My father was a navigator on "The Whale" during the Viet Nam war. Flying low and slow at night over North Viet Nam in an A-3D painted black, he won the Distinguished Flying Cross and many air medals. He LOVED that airplane so much. He even wrote a self-published book for the family called "Flying the Whale".
I was in crash fire at NAS Cubi Pt in 1967 and there were 3 or 4 all black A-3's always parked in a secluded section by the carrier dock.....they always flew at night.
Minor detail on the EA-3B: It was four seats in the converted bomb-bay area, not five. The old gunner's seat behind the pilot was converted to the fifth ESM station. There were windows on the starboard side and you could get a sense of how the pass was going by how high in the window the horizon was and what angle it was at, along with listening to Paddles' calls. (Over 100 traps in the far, far rear seat of the EA-3B) Rick's coverage was fantastic!
I was part of a restoration group at the Vintage Flying Museum for a number of years, and helped to restore an EA-3B electronic warfare variant (like the one in the thumbnail), Buno 146453. Even got my name put on the plaque. Rather proud of that.
Thank you for this podcast. I began my adventure with the Whale as a crew/nav (a.k.a 3rd seat) in Heavy 2, three cruises Coral Sea, Ranger & JFK. My final tour was VAQ 131 as CP/Nav. I love the whale, and miss all my fellow crew members.....BTW we did bomb from the Coral Sea on my first tour in VN....
AMH-2 Here: After graduating from AMH-A School in Millington, Memphis, Tennessee in the Spring of 1978. I was ready for anything as A New US Navy Metalsmith = I know that Aircraft A-3D SKYWARRIOR in and out, I maintained it on my First US Navy Squadron VAK/VAQ-308 'WHALE LOGO' on top tip of the VERTICAL STABILIZER, CAG-30 USNR-TAR, HANGAR 21, NAS, ALAMEDA, circa 1978-1982, We had 6 AIRCRAFT and BOY, W/C 120 WAS ALWAYS BUSY FIXING / MAINTAINING THAT WHALE!!!!!!. I even attended a Flight Crew training course at NAS Lemoore and became a backup SEAT 3 Plane Captain. I did all kinds of things with that Aircraft Including going to the NARF 'Naval Air Rework Facility, ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA Boneyard and CUT-OFF the FLIGHT CREW CABIN 'up to the 3rd seat. I have deep respect for ED Heinemann who designed the Aircraft, and by the way, He was also the designer of the SCOOTER 'A-4 Skyhawk', where we learned the BASICS of Aviation Maintenance at MILLINGTON, AMH-A School. Replacing the Windshield was a very STICKY MESSY job, Drop Checking IT, 'placing it on 3-Tripod Jacks' Takes a lot of ALIGNING using a Sledge Hammer to set the feet of the Tripod-jacks in balance, replacing the hydraulic actuator on the Wing Fold mechanism is almost impossible and time consuming, CORROSION CONTROL, dye penetrant inspection of the metals, painting and maintaining the 3,000 psi, hydraulic Flight Controls/Landing gear/Brake system, changing tires WAS A VERY DIRTY MESSY JOB... but I loved it.
Former 3rd seat EW operator. Lead on top secret Phoenix missle project Pacific Missile range, sand blowers Edwards AF, Whidbey lived on base, a true beast.
my father was the bn/nav on the Constellation when the nose wheel came off on launch. My dad took film of the landing into the barricade on the recovery. I still have the ship newspaper of the event. August 7, 1962. A3D VAH-10. Pilot: LT J. W. Turley, Bombadier, LTJG Andy Lazas (my father) and SK Anderson gunner-navigator. The film was lost when my father passed of Lou Gherig in December 2017. I have the tail hook from his 100th landing, Shellback certificate and his patches from the Atlantic and Pacific fleet.
Very interesting , having worked on the A3 for several years and enjoyed every minute of it, I really enjoyed listening to the presentation, it also brought back memories great memories of my time with the A3, thank you.
What a knowledgeable guest with a great style and energy. Really enjoyed the interview. Glad you released it, Jell-O. Unforgettable stories, especially the A3 disobeying orders and wet wing tanking the Crusader over the beach in Vietnam. It would be great to get Rick Morgan back in the future (maybe on the Prowler?).
If memory serves there was a painting of an A3 on the wall at the avionics A school at NAS Millington in the late 80s. I think it was on the landing of a staircase or something, someplace you had to look at every day. I never saw one up close in real life, but I talked to guys who had maintained them.
