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F-35C in Catapult Hookup Tests

And then you've got the 'exception that breaks the rule' ... as when the A-6 was designed and massaged, it was a collaboration between the horn-rimmed frame eggheads & Aviators (heavy emphasis on SPAD drivers) & past (heavy emphasis on A-3 B/Ns) and soon to be future B/Ns ... the way it's supposed to be in a perfect world. And the nose-tow link fit the shuttle the first time ...

The result: a 'beautiful' and a hugely successful machine.
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All images by A4sForever
 
concur, a4s. except they put the pointy part on the wrong end.
:)

are you old enough to remember 'swoose' snead?

he was the first a6a squadron skipper.
 
RHPF said:
One thing I could never figure out is why is the probe fixed on the A-6, EA-6? When I first 'noticed' it this year, I was with some other Hornet/Rhino dudes and we assumed it must have some way to retract as it's clearly in the way. Apparently, not...
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Image by A4sForever


It was determined early in the 'game' that our probes would always be erect.

Some guys even used it in tactical evolutions as a 'roll around' point. And I suppose it had something to do w/ side-by-side seating ...

THUS ... it became part of the bird's legend & 'beauty'.
 
flaps said:
concur, a4s. except they put the pointy part on the wrong end.
:)

are you old enough to remember 'swoose' snead?

he was the first a6a squadron skipper.
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I think W.S. Nelson was the first A-6A squadron (VA-42) CO and 'Swoose' was his XO, taking over in middle/late '65 after the squadron had coughed up all their SPADs and completely transitioned to the Intruder (and cruised in? FORRESTAL ?? ) . Anyway, I knew who CDR Snead was -- never met him personally.

West coast/east coast thing ... :)
 
It's Only Skin Deep!

A4sForever said:
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Image by A4sForever


ITHUS ... it became part of the bird's legend & 'beauty'.
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'beauty'....Only to it's own Mother, could that child be a....'beauty'! :icon_hear
BzB :sleep_125
 
flaps said:
concur, a4s. except they put the pointy part on the wrong end.
:)...
Click to expand...
Ah, yes ... but that's part of her 'beauty'.

The Israeli's found another use for the nose when they were shopping for aircraft & taking notes ... they were gonna' take all the radar(s) out of the nose, remove the DIANE system, and put 4 X 30mm cannon in the nose instead.

4 X 30 mm cannon & all that under-wing ordnance ... WOW !!!

They figured the radar-attack-nav system was superfluous in the CAVU Middle East and they were trying to build a ground attack 'hammer' that could be done rather quickly with 'old' A-6s.
 
that would have put the a-10's out of business

when the a6's were retired in about '92, there were many recently delivered birds in service. probably over 100 with way less than 1000 airframe hours.
 
A4sForever said:
Ah, yes ... but that's part of her 'beauty'.

The Israeli's found another use for the nose when they were shopping for aircraft & taking notes ... they were gonna' take all the radar(s) out of the nose, remove the DIANE system, and put 4 X 30mm cannon in the nose instead.

4 X 30 mm cannon & all that under-wing ordnance ... WOW !!!

They figured the radar-attack-nav system was superfluous in the CAVU Middle East and they were trying to build a ground attack 'hammer' that could be done rather quickly with 'old' A-6s.
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Never heard the story of the Israelis being interested in the Intruder. Seeing as it never got exported, did they come knocking and get told "no" by DoD?
 
i know the french were very interested in retired a6e's and ka6's. state dept put the kabash on that deal
also,
bob smyth, grumman test pilot flew the first a6 in 1960. 10 years later he flew the first 14. (and jumped out on the second flight).
 
HAL Pilot said:
The A-6 was around until 1997.
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And the '96 Intruder Ball (the final-final) was THE SINGLE GREATEST 'PARTY' THE U.S. NAVY HAS EVER WITNESSED !!!

In the ol' VA-128 hangar ... wine, women, dancing, song ... guys came back from all over the world. It was one for the all-time cruise book, that's for certain ... :)
 
"The A-6 was around until 1997."
my error.you are correct. the last one was built in '92. the a6f prototype did make several flights before program cancellation.
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that's correct. took my grand kids to the museum last week.
i have logged about 220 hrs in #3 (martha) while doing structural flight test at calverton. primary pilot for
structures was don evans (deceased). also chuck swell(deceased), joe burke and tom gwynne.
...
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No. 3 first flew on December 28, 1971 with Grumman Test Pilots Don Evans (pilot) and Dennis Romano (Weapon Systems Officer). Operating out of the Grumman Flight Test Facility at Calverton, New York, No 3 was primarily used for determining the entire structural envelope for the F-14 and investigating certain flight characteristics under extreme conditions.

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One of these was in response to concerns raised by the US Navy regarding asymmetrical wing sweep. No. 3 is best remembered for photo shown at right. A series of flight tests were conducted from December 19, 1985 to February 28, 1986. Grumman's Chief Test Pilot, Chuck Sewell, conducted several trials with the right wing locked in the forward position of 20 degrees, and positioned the left wing at 35, 50, 60 and 68 degrees of sweep in flight. 60 degrees was determined as the maximum for landing. In the event of an operational in-flight malfunction, Sewell found the aircraft to be acceptable for carrier landings in this configuration.

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Tomcat No. 3 flew for the last time in 1990. Acquired by the Cradle of Aviation Museum in 1995, No. 3 is shown here on display in Hangar 2. It is also interesting to note that Tom Gwynne, Vice President for External Relations for the "Cradle", and Grumman Test Pilot No. 72, flew No. 3 on several occasions.
 
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