Airplane Model*Hobby Master HA4705 1:72 RA-5C Vigilante HA4705 – Miniature Marvels: Airplane Models & Painted Dice

Hobby Master HA4705 1:72 RA-5C Vigilante AJ602/156624 LCDR Joe Gerber and LT Jomo Thomas, RVAH-6, USS Nimitz, 1978.

The North American A3J Vigilante first flew on August 31, 1958 and was in service until
November 1979. Originally designed as a Mach 2 all-weather bomber; the aircraft eventually hada new role of high-speed reconnaissance. In 1962 the Vigilante received new designators, theoriginal A3J-1 became the A-5A, A3J-2 became A-5B while the reconnaissance version A3J-3Pbecame the RA-5C and first flew June 30, 1962. The Vigilante was the largest and fastest aircraftto operate from an aircraft carrier. The RA-5C was heavily used in the Vietnam War.

North American RA-5C 156624 was accepted by the USN in January 1970 and assigned toReconnaissance Attack Squadron 6 (RVAH-6) Fleurs for 1970 and 1971 on a cruise aboardUSS Kitty Hawk (CV-63). Over the next 7 years the aircraft moved to RVAH-5 Savage Sons,RVAH-9 Hoot Owls, RVAH-12 Speartips before returning to RVAH-6 as AJ602. RA-5C 156624made its final flight in mid-1978 and now displayed at the National Naval Aviation Museum atNAS Pensacola, Florida wearing AJ-601 from its last cruise aboard the USS Nimitz.