wfooshee
O, Woe is me!!
This image is from the visit to the Pensacola Naval Air stations outlined in another thread, but I wanted to separate this one for the story behind it.
This is the North American AJ-2 Savage, basically version 2 of the nearly identical AJ-1, the Navy's first nuclear-capable bomber. It was carrier-capable, entered service in 1950, was replaced by the by the swept-wing jet bomber, the A3D Skywarrior beginning in 1957. Savages continued service as in-flight refueling tankers, and some saw duty in civilian life as fire-fighting water bombers.
It's powered by two radial piston engines in the wing nacelles plus a jet engine in the tail. The jet was only used for takeoff, and speed during the bomb run. Its air intake was on top of the airplane, and closed off when not in use to reduce drag.
The story about the airplane is something like this: After WWII the Army Air Corps pitched to Congress the idea that all future wars were obviously going to be fought with atomic weapons. They pointed out that the Navy had no delivery system for such weapons, and furthermore, ships at sea would be sitting ducks for such weapons. Why spend the money maintaining a useless navy? Why not put that money into the Air Corps where it would do some good? The Navy came back with something like, "Hold on there, y'all! Have a look at this here! Not only do we have a bomber that can deliver an atomic bomb, we can send it from anywhere in the world that we can put a carrier!" So some say that the existence of the Savage may have saved the Navy from extinction in the early 50s!
But that's not all that I personally find significant about this airplane. When my dad was in the Navy in 1952-3, he was an avionics tech on these things, stationed at Port Lyautey, Morocco, with occasional sea duty aboard the U.S.S. Coral Sea. He kept those old tube radios and instruments sort of working, and got to see the world while he was at it.
The final significance about this particular aircraft is that this is the only surviving AJ Savage in the world.
Here's Dad in his truck in Morocco
This is the North American AJ-2 Savage, basically version 2 of the nearly identical AJ-1, the Navy's first nuclear-capable bomber. It was carrier-capable, entered service in 1950, was replaced by the by the swept-wing jet bomber, the A3D Skywarrior beginning in 1957. Savages continued service as in-flight refueling tankers, and some saw duty in civilian life as fire-fighting water bombers.
It's powered by two radial piston engines in the wing nacelles plus a jet engine in the tail. The jet was only used for takeoff, and speed during the bomb run. Its air intake was on top of the airplane, and closed off when not in use to reduce drag.
The story about the airplane is something like this: After WWII the Army Air Corps pitched to Congress the idea that all future wars were obviously going to be fought with atomic weapons. They pointed out that the Navy had no delivery system for such weapons, and furthermore, ships at sea would be sitting ducks for such weapons. Why spend the money maintaining a useless navy? Why not put that money into the Air Corps where it would do some good? The Navy came back with something like, "Hold on there, y'all! Have a look at this here! Not only do we have a bomber that can deliver an atomic bomb, we can send it from anywhere in the world that we can put a carrier!" So some say that the existence of the Savage may have saved the Navy from extinction in the early 50s!
But that's not all that I personally find significant about this airplane. When my dad was in the Navy in 1952-3, he was an avionics tech on these things, stationed at Port Lyautey, Morocco, with occasional sea duty aboard the U.S.S. Coral Sea. He kept those old tube radios and instruments sort of working, and got to see the world while he was at it.
The final significance about this particular aircraft is that this is the only surviving AJ Savage in the world.
Here's Dad in his truck in Morocco
