 Royal Rampants in 1957. The A3D-2 featured uprated J57 engines, an inflight refueling system, and a larger bomb bay. The KA-3B, ERA-3B, EKA-3B, VA-3B, NRA-3B, NTA-3B, and a few others would come later.
Between 1965 and 1967, A-3B Skywarriors were used for bombing and minelaying missions in Vietnam before smaller and lighter aircraft took on those missions The KA-3B tanker and EKA-3B hybrid electronic warfare / tanker versions of the Whale saw yeoman’s duty as gas-passers and saved more than one pilot by keeping fuel flowing into his damaged tanks until he was feet wet (over water and not Vietnam). Photo reconnaissance RA-3Bs flown by Heavy Photographic Squadrons (VAP)-61 World Recorders and VAP-62 Tigers captured photographic intelligence all over Southeast Asia. EA-3Bs were stalwart electronic support aircraft responsible for gathering electronic intelligence and jamming North Vietnamese ground control and missile guidance radars- tasks taken over at least in part from Marine EF-10B Skyknights.
Some TA-3Bs and VA-3Bs were (comparatively) well-appointed transports used by flag-level officers as VIP transports. The ERA-3B “electronic aggressors” of VAQ-33 Firebirds and VAQ-34 Electric Horsemen performed their roles in exercises worldwide and though based at CONUS air stations they were the gypsies of their com