Consequently plans to produce the improved Vigilante attack-bomber were abandoned after it had reached the flight-test phase. Shortly thereafter the Navy's strategic bombing mission was assumed by nuclear powered submarine Polaris missiles.
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The A3J's mission then reverted to that of photo reconnaissance with the introduction in of the RA-5C "Vigilante. After the decision was made to end the A-5 strategic bombing mission, the A-5A's were quickly relegated training roles, and removed from the active inventory as heavy attack aircraft. At a later date, all surviving airframes were returned to the North American plant at Columbus for conversion to RA-5C standards. The A-5B incorporated major design changes included enlargement of the main fuel tank for increased range and blown leading edge flaps for improved low speed handling.
Eighteen A-5B's were ordered, but by that time the Navy's requirement had changed from strategic strike to reconnaissance, so production was changed to the RA-5C aircraft, for which a number of A-5B's subsequently served as developmental aircraft. None of the A-5B's were delivered to active fleet squadrons; the 4 A-5B's that were produced were utilized as interim trainers, and eventually converted to RA-5C standards.
The first of these A-5B's flew on 29 April It could operate at altitudes from SL to above 50, feet. The Vigilante was employed to great effect by the 7th fleet during carrier air wing operations in the Vietnam war. The 2 man crew flew in tandem in twin cockpits, the pilot in front, and the Reconnaissance Attack Navigator, in the rear.
The Vigilante did not have ailerons, elevator or a rudder.
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Spoilers on the wing provided roll control and acted as speed brakes, The horizontal tail surfaces were solid slabs. Together, they controlled pitch and were adjusted separately for roll trim. The vertical tail was also one piece rather than a hinged 'rudder. Like all jets, the Vigi had a yaw augmentation system. When you taxied behind another Vigilante, the vertical stab would move in response to the rudder pedals that were used for nosewheel steering, while the yaw aug responded to irregular inputs by shimmying the tail like a dog trying to get dry.
Landing signal officers - while waving the Vigi on board the carrier - could see every tiny movement of the horizontal stab because it was so big. A well-flown Vigi pass had the nose steady on speed while the stabs fluttered and twitched because of the pilot's small, constant stick inputs. Neither of these was apparent in the cockpit while flying, but using the spoilers to roll certainly was. The center of the roll axis felt as if it were out on the high wing rather than through the pilot's belly as it is on most airplanes.
Jam the control sick to the side, and you seemed to drop as the roll started.
Two JGE turbojet engines Thrust: The "Vigilante" flew for the first time in June 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 and the aircraft entered service during The aircraft answered a U. 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 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.
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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. The SLAR and the cameras were carried in a long external under-fuselage faring, called the canoe. This was invaluable to subsequent air strikes against camouflaged targets that were recognized when aerial infrared film was used.
Housed within the IOIC was an electronic intelligence data handling center, a one-hour photo processing center whose equipment Kodak EH 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. 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.
The prototypes worked much better than they did in actual operation. During the '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 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 JGE engines. Only thirty-six of these new aircraft actually built, the last completed in August The cockpit was large, and visibility, which was enhanced by the one piece curved front windscreen, was excellent. Please help to clean it up to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
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