Viggies.......

[navychief 1]

Hey all.

 

Well, I see that several folks read my post, but didn't leave a reply to answer my question. Does anyone out there know if the magnificent

RA-5C Vigilante might be added to SF soon? And if so, when?

[CowboyTodd41 134]

I guess if someone modeled a tac-nuke to shoot out the back, or cameras sure...but there may not be a good fan base, although it would be nice to have to actually photograph a target on those reece runs

[SDirickson 0]

Well, wasn't the B model Vig meant to be an interceptor or long range fighter? They planned to remove the bomb bay and add a third engine, right?

[Guest Ranger332]

sapposed project list

 

Republic F-105 Thunderchief - by Armourdave

Douglas F4D Skyray - by Armourdave

Vought F7U-3 Cutlass - by Armourdave

Republic P-47Q/XP-72 - by Armourdave

Chance-Vought F-8 Crusader - by Armourdave

Northrop F-5A Freedom Fighter/Tiger - by Armourdave

Convair F-102 Delta Dagger - by Lud von Pipper

North American YF-107 - by Fleet Defender

Grumman F11-F1 Tiger - by Fleet Defender

McDonnell F-101 Voodoo - by Lud von Pipper

 

 

United Kingdom

 

Hawker Hunter- by Armourdave

English Electric Lightning F6 - by Lud von Pipper

Blackburn Buccaneer - by Lud von Pipper

 

USSR

 

MiG-15 - by Armourdave

MiG-21 cockpit - by Armourdave

Sukhoi Su-17 Fitter - by Armourdave

 

Sweden

 

Saab J-35F Draken - by Lud von Pipper

Saab JA37 Viggen - by Swede

 

Italy

 

Fiat G.91R - by Lud von Pipper

 

2. C a m p a i g n s

 

"Operation Tainted Cigar" - a campaign outline provided by Gecko6

"Broken Arrow" - a campaign outline provided by Denzil

"Star Wars Canyon" - a campaign outline provided by Denzil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Development database

 

3D modelling

[navychief 1]

The Viggie was originally designed to deliver nukes, but due to some type of inflight deployment problems (I believe) the mission of the aircraft was changed to recon.

 

Now then, knowing all that, why not design the aircraft for SF to actually carry bomb loads instead of a camera? Or, better yet, BOTH! Now that would be cool!

 

I don't even know if such a thing would be possible, but sure is interesting to ponder, eh?

 

Chief W.

[navychief 1]

The RA-5C

 

Overview

 

The "Vigilante" flew for the first time in June 1962. It embodied the same modifications that had been incorporated into the A-5B with a few minor changes, the main one being the addition of a under fuselage mounted "canoe" that carried most of the reconnaissance sensors. The RA-5C retained its capability for carrying underwing ordnance, although it was rarely, if ever, used.

 

The first RA-5C was delivered on in June 1963 and the aircraft entered service during 1964 . The aircraft answered a U. S. Navy need for a capable, manned, long-range reconnaissance system to augment short range tactical systems, such as the RF-8G Crusader.

 

The RA-5C "Vigilante" incorporated a sophisticated electronic reconnaissance pod in its bomb-bay that included a side-looking airborne radar in a fairing under the fuselage, vertical, oblique and split-image cameras as well as active and passive ECM equipment. Production deliveries began in mid-1964 and shortly thereafter the RA-5C began flying reconnaissance missions over Vietnam from carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin.

 

An inertial navigation system (INS) combined with an automatic flight control system enabled the RA-5C to fly precise courses on mission altitudes ranging from high to tree-top levels. Each photo taken carried a marginal notation that displayed latitude and longitude of the plane at the time it was taken, thus pinpointing target locations. The information obtained was then incorporated into a shipboard data bank and used for mission planning.

 

Several RA-5Cs were also outfitted with a probe-and-drogue refueling package to serve as "buddy tankers" for compatible aircraft.

 

RA-5C Reconnaissance Capabilities

 

Reconnaissance sensors included:

 

• A SLAR (Side Looking Airborne Radar) unit

• Photographic equipment, which included vertical, oblique, and split-image cameras, and 3 inch and 18 inch horizon-to-horizon panoramic scanning cameras. (The SLAR and the cameras were carried in a long external under-fuselage faring, called the canoe.)

• A television camera capable of functioning in very low light was mounted under the nose just behind the radome.

• A sensor for gathering electromagnetic intelligence (Passive Electronic Counter-measures (PECM), which replaced one of the 3 fuel tanks, was in the linear weapons bay.

• Two high-intensity super sonic strobe-type flasher pods were mounted on the underwing pylons to illuminate the ground under the aircraft.

• The DDS (Digital Data System) encoded data on each exposure indicating all the statistical data (altitude, latitude, date, etc, etc.) which identified exactly where the photo was taken. This was invaluable to subsequent air strikes against camouflaged targets that were recognized when aerial infrared film was used.

 

The RA-5C formed the airborne reconnaissance unit of the Integrated Operational Intelligence System (IOIS). The Integrated Operational Intelligence Center (IOIC), the shipboard part of the system, process the electronic and photographic information collected by the RA-5C. Housed within the IOIC was an electronic intelligence data handling center, a one-hour photo processing center whose equipment (Kodak EH-38 high speed processors) was highly classified at the time (now this same type of equipment is readily available at most shopping malls for one hour processing). After processing the film it was read out by specialists at interpretation of the images electronic data analysis.

 

Prototypes of the reconnaissance system worked so well that all surviving A-5A and A-5B aircraft were returned to North American Aviation's Columbus, Ohio facilities to be modified to RA-5C standards. The demonstrated ability of the RA-5C to meet a long standing need for long range fleet reconnaissance now provided the justification to keep the Vigilante in production. (NOTE: The prototypes worked much better than they did in actual operation).

