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RA-5C Vigilante (Combat Aircraft Series 12) By Lindsay Peacock

Of the various types of warplane which served aboard the US Navy's large Meet of aircraft carriers during the course of the 1960s and 1970s, few can have been as impressive as the North American Vigilante. The outcome of an ambitious concept calling for ft jet-powered attack bomber to replace the Douglas A3D Skvwarior which had still to enter service when work on the Vigilante began. North American's design must surely rank as one of the most elegant aircraft ever to grace a flight deck with its presence, oozing "class" from the tip of its nose-mounted pitot tube to the top of its sharply-raked vertical fin.

Aesthetic considerations understandably tailed to impress die Navy and in its initial guise as a delivery system for nuclear weapons the Vigilante was little more than an expensive and embarrassing failure. Although as a bomber it was a flop, a fortunate accident of good timing saw the Vigilante eventually succeed in redeeming its own and North American's reputation in spectacular fashion by performing

sterling work in the reconnaissance role during the course of a career which spanned some 15 years. During that career, it also saw a considerable amount of combat action in South-East Asia where it shared responsibility for the Navy's reconnaissance work­load with Chance Vought's RF-8 Crusader.

Evolution of what eventually emerged as the Vigi­lante dates back to the mid-1950s, as the brainchild -and, incidentally, the first major design initiative - of North Americans Columbus, Ohio division. Acquired bv North American in 1950. the Columbus facility had previously enjoyed rather limited status as purely a production and modification centre, concentrating on hardware for the US Navy. Pro­jects undertaken included such types as the T-28B Trojan trainer, the AJ Savage heavy attack bomber and the FJ Fury fighter.

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