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[1984.049.001] Aircraft - 'AJ-2 Savage' |
| Accession Number |
1984.049.001 |
| Accession Date |
10/05/1984 |
| Creator |
| Creator |
Creator Role |
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Manufacturer |
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| Date Created |
1953 |
| Object Desciption |
Accepted by the U.S. Navy on 6 February 1953, the museum's AJ-2 Savage entered squadron service with Composite Squadron (VC) 7 at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, Maryland. The majority of its subsequent years of service was spent in composite squadrons and heavy attack squadrons (VAH) ashore and afloat. Between 1955 and 1960, the aircraft logged flight time with VC-6, VAH-6, and VAH-16, flying from NAS Atsugi, Japan, NAS Barbers Point, Hawaii, and NAS North Island, California, and completing deployments in the carriers Yorktown (CVA 10) and Bennington (CVA 20). Stricken in February 1960, the aircraft accumulated a total of 1,630 hours while in Navy service.
Subsequently purchased for service as a fire fighter, the museum's AJ-2 performed this duty until 1971, at which time AVCO Lycoming bought the aircraft from a fire fighting operator in Madras, Oregon, for use as flight test bed for the company's engine designs. The aircraft ceased flight operations in 1975 and was placed in storage. For much of the ensuing decade Naval Aviation Museum Director Captain Grover Walker negotiated with the company for acquisition of the aircraft for the museum collection. On 15 May 1985, it was flight delivered to NAS Pensacola, and it is now displayed on the flight line behind the museum just off the runway on which it made its final landing. |
| Notes |
The explosions of the atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki not only symbolized the end of World War II, but also introduced a new era in warfare. With air power zealots proclaiming that nuclear weapons had rendered conventional warfare obsolete, the Navy sought to take the atomic bomb to sea aboard its carriers. The aircraft on which naval aviation pinned its hopes was the AJ Savage. The first carrier aircraft designed specifically to deliver atomic weapons, the bomber featured a turbojet in the tail to augment its twin Pratt & Whitney reciprocating engines. The first production aircraft joined the fleet in 1949, and eventually seven heavy attack squadrons (VAH) were equipped with the type. The earliest Savages were plagued with technical maladies-the first modification numbered some sixty changes-and one test pilot recalled years later that, "Amongst those of us who tested the AJ, none were left without vivid memories of some moment of terror." Yet the aircraft proved the heavy attack concept, staging simulated attacks at ranges of 1,400 miles during 1952 exercises in the Mediterranean. The AJ also performed photoreconnaissance and aerial refueling missions, but by February 1959 the Savage no longer served as carrier aviation's atomic platform, having been replaced by the jet-powered A3D Skywarrior.
Specifications
Manufacturer: North American Aviation, Inc.
Dimensions: Length: 63 ft.; Height 21 ft., 5 in.; Wingspan: 75 ft., 2 in.
Weights: Empty: 27,558 lb.; Gross: 55,000 lb.
Power Plant: Two 2,400 horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-2800-44W engines and one 4,600 lb. static thrust Allison J-33-A-19 turbojet
Performance: Maximum Speed: 471 M.P.H.; Service Ceiling: 40,000 ft.; Range: 3,000 miles
Armament: Two 20mm cannon and capacity for 12,000 lb. ordnance
Crew: Three |
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