North American AJ Savage
AJ (A-2) Savage | |
---|---|
The first production AJ-1 in flight over California, 1950 | |
Role | Medium bomber |
National origin | United States |
Manufacturer | North American Aviation |
First flight | 3 July 1948 |
Introduction | 1950 |
Retired | 1960 |
Status | Retired |
Primary user | United States Navy |
Number built | 143 |
Developed into | North American XA2J Super Savage |
The North American AJ Savage (later A-2 Savage) is an American
Design and development
At the end of World War II, the U.S. Navy began a design competition on 13 August 1945 for a carrier-based bomber which could carry a 10,000-pound (4,536 kg) bomb that was won by North American Aviation. Later that year, the Navy decided that it needed to be able to deliver atomic bombs and that the AJ Savage design would be adapted to accommodate the latest Mark 4 nuclear bomb, the next step in development from the more sophisticated imploding-plutonium-sphere design Fat Man Mk3 used on Nagasaki. A contract for three XAJ-1 prototypes and a static test airframe was awarded on 24 June 1946. The first prototype made its maiden flight two years later on 3 July 1948.[1] That same year the US Navy began an interim capability program employing the Lockheed P-2 Neptune carrying a crash-program reproduction of the smaller, simpler all-uranium 'gun' design Little Boy nuclear bomb as its first carrier-launched nuclear bomber aircraft until the Savage was in service. The Neptune launched using JATO assist but could not land on existing carriers; if launched they had to either ditch at sea after the mission or land at a friendly airbase.[2]
The AJ-1 was a three-seat, high-wing
Two of the three prototypes crashed during testing, but their loss did not materially affect the development of the aircraft as the first batch of Savages had been ordered on 6 October 1947. The most significant difference between the XAJ-1 and the production aircraft was the revision of the cockpit to accommodate a third crewman in a separate compartment. The first flight by a production aircraft occurred in May 1949 and Fleet Composite Squadron 5 (VC-5) became the first
A
The AJ-2 incorporated all of the changes made to the late model AJ-2P and 55 aircraft were ordered on 14 February 1951. The AJ-2 deleted the separate compartment for the third crewman, but retained the third seat in the cockpit from the AJ-2P.[11]
Around 1954, NATC modified the sole surviving XAJ-1 to conduct inflight refueling tests using the
Operational history
When first deployed, the AJ-1 was too large and heavy to be used by any American aircraft carrier except for the Midway class. The modernized Essex class carriers with reinforced decks and the very large Forrestal class could also handle the Savage. The aircraft was not popular aboard ship as "it was so big and cumbersome that it complicated any other flight operations the ship was required to conduct."[8] One problem was that the wings had to be folded one at a time by a crewman on top of the fuselage with a portable hydraulic pump, a time-consuming process, so that the bomber could be moved out of the way to allow other aircraft to land or take off. One pilot reported that the AJ-1 was "a dream to fly and handled like a fighter",[13] when everything was working properly. The aircraft, however, was not very reliable, possibly because it was rushed into production before all the problems could be ironed out.[14]
Early in the Savage's career, squadrons would typically deploy a detachment to Naval Air Station Port Lyautey, Morocco, for service with the Sixth Fleet and fly the bombers aboard aircraft carriers that were already deployed to the Mediterranean as needed.[15] The plan was that the Savages would then be loaded with atomic bombs already aboard the carriers and launched once the carriers were in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. The tactic to deliver the bombs was to fly at low level through Bulgaria and Romania before climbing at maximum power to the proper altitude to release the bomb. The aircraft would then perform a wingover maneuver and dive to low altitude, keeping the tail of the aircraft aimed at the target to avoid serious damage from the shock wave of the explosion.[16]
Fleet Composite Squadron 5 (
AJ tankers were used to refuel then-Marine Corps Major
The AJ-2P was flown by
Three AJ-2s were loaned to the
At least one other AJ-2 was purchased and used as a water bomber before it was purchased in 1970 by
Variants
- XAJ-1
- Prototype with two 2,300 hp (1,715 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-2800-44 radial engines and one Allison J33-A-10 turbojet; three built.
