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Description
| Notes: Carrier based asw aircraft (4 CREW) . | |||
| Manufacturer: | Lockheed |
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| Base model: | S-3 | ||
| Designation: | S-3 | ||
| Version: | A | ||
| Nickname: | Viking | ||
| Designation System: | U.S. Tri-Service | ||
| Designation Period: | 1962-Present | ||
| Basic role: | Anti-Submarine | ||
Specifications
| Length: | 53' 4" | 16.2 m | |
| Height: | 22' 9" | 6.9 m | |
| Wingspan: | 68' 8" | 20.9 m | |
| Wingarea: | 598.0 sq ft | 55.5 sq m | |
| Empty Weight: | 26,554 lb | 12,042 kg | |
| Gross Weight: | 43,491 lb | 19,723 kg | |
| Max Weight: | 52,539 lb | 23,827 kg | |
Propulsion
| No. of Engines: | 2 | ||
| Powerplant: | General Electric TF34-GE-2 | ||
| Thrust (each): | 9,275 lb | 4,206 kg | |
Performance
| Cruise Speed: | 403 mph | 648 km/h | 350 kt |
| Max Speed: | 506 mph | 814 km/h | 440 kt |
| Climb: | 3,937 ft/min | 1,199 m/min | |
| Ceiling: | 35,000 ft | 10,667 m | |
Operators (Past and Present)
| USN | VS-4 | North Island | CA |
| USN | VS-24 | Cecil Field | FL |
| USN | VS-27 | Cecil Field | FL |
| USN | VS-29 | NAS North Island | NH |
| USN | VS-32 | Cecil Field | FL |
| USN | VS-35 | NAS North Island | CA |
| USN | VS-37 | North Island | CA |
| USN | VS-38 | NAS North Island | CA |
| USN | VX-1 | Patuxent River | MD |
Known serial numbers
Examples of this type may be found at
| Museum | City | State |
| NAS Cecil Field | Cecil Field | Florida |
Recent comments by our visitors
| Leonard E Davis Wayne, MI | I was a Plane Captian on the S3A(line mechanic and inspector of sorts (Daily's,Preflight, Postflight and between flights), in the mid 70's (75-77)First plane I ever worked on and my personal favorite of all. I served with VS-28 (not listed above) and we made cruise's to the Med, Cuba and South America.I loved the aircraft and its engines (they had a sound like something that belonged coming out of a swamp on an erriee night... LOL). Since then I've worked on Gulsstream G1, Lcckheed L-188 (Civillian P-3), Boeing 720, 727-100 & 200, 707, DC8-54, 61, 62, 63, 71, 73, DC9 and some others as a A&P Mechanic, Sr. Maintenance Rep. Sr. Maintenance Controller and Inspector. I have worked Flight Line and Hanger (121 and 145) but nothing will ever be like the S3A. That Plane and its engines were my first and will always be my favoriate. What a Lady 08/15/2013 @ 06:18 [ref: 68015] |
| Bob Flowers , MI | O was in VS38 and VS29 and deployed both on the USS Ranger, and the USS KittyHawk, working AIMD on the HATS-103 work station to repair the S3A circuit boards. I was also station shore dute at North Island, again in AIMD, repairing circuit cards on for the S3A.
When first transfering to VS29, I Flew to Subic Bay Phillipines to awaid the Ranger. While there I performed corrosion control and cleanup of the on-base aircraft. I got the chance to fly in an S# COD. The pilot gave me quite a ride, with tree-top flying through canyons, a circle around a live volcano, and airobatics, including rolls, high-speed turns, a dive, and a loop. I was amazed by the plane, and what it could do. It was one of Lockheed's best airframes, in my opinion. I was sad to see it decommisioned. I also worked as a civilian for Lockheed Missiles and Space in San Diego on the DSRV overhaul. I was responsible for repair of electronic circuit cards and sub-assemlies, then was taught to perform corrosion control with bead blasting, sand blasting, shooting paint, and anodizing techniques. After that, I ran the wiring harnesses, and tested them. Then, everything was completed, the contract was done, and we were all laid off. So I moved back to my home town, and got a BS EET degree, and now maintain a large private phone network accross half of Michigan's upper peninsula. But working on the DSRV and the S3 were far more interesting than maintaining a phone network, and the other things I now do. 04/15/2013 @ 05:27 [ref: 67736] |
| David Vining Augusta, GA | In 1977,I was an AT3 assigned to VS-41 for Vast system training, and then VS-32 for my permanent duty station. Had a lot of good times on the two med cruises I made on the USS JFK. 09/03/2012 @ 08:30 [ref: 66589] |
| Quintin Morrow , TX | I had the pleasure of being attached to VS-29, part of airwing 15, from 1984-86. We were the 1st fixed winged ASW platform to do the 1st WESTPAC aboard USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70). Being the Pentagon's newest "toy," we pulled 107 straight days in the IO without hitting port. Good times.