Wow! I had no idea how extensive the A3D was! I "knew" one airframe was "finally" retired in the 1990s but surprised to learn "finally" in 2011. When I was a kid, for one Xmas I got the Monogram deluxe boxed set "Gulf of Tonkin Yacht Club" which had an A-7, F-4 and A-3D, it was a pretty basic but fun kit to make, and I was immediately fascinated with the A-3. Of course, at the time I thought the rear gun "ball" was pretty slick, but never knew how....Useless...It really was. Oh well. It was the only model in the set where the wings, tail and gun could be moveable, and that of course was a big bonus as a kid. The tactic of having one Whale as a tanker keeping (A4's) fueled for a strike is really interesting. Looking forward to the next episode featuring Rick, great guest! I wish the Podcast could have an uncensored episode on Callsigns and Nose Art.
Two version of the KA-3B KA-3B EKA-3B (precursor to the EA-6A and EA-6B), equipped with electronic countermeasures. Versions: RA-3B - Photo EA-3B - Electronic TA-3B - Trainer VA-3B - VIP UA-3B - Utility NRA-3B - Permeant Modified Test ERA-3B - Tactical Electronic Warfare The ATM's would fail when the crew would intentionally (or unintentionally) pull negative G's. The lubricating oil for the ATM's also provided the pressure to to position the turbine blades. When the plane would go negative G the oil in the "crankcase" would "float" above the oil pick-up tube, no oil pressure to the turbine blades, they would fail to the "feathered" position = loss of hydraulics and electrical. If the pilot didn't pull the hydraulic disconnects in time, game over. You could not reset the ATM's in flight. KA-3B fuel: Each wing 4413 lbs Fuselage tank 8255 lbs Aft Tank 12,607 lbs Aux tank 3086 lbs Total 35,149 lbs All tanks go to the aft fuel tank, that's the tank that feeds the engines. You can pump from the wings and the forward tank to the aux tank for tanking. There is a "gravity flow" valve located in between the forward tank and aft tank, it's used to feed fuel to the aft tank and vice versa. The pilot could open the gravity feed valve to transfer fuel from the aft tank to the forward tank and then transfer that to the aux tank to get more fuel for refueling. The KA-3B had a max carrier landing weight of 50K, for airfield operations the max was 56K. The aft fuselage tank and the refueling gear took up about a third of the bombay. Some of the KA-3B's had "cargo racks" installed in bombay. You could fit V-8 engine blocks, motorcycles (laid down), spare parts, tools and enough booze from DET's (NAS Roosevelt Roads) to open your owl package store, if it fit - it went! On the KA-3B if you didn't take an Enlisted Crew Chief then the Navigator had to get out of the seat to crawl down into the aft companionway to manually operate the emergency doors, brakes, gear and flaps valves. The bombing range at Boardman, OR and the Radar Bomb Scoring Unit (No BS Like RBS) at Spokane WA. Tanker suitability trials of the Lockheed S-3 Viking in 1991 with VAQ-33s TA-3B. Whale crew comment was: "It took the S-3 forever to get to altitude but when it was over, they popped the boards and fell like a cow off the high dive." Did Rick ever pack and install the Skywarrior drag chute?
Launched the Whale many times of the Nimitz Cat#2 85-88. The only bridle bird we had. Saw one crash January 1987 on landing, snapped the barricade hit the deck and skidded of the deck, all 7 perished.
@@markicangelo8282 no shit! What did he do? He died 5 years ago and I'm still trying to get his dd214. I know he was an aviation electronics technician I think
I flew Leapfrog in VAH-11 det 8 in A3B Skywarrior off Indy ... D.E. Nichols, pilot... Richard Markland 3rd crewman... can you imagine trying to communicate with a shore COMSTA with the pilot doing slow rolls,,, the A3B Skywarrior bomber version... there is a pic of my A3B side number 609...on internet... we were on grond at Keflavic Iceland.. no refueling prod. ..I did a lot of flying doing Leapfrog...
I served in the Q with the one crewman who survived the crash off the Ranger. He liked that aircraft and mission so much he came back to the Q just to stay on that aircraft.
EKA-3 was the last plane my dad flew off carriers. Started with VF-91 in FJ-3's and F-8's, then a while later VT-26 in Texas as an instructor flying F-11's. In between at China Lake flying everything from AD's to F9F's to F-8's, and threw in a deployment as an advisor in Chu Lai '64-'65. Ejected at Nellis after hydraulic failure in an F-8 in '59. Point being, solid intestinal fortitude, as they say. Flying the A-3 off the Tico '68-'69, it spelled the end of his line status. CAG grounded him after bingo-ing into Da Nang on a mission. Never heard the details from him. He said the Whale never should have been deployed on the Essex class carriers. He said he came way to close to tragedy coming in at night, in bad weather on that little ship. (USNA c/o '54)
Was with VAQ 135 NAS Alameda when they were flying A-3s. I was fortunate enough to do some cross countries (3rd seat) when flight time was needed. It was great serving with them. The ironic part is when I was a brat and my father (USN/MSC) was stationed at MCAF Iwakuni VQ1 was flying the same aircraft. Little did I know that just 15 years later I would be assigned to the shore component of an A-3 squadron
Richard Schaffert does have a book available, though I don't know if it ever went to print. I found his e-mail on an F-8 association website, and he kindly e-mailed me a .pdf copy.
