Hobby Master Archive

Because of an early 1960s USN mission change the A-5 Vigilante production was halted and the high speed reconnaissance RA-5C variant was begun. The first RA-5Cs Vigilante was delivered in 1963. North American RA-5C 156642 was delivered to the USN in 1970 and assigned to RVAH-3. Over the next decade the aircraft served with five squadrons and a couple of them twice. In 1979 the aircraft was struck off charge and sent to the USN Weapons Center at China Lake, California and a year later salvaged.