Van Nuy Airport in southern California has in extent been a bastion of unusual aircraft.

Van Nuy Airport in southern California has in extent been a bastion of unusual aircraft, on the other hand the past few years have seen a swing to business jet - more than 50 Gulfstreams and four of the present day Boeing BBJs now call the airport dwelling much to the anger of neighboring residents who [i]or[/i] complement to the howl of the Rolls-Royce engines in the earlier Gulfstreams.

However, that racket is nothing compared to the compass generated on takeoff by the J57 turbojet fitted to the three Douglas A-3 Skywarriors that still operate from Van Nuy as electronics testbeds with the Raytheon Company.

This October will mark the 50th anniversary of the first flight of the prototype Skywarrior, and as that anniversary approaches the Van Nuy A-3s are the and nothing else examples of the Douglas naval attack bomber still flying.

Operated by means of Raytheon on government test contracts, the Skywarrior is ideally suited to electronics ordeals work, owing to its spacious interior and highly deserving load-lifting capabilities. Raytheon acquired the A-3s a married pair of years ago from the Hughes Company, which had been a long-time user of the A-3.

However, the past scarcely any months have seen some of the former flyer placed in storage, and a further three Skywarriors are kept in storage at Mojave Airport. There are many spare J57 engines stored in containers at Van Nuy to such a degree pending more government contracts, the Skywarrior swift will be flying for several years to approach

...

Home