 

Production

 

During the 1960's, a total of forty-three standard RA-5C's were built, these following closely on the heels of the eighteen original A-5B aircraft.

 

When the last of these rolled off of the Columbus, Ohio assembly line, it appeared that the Vigilante production had come to an end. Accordingly, tooling and related hardware was placed in long-term storage.

 

The Columbus facility then shifted its priorities to other projects including the remanufacture of the forty-three remaining A-5A and A-5B aircraft to RA-5C standards.

 

Attrition caused by the continuing hostilities over Vietnam resulted in renewed Navy interest for acquiring additional RA-5C's, so in 1968 the Navy ordered forty-six new production RA-5C's, restarting the production line. Visually they differed from the previous models only by a leading edge extension which extended from near the wing root to the forward air intake lip. The purpose of this extension was to generate improved airflow over the stabilator at low speeds, enhancing pitch control during the landing approach. These aircraft were all powered by J79-GE-10 engines.

 

Only thirty-six of these new aircraft actually built, the last completed in August 1970.

 

 

Flying the RA-5C

 

The cockpit was large, and visibility, which was enhanced by the one piece curved front windscreen, was excellent. The rain removal system, which consisted of hot air being blown over the front windscreen, provided clear visibility in even the heaviest rainstorms.

 

The auto-throttle was outstanding - in addition to airspeed inputs it included the input from accelerometers located in the tail which caused the throttle to be sensitive to movement of the stabilator. This allowed the pilot to change the throttle setting during landing approach by stick input alone.

 

The aircraft was fast! It could exceed Mach 1 at 6,000 feet using minimum afterburner, and easily exceed Mach 2 at high altitude.

 

 

The RA-5C in the Vietnam war

 

The RA-5C was first deployed to south-east Asia in August of 1964, initially flying missions only over South Vietnam because the Navy was reluctant to jeopardize the aircraft's sophisticated and very expensive equipment, should the aircraft be lost over North Vietnam.

 

Eventually, the Vigilantes did go North, suffering the highest loss rate of any Naval aircraft in the war. In all, eighteen Vigilantes were lost in combat.

 

• 11 were lost to antiaircraft fire.

• 2 were shot down by SA-2 Guideline surface-to-air missiles (SAM's).

• 1 was lost to an Atoll missile fired from a MiG-21 fighter.

• 4 were lost for unknown reasons, over N. Vietnam.

• 1 other aircraft was lost for unknown reasons, not over N. Vietnam.

 

Of the 11 lost to antiaircraft artillery, the majority were during post-strike reconnaissance missions; North Vietnamese gunners knew that shortly after a strike a Vigilante would be overhead, without supporting flak suppression.

 

Thirty-one deployments were made to Vietnam by Vigilante squadrons. During the early period of Vietnam operations, Vigilante squadrons deployed with six aircraft. As the war progressed, this figure began declining, first to five, then to four and finally, by 1974/75, to three aircraft per squadron.

 

Gradual disestablishment of the "Vigilante" force occurred during 1979-1980 with the deactivation of the last RA-5C squadron, and phasing out of the last of the 156 RA-5/A-3Js produced.

 

 

 

 

RVAH-11

[SDirickson 0]

Chief, those inflight deployement problems were do to the fact that the bomb was ejected directly into the turbulence caused by the engines. The bomb would ride back there in the jetwash, and it was impossible to predict when it would 'decide' to fall out of it. They were afraid the bomb could potentially fly back into the aircraft, or do something else equally damaging, not to mention that you completely lost any accuracy you might have had. Not too much of a problem with a nuke, but with normal weapons, thats quite a factor.

 

I hate to basically advertise for another sim here, but if you would really like to design a new Vigilante with an updated layout, and actually see how it would fly, try X-Plane, www.x-plane.com. It actually mathematically derives the flight model, meaning the aircraft will fly in the sim just like it would in the real world.

[Guest Ranger332]

 

something for the old days 8)

[rokie007 0]

sapposed project list

 

Republic F-105 Thunderchief - by Armourdave

Douglas F4D Skyray - by Armourdave

Vought F7U-3 Cutlass - by Armourdave

Republic P-47Q/XP-72 - by Armourdave

Chance-Vought F-8 Crusader - by Armourdave

Northrop F-5A Freedom Fighter/Tiger - by Armourdave

Convair F-102 Delta Dagger - by Lud von Pipper

North American YF-107 - by Fleet Defender

Grumman F11-F1 Tiger - by Fleet Defender

McDonnell F-101 Voodoo - by Lud von Pipper

 

 

United Kingdom

 

Hawker Hunter- by Armourdave

English Electric Lightning F6 - by Lud von Pipper

Blackburn Buccaneer - by Lud von Pipper

 

USSR

 

MiG-15 - by Armourdave

MiG-21 cockpit - by Armourdave

Sukhoi Su-17 Fitter - by Armourdave

 

Sweden

 

Saab J-35F Draken - by Lud von Pipper

Saab JA37 Viggen - by Swede

 

Italy

 

Fiat G.91R - by Lud von Pipper

 

2. C a m p a i g n s  

 

"Operation Tainted Cigar" - a campaign outline provided by Gecko6  

"Broken Arrow" - a campaign outline provided by Denzil  

"Star Wars Canyon" - a campaign outline provided by Denzil  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Development database

 

3D modelling

 

 

LOL, no coment...,shock:)))

[Dagger 21]

Chief,Monty is working on one,he's the guy who made the Sky Raider.