Posted on 11/05/2010 12:15:45 AM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
The S-3 parked recently in a hangar at Jacksonville Naval Air Station looked like it just returned from the 1942 Battle of Midway.
Very odd, given that the Viking is a two-engine jet that served as a sub hunter, tanker and much more during its 33-year career beginning in 1975.
But the plane's newly applied retro paint job was actually meant to evoke the epic sea battle that turned the World War II Pacific campaign in America's favor.
"We were going for a Midway effect," said Don Lockwood, a Navy employee helping return three S-3Bs, including the newly painted one, to operational status.
While the aircraft will serve a West Coast test squadron, its paint scheme will serve another purpose: to celebrate the 100th anniversary of U.S. naval aviation in 2011.
(Excerpt) Read more at jacksonville.com ...
Sloppy editing, Brumley.
S-3B Ping!
Bump
The “Hoover” lives!
best military aviation paint scheme ever!
Click on pic for past Navair pings.
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I saw one recently in the hangar I work in, painted in NASA colors (from Glenn Research Center).
So what handles the long range ASW mission now that the S3 is retired? Nothing?
P-3s, surface ships, other submarines and satellites.
The S-3 had pretty much been relegated to in-air refueling by the time they were retired, a task now handled by F/A-18s.
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