RA-5C Vigilante by Bob Jellison
The North American RA-5C Vigilante
Performance

Speed

1,320 mph

Service Ceiling

52,100 feet

Crew

Two

Range

2,050 miles

Wingspan

53.2 feet

Height

19.37 feet

Empty Weight

37,489 pounds

Maximum Weight

79,588 pounds

Power plant

Two J79-GE-10 turbojet engines

Thrust

17,859 Ibs thrust each
The RA-5C was a Mach 2+ aircraft, capable of electromagnetic, optical, and electronic reconnaissance. It could operate at altitudes from SL to above 50,000 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.

Advanced Design

The Vigilante may have introduced more new and advanced designed features than any other aircraft in history.

Advanced aerodynamic features included:

• A small high loaded wing (made possible by the use of powerful flaps).
• Elimination of the ailerons, roll control being effected by spoiler/deflectors.
• A one-piece powered vertical tail (or all moving fin).
• Fully variable engine inlets with profile as well as area adjustments to suit flight Mach numbers.
• Internal weapons storage.
• A slim fuselage configured for Mach 2.
• The engine inlets were sharp tipped and swept back for peak supersonic efficiency, with front and rear ramps to control the internal profile and throat area.
• A fully retractable refueling probe in the forward fuselage.
• The first variable inlet using horizontal ramp geometry.

Structures features:

• Major structures and frames were built out of Titanium.
• One-piece wing skins machined from aluminum-lithium alloy.
• Use of pure Nitrogen instead of hydraulic fluid in some of the hottest parts of the airframe.
• A one-piece, bird-proof, Mach 2 capable windshield was made of stretched acrylic.
• Gold-plate in the engine bays to reflect heat.

Electronics features:

• The first production fly-by-wire control system.
• An airborne digital computer for bomb and navigation computations.
• The first Bomb-Navigation System with an inertial auto-navigation coupled to radar and television-sights for check point verification.
• The first operational heads-up display (HUD).
• The first fully integrated auto pilot/air data system for Bomb/Navigation weapons release.
• The first monopulse radar with terrain avoidance features.

Records:

The Vigilante set several records, including a new world altitude record for the class; on 13 December 1960, a Vigilante carried a 1,000 kg (2,402.62 pound) payload on a zoom profile flight that peaked at 91,451 feet.

History

A-5A/A-3J
The Vigilante was intended as a Mach 2 all-weather carrier based attack bomber for delivery of nuclear weapons. Fitted with the new low-altitude bombing system (LABS) and an inertial navigation system (INS), the A3J was capable of carrying a 3,020 lb Mk-27 nuclear store or a 1,885 lb configuration of the Mk-28 weapon. A high wing layout with a swept wing design, the "Vigilante" was the first production aircraft to use variable geometry intakes for its two side-by-side engines.

The Navy Bureau of Aeronautics wanted a nuclear-armed aircraft to replace or compliment the North American AJ Savage, the Lockheed P-2 Neptune, and the Douglas A-3 Skywarrior. The result of the competition was the Vigilante, the last strategic bomber built for the Navy. It was designed to fly a high altitude, supersonic speed attack profile, and like the U.S. Air Force's Convair B-58 Hustler, was vulnerable to the new long range high altitude surface-to-air missiles entering service.

The A3J was first flown in August 1958 and established a new world altitude record of 91,450 feet in December 1963 while carrying a payload of 1,000 kilograms, thus surpassing the existing record by over five miles.
Shortcoming

A serious design shortcoming involved the unique linear bomb bay. In simple terms it consisted of a tube running inside the fuselage, between the two engines. The weapon was loaded through an opening between the two jet exhausts. Weapons ejection was also effected via this opening, with a solid fuel cartridge used to propel the device clear of the aircraft once the jettisonable tail-cone faring had been ejected. The weapons bay was considerably longer than the nuclear weapons which the Vigilante was originally intended to carry therefore some of this space was utilized for additional fuel. This fuel was contained in two jettisonable tanks located aft of the weapon and linked to it. The tanks, which were ejected with the bomb, acted as aerodynamic stabilizers for the bomb's free-fall to the target.

Although a viable system in theory, in actual practice difficulties were encountered in clearing the linear bomb bay during operational use. At the same time a major shift in Navy policy deleted the strategic bombing role. Consequently plans to produce the improved Vigilante attack-bomber were abandoned after it had reached the flight-test phase.

End of the A-5A/A-3J

The first squadron deployment occurred in August 1962 aboard the USS Enterprise on its first cruise. Shortly thereafter the Navy's strategic bombing mission was assumed by nuclear powered submarine Polaris missiles. The A3J's mission then reverted to that of photo reconnaissance with the introduction in 1963 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.

Production of the A-3J-1/A-5A was completed by early 1963.

The A-5B

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. The raised forward A-5B fuselage visually distinguished the A-5B from the A-5A.

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 1962.

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