The Viking was a dream to maintain--just "Gas & Go." I shall never forget the droning sound of those 2 GE T-34 turbofan engines, which even from miles away sounded like a Hoover vacuum cleaner on steroids. 08/24/2012 @ 09:39 [ref: 66405] |
| Sergio Tamayo Covina, CA | My Grandfather Albert "Al" Tamayo worked on the S-3A Project. I recently came across two pictures of my Grandfather who's photograph was taken along side the S-3A. I would be very Greatful if anyone having known my Grandfather or who can help me identify the 26 people in this black and white photo taken in front of the S-3A. please contact me at stamayo@sprinterwest.com 08/04/2012 @ 19:49 [ref: 64892] |
| Mike , NC | Was a senso (AW) in the late 70's. Computer crashed on a regular basis, but what great duty it was to fly off the deck as an enlisted sailor. Definitely a break from the routine of being ship bound. Great memories. 07/28/2012 @ 12:30 [ref: 64126] |
| john carlisle foleley, AL | my father was b/n in a s3 for most of his 20 yr career i grew up around them and and most othertypes of naval aircraft i joined the navy as an ao in 1980 and was stationed with vs 41 nas nl in san diego i thougt i knew every type of aircraft but when ifirst saw the s3a i didn't know what to think i thought it looked somewhat like a a3 but smaller i worked mainly on the eletronic systems since we did not have an aq so thatwas basiclywhati was i worked closely with the ae's and the tech reps i really enjoyed working on the planes and learning from the tech reps acually the tech rep i worked with on our med cruise wanted me to come to burbank ca at lockheed and get on but i was 22 homesick young and dumb and didn't do it i wish i had 11/10/2011 @ 22:41 [ref: 50143] |
| Barbara Berry Mellor , AR | I worked at Lockheed Burbank from 1966 to 1977. My last department was "bean counting" on the assembly and flightline. I worked the S3A and P3C, along with the L1011. I loved my job and I sure do miss it. I also worked with other crafts that I cannot mention.
09/11/2011 @ 21:30 [ref: 48895] |
| Ralph Hicks , TX | I worked as a structural design engineer for Vought from 1962 to 1992. In Nov 1969 I was assigned to the S3-A program. My assignment was to design the wing fold. This airplane had long thin wings. I found it impossible to power the outer wing with conventional hydraulic cylinders due to space constraints. I also found that in order to keep the inner wing panels within a flight deck spotting radius the outer wing panels were going to be LONG and have to overlap. That meant cris - crossing them. There was no CAD system then. I had to lay out by manual drafting the folding of those outer wing panels to determine what angle to cant the hinge lines so they would cris cross. The powering of those very long outer wing panels was a REAL problem. I happened to read about something called a "power hinge" used to power heavy gates on fences. I called the company - Western Gear - and they decided they could build a hydraulically powered hinge that would fit into the space between the two wing panels when extended. Getting that big power hinge to fit into that space as well as the down lock hydraulic pins and still get enough "meat" into the two hinge ribs to take the wing loads was time consuming. I spent 13 months on this design. Once the design was complete I was sent off to work another program so was not able to follow up on testing of the power hinge under extreme over-the-deck wind conditions. 04/09/2011 @ 11:45 [ref: 37178] |
| Kurt Hartman , NY | I was assigned to VS-41 and then VS-32 in the late 1980s as an AW. I was one of the lucky few enlisted that got to fly in these babys. I have fond memories of playing chase games over the Pacific with some older F-4s. We could turn on a dime and the fighters had to bank a turn to try and catch us. Sadly, the squadron are almost all decommissioned now and the S3 has taken on other duties in support of our troops. 11/11/2010 @ 06:04 [ref: 33273] |
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