Grumman A-6 Intruder

I was a Plane Captain (Crew Chief) on A6A's in 1967 on Ranger. While working ashore, a crewmate spotted an A6 just returned from a complete makeover /restoration - with footprints on the UNDERSIDE of the tail. A6s had a one piece (both sides connected together) horizontal all moving elevator /tail. The one piece tail had been installed upside down! A6's were the only aircraft the US wouldn't sell to other nations, because while old, it was very effective, day or night, clear or typhoon.

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It is nice to read some of the comments of those who truly appreciate this fine aircraft. When I first enlisted in the Marine Corps, I worked on the F-4 Phantom. I transferred to MCAS Iwakuni, Japan in November, 1975, and was assigned to VMA(AW)533. I stayed with this squadron until my separation in September, 1978. I still love the old Intruder and still believe that she can "Penetrate deeper, linger longer, and drop a bigger load." Semper Fi!

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Very sorry that should have been 40 years old

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I am proud to say I helped build these great air ships in the middle 60's at Grumman. I just saw one on display on the deck of the USS Lexington. Last weekend I went to Kingsville TX to see an air show and they had 3 EA6A's there what a thrill and honor to meet the brave pilots who fly them. It is hard to believe that they are at least 60 years old and still in service.

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I flew a variation of the original A-6, the EA-6A, from 1977-1979. This was the predessor to the current EA-6B Prowler. There were 28 of the original A6-A's converted to the EA-6A, and they proved the viability of the A6 as an Electronic Countermeasures platform. Grumman then lengthened the airframe to accomadate 4 people, with more extensive capabilities. The A6 was, and probably still is one of the toughest aircraft ever built, and could take all kinds of punishment and still keep on ticking.

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Grew up with this bird...my dad CWO-4 Jas. H. Dougherty was Maint Off. for VA-165, 123, 128, Q-131, Q133--made 4 Deps to Nam, they didn't have the A-6 ready for 165 on their first deployment, they flew A1-Spads in '66, they went from Alameda to NAS Whidbey and recieved their new planes...I grew up around so many A6 Jockeys, there was a parade of them thru my home...my sister loved that part!! I was there when 2 crews from VA165 were given the Navy Cross for the same mission, a low level volunteer night mission over Haiphong, the damage of which was monumental...and the danger which was over the top. Knew several H-Hilton "guests"...one of them a Pow outa VA196 came back once with a 6 foot hole in the fuselage on a previous down on the deck mission...these puppies were THE workhorse for the Navy...rain or shine, they brought a mountain of heat!!!! the old man was Maint. Chief for Heavy Ten in the early sixties flying the A3D, that was a beast of a plane as well. The first real Heavy for the Navy off a Carrier. He was asked by PAC NAV CMD build one of the the first VAQ squadrons from the ground up and ready them for DEP to NAM in the early 70's, I think that was VAQ131, they were first deployed on the Enterprise,X-MAS bobmbings of Hanoi in '72 they were there, that is when that VA196 guy above went down hard....his BN was busted up, they both made it back, before the Enterprise did !!!

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i was onboard USS Midway from 1982-84. while i worked on H-3s i soon grew to love the sound of the A-6's engines as they spooled up and although at first thought it an ugly aircraft i came to to respect as the best bomber the navy ever had.

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I served in the Royal Australian Navy as an Aircraft Handler (enlisted rating) on our last carrier HMAS Melbourne during the late 70's.
I now collect copies of 'privately' filmed (8mm or video) carrier films as a hobby as well as PLAT footage, mishaps and other items filmed by Navy cameramen aboard carriers. I would like to swap copies of any carrier flying footage you may have, especially home video or mishaps film.

If you have any footage and are interested in sharing with a fellow ship mate, please reply and ask for my swapping list.
Long time Tailhook member.

Regards Joe
Sydney Australia.

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I was with VA65 as a B /N during the famous Forrestal fire and following year on the Kitty Hawk. This was a great plane that was always trying to prove itself. I do remember one occasion going down to Bethpage to pick a new bird right out of the factory. I also had the honor of taking this new plane down to the Tangier bombing range for evaluation. We had 12 MK-76's on the racks and made 12 runs at that old freighter. After you pickled the bomb and knew exactly where to turn your head, you could actually see the bomb falling. I saw 11 of the 12 hit the ship and 3 went down the stack. When that system was working it was amazing.

The other thing I remember was how we would do double missions over Laos, come back for recovery and sometimes even dump a little fuel just to upset the Phantom jocks who were close to bingo fuel.

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The A6 Intruder provide Navy a long range strike package unequalled today. One night, I departed Yankee Station with a centerline drop tank, 5 APAM and 17 Mk 82 LDGP bombs to interdict the Ho Chi Minh trial. We checked in with an AF controller and were directed to an AMTI target coming down the trail. During descent from 20K, our holding altitude, the ASQ-61 froze up as it sometimes did. We continued toward the target, the B /N working to get the computer back. Just as we reached the target,I saw a guy get out of his truck, walk to the left front bumper and light a cigarette. His nonchalance pissed me off; I pulled back on the stick for a roll ahead visual bomb delivery and told the B /N to go manual. He reset the armament panel switches and we made five visual dives against the trucks hiding in the trees. It was much fun. We had several burning vehicles following our attacks. There were some smaller caliber AAA but, since it was after sundown, they really couldn't see us so it was like Winston Churchill said: "There's nothing so exhilarating as being shot at without affect". Returning to RANGER, I was low state and diverted to Danang for an evening in Dog Davidson's famous Bar. The A6 was a wonderful all weather attack aircraft. Thanks to the Grummans and the aircrews and maintenence teams who made it so.