- AJ-1 (A-2A)
- Initial production version with two 2,400 hp (1,790 kW) R-2800-44W radial engines and one J33-A-10 turbojet; 55 built, survivors redesignated A-2A in 1962.[5]
- AJ-2 (A-2B)
- Updated production version with two 2,500 hp (1,864 kW) R-2800-48 radial engines and one J33-A-10, taller tailfin, slightly longer fuselage, increased fuel capacity; 55 built, survivors redesignated A-2B in 1962.[5]
- AJ-2P
- Photo-reconnaissance version of the AJ-2 with array of cameras; 30 built.[29]
- NA-146
- Company designation for three prototypes delivered to the USN as XAJ-1.[30]
- NA-155
- Development of the XAJ-1; mockup only, not built.[30]
- NA-156
- Production variant delivered to the USN as AJ-1; 12 built.[30]
- NA-160
- Production variant delivered to the USN as AJ-1; 28 built.[30]
- NA-169
- Production variant delivered to the USN as AJ-1; 15 built.[30]
- NA-175
- Photo-reconnaissance variant delivered to the USN as AJ-2P; 23 built.[30]
- NA-183
- Photo-reconnaissance variant delivered to the USN as AJ-2P; 7 built.[30]
- NA-184
- Improved production variant delivered to the USN as AJ-2; 55 built.[30]
- XSSM-N-4 Taurus
- Proposed unmanned variant as a surface-to-surface missile. Cancelled in 1948, none built.[31]
Operators
- United States Navy
- VC-5 / VAH-5 - September 1949 to September 1957[32]
- VC-6 / VAH-6 - January 1950 to January 1957[33]
- VC-7 / VAH-7 - June 1951 to February 1959[33]
- VC-8 / VAH-11 - December 1951 to January 1958[33]
- VC-9 / VAH-9 - April 1953 to April 1957[33]
- VAH-15 - March 1958 to January 1959[33]
- VAH-16 - January 1958 to January 1959[34]
- VJ-61 / VAP-61 - September 1952 to February 1960[34]
- VJ-62 / VAP-62 - August 1952 to December 1959[34]
- Heavy Attack Training Unit - November 1953 to March 1956[34]
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- 1960-1964 (3)
Aircraft on display
Only one preserved Savage exists today:
- A-2B Savage, Bureau Number 130418, which is displayed at the National Naval Aviation Museum at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.[35]
Specifications (AJ-1)
Data from U.S. Navy Standard Aircraft Characteristics,[4] American Attack Aircraft Since 1926[5] and United States Navy Aircraft Since 1911[26]
General characteristics
- Crew: 3
- Length: 63 ft 0.72 in (19.2207 m)
- Wingspan: 71 ft 4.56 in (21.7566 m) without tip tanks
- 75 ft (23 m) with tip tanks
- Width: 50 ft 6 in (15.39 m) wings folded
- Height: 20 ft 6.24 in (6.2545 m)
- 16 ft (4.9 m) fin folded
- Wing area: 835.45 sq ft (77.616 m2)
- Airfoil: NACA 64-212[36]
- Empty weight: 27,558 lb (12,500 kg)
- Gross weight: 47,000 lb (21,319 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 50,954 lb (23,112 kg)
- Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-2800-44W Double Wasp 18-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, 2,400 hp (1,800 kW) each
- Powerplant: 1 × Allison J33-A-10 turbojetengine, 4,600 lbf (20 kN) thrust
- Propellers: 4-bladed Hamilton Standard, 14 ft 6 in (4.42 m) diameter constant-speed propellers
Performance
- Maximum speed: 471 mph (758 km/h, 409 kn)
- Range: 1,731 mi (2,786 km, 1,504 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 40,800 ft (12,400 m)
- Rate of climb: 2,900 ft/min (15 m/s)
- Wing loading: 63.2 lb/sq ft (309 kg/m2)
- Power/mass: 0.091 hp/lb (0.150 kW/kg) (R-2800s only)
- Thrust/weight: 0.087 (J33 only)
Armament
- Bombs: 12,000 lb (5,400 kg) of conventional bombs or 1 × Mark 4 nuclear bomb
See also
Related development
Related lists
- List of military aircraft of the United States
Citations
- ^ Ginter 1992, pp. 3, 5.