Because the A3 took up so much space on the Flight Deck they used the Da Nang Marine Air Base as a bingo base I was part of the Bingo crew for flight operations. They often flew between the Marine Da Nang Air Base and the Navy base at Subic Bay I serviced on the USS Handcock as a aircraft mechanic with the A3 squadron deployed on 2 westpacks on the Handcock I look back to my Navy service and was a great experience the Navy treated it's sailors with respect and where always fair
Excellent episode. The guest was great. Seems to k is just about everything. I did have to chuckle a bit at the 8 minute mark when Jello was referring to an hour show for the four military branches… and he totally dissed the Coast Guard and Space Force.
The Osprey Publication series of books the guest mentioned I often referenced when building historically accurate Vietnam campaign missions for Jane's Fighters Anthology with the usnraptor playset installed. Unfortunately, the A-3 is unavailable.
Since its about the Skywarrior i have a question for anyone with some information about it. I’ve read somewhere that at least one was converted as a VIP transport but i can find little to no information about it. Any information is welcome.
Yep, you are right. It is a UA-3B one or two were made. It was at VQ-2 when we were there and I got to walk through it a few times. Was designed for Flag Transport but turned into a “people hauler” for maintenance guys and parts with a smattering of incentive flights and I heard more than once, a way to get a wife or two in the air to see what their husbands did. Main way you can tell is the windows on both sides. Heres a link to a pic: www.airliners.net/photo/USA-Navy/Douglas-UA-3B-Skywarrior/1212720?qsp=eJxtjbEOwjAMRP/Fc5aEgkQ2ujDCwA9YjoFIpY1sD1RV/52QSkxsp/dOdwvQNBq/7TYXhgjKKPQEBwUFXwpxAcxCgnfrUTNtta7ze/cTZx5Z/iuIwYdwdKCTWD/Xg4TGJyIuxgk2fpHE8lWs1J4fdcfXwHJtGXaHylPWMmDbYMM8wLp%2BAOhBPpY%3D
@@BLEMAK1 MY GOD! Bala Lamak, how you doin? We flew together on Coral Sea, I think. Maybe it was Connie. AT2 Mike Greene sends. Hey, do you remember either incident: once our PC fell out of the lower hatch at 800 feet near Hawaii. In the second, a North Korean jet took a shot at our Whale. Do you remember either incident?
I used to see a lot of EKA-3s flying out of Alameda. Port of Oakland had a nice little tower just across the estuary that was great for 'bird' watching. Until it was shut down after the '89 quake. Rene Francillion is a treasure. His Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club is a must read. Hell, most of his books are a must read.
Good stuff! Not sure if you have done it before, but for a future episode, would it be possible to discuss what goes into being a pilot/officer from a leadership perspective? Like what do you guys do outside of flying?
We cover that here and there on various episodes. But you may also wish to check out the CommissionED Air Force Officer podcast for those types of discussions.
Did anyone serve on the USS Handcock A3 squadron between 1972 to 1974 ot of Alameda Naval Air base I believe the A3 Squadron was133 my name is Michael Pistilli if anyone is interested
Not sure if any of you guys recall an A3D crashing off Whidbey Island in around 1969/70. My godfather Kenneth Reynolds was on board. He would have been around 21-22 years old, and wasn't a pilot, he worked on these craft like my dad did. I've called the base and spoke with the Naval Safety Center, they told me they would call me back but never have. He and my dad Norman Beachel were stationed at Sigonella NAS together in 68-69. If any of you have any info, it would be greatly appreciated. My dad is 81 and has had 2 strokes, has always wondered what happened to Ken. All he knows is that he was in an A3D when it went down near Whidbey. Thanks!
The one thing I didn't hear Rick mention was the tendency of the A-3 to lose at least one engine (as in the engine departs the aircraft) when performing the loft or over the shoulder bombing maneuver. RVAH-3 lost one of their TA-3s in a crash near NAS Albany in August of 1973. Everyone onboard bailed out and survived except the pilot, LCDR Jerome Charles Ragen USN. Mr. Ragen never had time to bail out and was lost in the crash of the aircraft. I'm wondering if any of the VAQ-33 TA-3s were inherited from Heavy 3? Also I wonder if Rick ever flew VAQ-33s Super Connie?