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I was right there with Tom Murphy (writing above) in Va-85 and woking ECM (ALQ-41, ALQ-51 and APR-28 + BDA equip) gear to go on and protect the A6A'sd flying. I was also there 66,67,68,69 with VA-85 on the Kitty Hawk, America, and Constalation. West Pac was an life changing experience for this young Texas Boy. I even helped on the flight deck loading bombs on these babes. I do remember the guys that never came back and the A6As that came back shot full of holes.
I have now spent 38+ years on the streets of North Texas protecting at home carrying a bit of a different gun than the guys used in Nam. Doug Rauch

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It was a great plane to fly in any weather, any time. I can recall many memorable events over the 2100 hours I flew as a B /N and the one that really stands out is the night barricade trap Ray Benson and I have in our log book (CV-62, 1973). The A6E sustained minor damage and was flying again 3 days later.

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My Dad, Edward A. Wagner, joined Grumman in 1950 as an engineer. He was very successful and became a project manager on the A-6E and F-14. I have great memorabilia from Grumman and these projects which I am planning on donating to the museum. While going through Dad's things I also discovered he was a model for Grumman advertisements in the newspaper! Can't wait to give that to the museum. My brother was an engineer on the LEM. I worked in the summers on the space shuttle program but decided, even though I also became an engineer, not to join Grumman. God Bless America!

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Con /Nav was nicely bundled and allowed quick and easy field replacement. The ECM gear was another story. Far ahead of everything else. The electronics were said to cost more than the main frame. MOS 6214 DaNang 6 /68-7 /69

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Do you remember the early morning some years ago, when American F-111's bombed Gadaffi's Libya? Prior the bomb-drop a couple of EA-6A jammed the entire south-western part of the Mediteranian Sea with their fantastic equipment. The jamming was so strong that we were not able to listen to ordinary radioes in southern Spain! I can imagine that it is necessary to have the canopy glass coated with a thin gold layer to protect the crew from the radio emissions of the electronic warfare equipment.

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A6 WAS A GREAT BIRD FOR NIGHT LOW LEVEL ATTACKS IN NVN. MUCH SAFER TO FLY AT NIGHT THAN ANY OTHER A /C & SAFER FOR AIRCREW THAN IN DAYLIGHT ATTACKS. BEST BOMBLOAD WAS 13 MK83 1000BOMBS CUZ LEAST DRAG FOR THE MAX PUNCH. COULD GET OVER 500KTS AT 200 FEET OVER RT PAK 6 IN NVN. SYSTEM HAD RELIABILITY PROBLEMS BUT B /Ns USED BACKUP MODES TO OVERCOME PROBLEMS.
VA 85 IN WESTPAC: '66,'67 & '68

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The best aircraft for its assigned mission in the world. Nothing has really replaced it yet.

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As a Marine Aviator, I piloted A6A's in VMA(AW)-225 at Da Nang AB, SVN, from Jan-Jul, 1969, for 150+ combat missions. At that time, VMA(AW)-242 flew A6A's from Da Nang and VMA(AW)-533 flew them out of Chu Lai. Several Navy squadrons also flew them off the carriers at Yankee and Dixie Stations. Our standard ordnance load was twenty-eight 500 # iron bombs, but we also used nape, Zuni rockets, 2.75 rocket packs, and a few CBU's and Walleye glide bombs. We flew mostly night interdiction hops over the HC Minh Trail, plus TPQ, Beacon and CAS missions in northern SVN, Laos and occasionally into Cambodia. It's a great bird, very dependable and airworthy in combat with excellent radar and ECM gear when operated by a proficient B /N. It was in reality a B /N's plane; the pilot merely followed the steering bug and committed the system to drop on B /N-selected targets; the B /N handled all the finesse stuff. The ALQ-100 ECM gear worked fantastically, providing the aircrew with audio and visual indications of all ground threats. Nightime in-flt refueling off KC-130 tankers could be a handful due to the buffet from the 130's props and the airwave passing over the Intruder's bulbous nose. It made the basket rise dramatically just when you neared the nose-mounted IFR probe to the basket. You needed to use 3-5 kts positive closure on the basket to catch it just as it was rising up. We carried about 2 hours of fuel internally giving us excellent time-on-station. The Intruder's bombing accuracy was unparalleled when flown with a seasoned B /N. All in all, if you had to go to war, the A6A Intruder was a trustworthy airplane to do it in.

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Originally it was born as the A2F. the first three built had tiltable tailpipes which was supposed to aid in short field take-off and carries ops. However, the benefit derived was penalized by the weight. I was a flight test Bombardier Navigator for Grumman. Have flown over 1600 hours flight testing as a B /N.

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Originally it was born as the A2F. the first three built had tiltable tailpipes which was supposed to aid in short field take-off and carries ops. However, the benefit derived was penalized by the weight. I was a flight test Bombardier Navigator for Grumman. Have flown over 1600 hours flight testing as a B /N.

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