GUESTS SINCE JULY 1999

 

Welcome aboard Shipmates!

You have just touched down at the VAQ-34 webpage. 

Please come on in and check it out, see what we did, where we did it, and how we did it. 

When you are done stop by the quarterdeck and sign the logbook, and let us know how you liked your visit.

v

 

Late Breaking News!!

March 2009

 

From Raytheon Flight Test Operations via the A-3 Skywarrior website:

 
Our bailment contract is due to expire at the end of Mar 2010.  I would expect we will have four aircraft that could easily (not much work involved) be flown to museums.  Two to  five others could be flown with some larger (and variable) level of effort (replacing parts used for other aircraft).  The remaining would need to be trucked if they are to be safely and economically moved.   

There are a number of small museums on your request list, but I would suggest we make a strong effort to get these to some of the larger indoor museums first.  We need to try to get Pensacola interested in taking one and putting it indoors.  The one on the sea ramp does not do the A-3 community justice.    I am willing to call them, but if either of you know who actually makes those decisions at P-cola, feel free to go for it instead.  I would suggest they can have first choice of anything we have.    Wright-Pat has also expressed an interest in our F-15 testbed.   Any other larger museums out there worth approaching?  (Wouldn't the Smithsonian in DC be a victory?)  The larger military museums need to be given the first right of refusal.  75RS could be made to look like an EA-3B again if that has any importance to someone. 

Pax River and Whidbey are two air stations that rate an A-3 if we can generate interest.  A couple have respectable paint jobs and would look OK following a good  detailing.  The rest would need to be painted to be museum respectable.  I have heard Sanford,  Florida wanted one as well to join the A-5.  Never saw that park so I do not know how good it is.  But there is A-3 history with all of them. 

The four Mojave jets will need to be given out by July or NAVAIR will likely bring out the chipper.  As far as I am concerned, a museum can take possession of one and leave it at Mojave until they can afford to move it now, but they  will need to pay the storage costs (about $200/month) and the Navy will be unhappy should they take one and then back out after a year or two because they can not move it.  We could maybe get one or two of them flown out, but there would be a larger effort involved compared with the VNY jets.  They need to be assigned by Jul 09 or they may be gone forever. 

Below is our list with my quick assessment of condition.  The flyers will be available Apr 2010.   The non-flyers are available now for the asking.  The possible flyers could go anytime, but will have some preparation costs to deal with. 

I hope we can get as many of these aircraft to some good museums.  Let me know what I can do to help.  It is time to move.  This next year will go by fast.

Ronald Woltman
Flight Test Operations   

NOTE: 

The photographs presented on the webpage are owned and copyrighted in some form or manner.  I have asked permission to use the photographs and have credited them to the owner / photographer.  If you would like to use them all I ask is that you contact the owner / photographer and get their permission.  Be web cool and please provide them a link to their photographs from your webpage.

I would like to thank the following people for letting me use their photographs: