Hobby Master 1/72 HA4705 RA-5C Vigilante AJ602/156624 LCDR Joe Gerber & LT Jomo Thomas RVAH-6 USS Nimitz

The North American A3J Vigilante first flew on August 31, 1958 and was in service until
November 1979. Originally designed as a Mach 2 all-weather bomber; the aircraft eventually had
a new role of high-speed reconnaissance. In 1962 the Vigilante received new designators, the
original A3J-1 became the A-5A, A3J-2 became A-5B while the reconnaissance version A3J-3P
became the RA-5C and first flew June 30, 1962. The Vigilante was the largest and fastest aircraft
to operate from an aircraft carrier. The RA-5C was heavily used in the Vietnam War.


North American RA-5C 156624 was accepted by the USN in January 1970 and assigned to
Reconnaissance Attack Squadron 6 (RVAH-6) “Fleurs” for 1970 and 1971 on a cruise aboard
USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63). Over the next 7 years the aircraft moved to RVAH-5 “Savage Sons”,
RVAH-9 “Hoot Owls”, RVAH-12 “Speartips” before returning to RVAH-6 as AJ602. RA-5C 156624
made its final flight in mid-1978 and now displayed at the National Naval Aviation Museum at
NAS Pensacola, Florida wearing AJ-601 from its last cruise aboard the USS Nimitz.


Specifications for the North American RA-5C Vigilante
Crew – 2 / tandem twin cockpits x Pilot in front cockpit, Reconnaissance Attack Navigator in the
rear
Number of Aircraft – 91 new built, converted aircraft 43 A-5A and the first 6 A-5B = 140