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    This page documents a history of a specific aircraft. The details provided vary from aircraft to aircraft and are dependent on the research and amount of data uploaded to the Aerial Visuals database.

    Airframe Family: North American A3J/A-5 Vigilante
    Latest Model:RA-5C Vigilante
    Last Military Serial:156615 USN
    Construction Number:316-08
    Compressed ID:NA RA-5C sn 156615 USN cn 316-08
    Latest Owner or Location:Castle Air Museum, Castle Airport (formerly Castle AFB), Atwater, California

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    Dates

    Event

    Constructed as a RA-5C.

    September 1969

    Taken on Strength/Charge with the United States Navy with BuNo 156615.

    1974

    Transferred to Fleet Replacment SQ RVAH-3 Sea Dragons, NAS Key West.

    From 1974 to 1975

    Transferred to RVAH-6 Fleurs.
    Operated with markings: NH-601
    Western Pacific deployment aboard USS Kitty Hawk, May-Dec 1975.

    1975

    To RVAH-9 Hoot Owls.

    By 1977

    Transferred to RVAH-1 Smokin Tigers.
    Operated with markings: NK-612
    Western Pacific and Indian Ocean deployment aboard USS Enterprise.

    Circa 1977


    Photographer: Naval Archives

    From 1978 to 1979

    Transferred to RVAH-7 Peacemakers of the Fleet.
    Operated with markings: NE-611
    Deployment aboard USS Ranger, Feb-Sep 1979. On 21 Sep 1979 156615 became last Vigilante ever to make catapult launch from any US Navy Aircraft Carrier.

    Circa 1979


    Photographer: Naval Archives

    1979

    To Weapons Survivability Lab, NCC China Lake (North), Ridgecrest, CA.
    View the Location Dossier

    16 November 1979

    Struck off Strength/Charge from the United States Navy.

    By July 2011

    To Castle Air Museum, Castle Airport (formerly Castle AFB), Atwater, CA.
    View the Location Dossier

    1 May 2017


    Photographer: Marcin Rogowski
    Notes: At the Castle Air Museum in Atwater, CA, USA.


    This dossier is waiting for review by an editor.This airframe dossier is based on
    unreviewed imported data.
    If you can verify the documented history or add to it with additional text and/or photos please feel free to do so by using the upload tool and the history editor.

    Credits
    Data for airframe dossiers come from various sources. The following were used to compile this dossier...

    Print Sources
    U.S. Military Out of Service 2010 by Andy Marden

    Internet Sources
    Euro Demobbed by Horrex, Ray, Boulanger, Dunn, McGhee and Wood
    Forgotten Jets by Nathan Decker

    Individual Contributors
    Marcin Rogowski
    Roy Simmons

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