a3b

Four A3D-2/A-3B Skywarrior in formation flypast over CVA-60 USS Saratoga that may have made a full turn from the curved wake. VAH-9 'Hoot Owls'. Tail code AC of Carrier Air Group/Wing Three (CVG-3/CVW-3) www.gonavy.jp/CVG-CVG3f.html www.gonavy.jp/CVW-ACf.html VAH-9 'Hoot Owls' went aboard CVA-60 for successive sailings between 1958 & 1963 A trio of VAH-9 A3D-2 in same markings as in ‘flickr’pic: a3skywarrior.com/index.php?nid=101894&s=gl&media_... A singleton VAH-9 A3D-2 in same markings as in ‘flickr’pic: a3skywarrior.com/index.php?nid=101894&s=gl&media_... A slightly similar VAH-9 flypast over CVA-60 in 1963: a3skywarrior.com/index.php?nid=101894&s=gl&media_... The tail ends of two VAH-9 A3D-2/A-3B on board the carrier: a3skywarrior.com/index.php?nid=101896&s=gl&media_... An A3D-2 138955 of VAH-9 'stumbling' aboard CVA-60 USS Saratoga 1959/1960: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A3D-2_nose_wheel_collapse...

Interesting but grainy copy. Undulating terrain with signs of cultivation, some roads or tracks, no major infrastructure. Shoreline in left upper corner Three A-3B Skywarrior of VAH-10 ‘Vikings’ by the sword emblems on fuselage sides. Nearest is Modex 101 1389?6 Then 104, 138946 ? Then 12? 147662 ? Because of the graininess it is difficult to read their serial numbers on base of tails. They wear tail code NK of Carrier Air Wing Fourteen (CVW-14). This was when VAH-10, using Modex codes in the 100 range was assigned to CVA-64 USS CONSTELLATION before or between May 5, 1964 & Feb.1, 1965 for an early Vietnam War deployment when they were used as bombers and airborne tankers. This ‘GO!NAVY’ website and its pages records the period: www.gonavy.jp/index.html www.gonavy.jp/CVW-NKf.html www.gonavy.jp/navy/sqn/VAQ129.html (My thanks to Takafumi Hiroe, citizen of Japan and naval aviation historian) The two nearest have no air refuelling probe while the furthest does, perhaps this one was modified to take the tanker system when necessary while the other two were pure bombers. Searching this dedicated webpage to Skywarrior production may provide opportunity for elimination or identification: (courtesy of 'A-3 Skywarrior Association') : www.a3skywarrior.com/ready-room/a-3-dispositions/a-3-prod... However until a better quality copy is displayed or an original emerges, positive identification for further research is problematic for this commenter.

Nice!! Yüksel

I have a framed copy of this photo. It was recently found in a collection of photo's belonging to a (recently died) New Zealand veteran - who fought in the Vietnam/Korea wars