A-3s in Museums

“Save the Whale" A-3 Skywarriors On Display “Save the Whale”

This is a directory of all the museums that house A-3’s or are in the process of obtaining an A-3 for display. These organizations need our support both financially and physically in order to properly preserve them. Please visit or plan your next reunion around one of these museums.

You may also send a tax-deductible donation to the A-3 Skywarrior Association. We will collect en masse and pass it on to the museum of your choice. Lastly our birds need care, you can contact these museums, form a working party and spend some volunteer time restoring the Whales.

These are our birds, they took care of us…now let’s take care of them!

Known credits: Bill Kistler, Gil DeHoyos, John Herndon, William Swisher, Mark Swisher, Tom Brennan, Tommy Ware, Don Pierce

	National Museum of Naval Aviation NA-3A BuNo 135418 NMC - VAH-1 http://www.naval-air.org/ National Museum of Naval Aviation 1750 Radford Blvd, Suite C N.A.S. Pensacola, FL 32508 PH: (850) 452-3604 or 452-3606 Primary Sponsor: Wayne Musgrove – A-3 Naval Aircrewman
	Fulton County Airport Johnstown NY. XA3D-1 BuNo 125413 #2 A-3, built Douglas Test Div. Fulton County Airport 27 Lee Avenue Gloversville, NY 12978 Attn: Dick Ottalagano 518-725-3512 more photos on Photo Pages 31 & 32
	New England Air Museum A-3B BuNo 142246 VAH-13, NATC New England Air Museum Bradley International Airport 36 Perimeter RD Windsor Locks, CT 06096 PH: (860) 623-3305 http://www.neam.org/
	Pima Air Museum, Arizona EA-3A BuNo 130361 NATC, Westinghouse, NASA, ARMY, VQ-2 Pima Air and Space Museum 6000 East Valencia Road Tucson, AZ 85706 PH: (520) 574-0462 http://www.pimaair.org/
	USS Lexington KA-3B BuNo 138944 VAQ-34, NMC U.S.S. Lexington Museum 2914 North Shoreline Blvd. Mailing Address: PO Box 23076 Corpus Christi, Texas 78403 PH: (361) 888-4873 http://www.usslexington.com/
	Western Aerospace Museum KA-3B BuNo 147666 VAH-2, VAQ-130, VAK-308 Oakland Western Aerospace Museum PO Box 14264 – 8260 Boeing St North Field Oakland International Airport Oakland, CA 94614 PH: (510) 638-7100 POC: Greg Ely (greg.ely@wvla.net) See more photos on Page 34 http://www.westernaerospacemuseum.org/
	Davis Monthan AFB NA-3B BuNo 142630 NATF, NWC,NPTR, VAH-11, VAH-6 Tucson, Arizona Tours: (520) 574-0462 or (520) 228-3358 http://www.dm.af.mil/links.htm This is the bird on “Celebrity Row”. There are 14 more at DM. Sometimes they have been known to escort people out to the storage areas.
	NAS Rota, Spain EA-3B BuNo 146457 VQ-2, VQ-1 Outboard for Mobile, Alabama http://www.ussalabama.com/html/collection/index.php see report, click here
	USS Midway EKA-3B BuNo 142251 VAH-4, VAQ-130 San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum 1355 North Harbor Dr. San Diego, CA 92101 Phone: 619-544-9600 POC: Mo Peele http://www.midway.org/
	National Vigilance Park EA-3B BuNo 146448 VQ-2 National Cryptologic Museum Rt. 32 and the Baltimore/Washington Pkwy (295) Fort Meade, MD 20755 PH: (301) 688-5849 See photos on Page 30 http://www.nsa.gov/museum/index.html
	NAS Sanford NRA-3B (They hope to acquire an A-3) Sanford Airport memorial Committee 1200 Red Cleveland Blvd Sanford, FL 32773 PH: (407) 585-4610 http://www.orlandosanfordairport.com/project/index.html
	Edwards Air Force Base – First Flights Museum A-3A BuNo 135434 VAH-3, NATC AFFTC Museum 405 S Rosamond Blvd Edwards AFB, CA 93524 Edwards AFB, CA 93524 PH: (661) 277-1110 POC: Doug Nelson, Director AFTTC Museum http://www.edwards.af.mil/museum/ Photographer: William Swisher, courtesy Naval Fighters #45
	Davis Monthan AFB Today there are about 15 A-3’s in storage at the AMARC facility. We are diligently working to place all Skywarriors in museums to honor the crews and maintainers who operated the A-3. First one pictured is a Vapper RA-3B. It is very costly to move one of these aircraft from storage to a museum and could take years to raise funds and get the necessary approvals.
	Mojave Airport in California (near Palmdale and EAFB) There are four A-3’s stored at Mojave that are held in reserve for Flight Test. These aircraft are under the control of Raytheon Flight Operations and NAVAIR. If you are up at Mojave you can go to the control tower and find the security guard. Usually the guard will drive you out to see these A-3s..
	Raytheon Flight Test Operations Van Nuys, California BuNo 144865 (VQ-2 Desert Storm Whale) This is the location of the best-maintained A-3’s left. In ten years or so these aircraft will be replaced by the next generation of flight test aircraft. It is our understanding that NAVAIR would like these Whales to fly off to a museum instead of AMARC. Actually we’d like the A-3 to fly forever but we have to face facts. Ron Woltman and Charlie Stender have been very generous in providing tours of these operational A-3s.
	NAS Lakehurst, New Jersey NA-3B BuNo 138922 FEWSG Bird (dateline 5/3/04) They originally had 2 Skywarriors. One was being transferred to a museum somewhere in New Jersey by a helicopter sky crane. It broke loose and dropped the Whale in the woods totaling it out..............this was about 12 years ago. The last Skywarrior they had was scrapped/destroyed because the environmentalists in the area were concerned about pollution off of the old aircraft. So Skywarrior #138922 is no more
	NAS Key West, FL. BuNo 147648 Investigation is under way as to this birds status, ownership, or future. This photo was taken in early 2004 confirming existence and condition.
	Barry M. Goldwater Range Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Field Gila Bend, Arizona Bu No 142249 Bu No 142404 Bu No 142647 Bu No 142651 For target practice !!!!! Yikes
	Yanks Air Museum BuNo 138965 KA-3B VAQ-208, VAH-4, VAQ-130, VAQ-132 Yanks Air Museum Chino California Airport Hanger A270, Box 35 Chino, Ca. 91710 (909) 597-1734 POC: Nat Richards http://www.yanksair.com
	Gibbs Whale Museum KA-3B BuNo 147657 VAH-2, VAQ-130, VAQ-208, VAK-208, VAK-308 Ennis Gibbs Woodland, Utah (E of SLC, UT) 435-783-2439 egibbs@allwest.net Call ahead of time and Ennis will provide you a tour of the Whale and the opportunity to sit in your favorite flight position. Before cockpit removal After cockpit removal BN side of cockpit