- ^ Swanborough and Bowers 1976, p. 458
- ^ Ginter 1992, pp. 5, 7, 38.
- ^ a b c Standard Aircraft Characteristics
- ^ a b c d Johnson 2000, p. 343.
- ^ Ginter 1992, p. 30.
- ^ Ginter 1992, pp. 5, 7, 25, 75.
- ^ a b Miller 2001, p. 94
- ^ Ginter 1992, pp. 7, 11–12.
- ^ Ginter 1992, pp. 11, 43, 46, 48–53.
- ^ Ginter 1992, p. 12.
- ^ Ginter 1992, p. 59, 75, 85.
- ^ quoted in Miller 2001, p. 96
- ^ Miller 2001, pp. 95, 97–98.
- ^ Ginter 1992, pp. 60, 71, 75.
- ^ Miller 2001, pp. 95, 98
- ^ Ginter 1992, p. 77
- ^ Ginter 1992, pp. 71, 75, 88, 91, 93
- ^ Grossnick 1995, p. 547, Appendix 6.
- ^ Ginter 1992, p. 91.
- ^ Ginter 1992, p. 93, 95, 98, 105–06.
- ^ Ginter 1992, pp. 110–111.
- ^ Grossnick 1995, Chapter 3, pp. 298–99
- ^ Ginter 1992, pp. 63, 65–67, 70.
- ^ Grossnick 1995 p. 458, Appendix 1-1.
- ^ a b Swanborough and Bowers 1990, p. 517.
- ^ Ginter 1992, pp. 113, 124.
- ^ Ginter 1992, pp. 115–123.
- ^ Ginter 1992, p. 1.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Chorlton 2013, pp.124–129.
- ^ Parsch 2003
- ^ Kernahan 1990, p. 98
- ^ a b c d e Kernahan 1990, p. 99
- ^ a b c d Kernahan 1990, p. 100
- ^ "A-2 Savage/130418". National Naval Aviation Museum. Retrieved: 24 June 2015.
- ^ Lednicer, David. "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage". m-selig.ae.illinois.edu. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
Bibliography
- Chorlton, Martyn. North American – Company Profile 1928–1996. Cudham, Kent, United Kingdom: Kelsey Publishing, 2013. ISBN 978-1-907426-61-2.
- Ginter, Steve. North American AJ-1 Savage (Naval Fighters Number 22). Simi Valley, California: Steve Ginter, 1992. ISBN 0-942612-22-1.
- Grossnick, Roy A. (1995). Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons: Volume 1 The History of VA, VAH, VAK, VAL, VAP and VFA Squadrons. Washington, DC: Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy. ISBN 0-945274-29-7. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
- Kernahan, George (1990). "North American AJ Savage". Aeromilitaria. No. 4. Air-Britain. pp. 95–102.
- Johnson, E.R. American Attack Aircraft Since 1926. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2008. ISBN 978-0-7864-3464-0.
- Miller, Jerry. Nuclear Weapons and Aircraft Carriers: How the Bomb Saved Naval Aviation. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2001. ISBN 1-56098-944-0.
- Parsch, Andreas. North American SSM-N-4 Taurus. Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles, Appendix 1: Early Missiles and Drones. Designation-Systems. Accessed 17 December 2017.
- Standard Aircraft Characteristics: AJ-1 "Savage". Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine Washington, D.C.: United States Navy, 30 June 1957.
- Swanborough, Gordon and Peter M. Bowers. United States Navy Aircraft Since 1911. London: Putnam, 3rd ed., 1990. ISBN 0-85177-838-0.
- Wilson, Stewart. Combat Aircraft Since 1945. Fyshwick, Australia: Aerospace Publications, 2000. ISBN 1-875671-50-1.