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Posted: 4/30/2022 2:29:28 PM EDT
It’s been a few years so let’s bring it back for a third installment. Pictures and stories are welcome.
I’ll start with a synopsis. I grew up in Virginia Beach in the 80’s and Grumman jets flew over my house 24/7. Same time that TOP GUN was a huge movie. Most people had a hard on for the F-14. For whatever reason I preferred the look of the A-6 Intruder. It just looked to me like it had bigger balls than the Tomcat. When I eventually learned about the A-6’s mission assignment I was correct. Here is a picture of an odd A-6E of VA-42. Intake markings and Navy/USA insignia painted in a bright gray vs the normal ghost gray scheme.  Attached FileI miss this bird. Lucky to have a Father in the Navy so I saw a lot of it being a kid. |
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Posted: 4/30/2022 2:31:49 PM EDT
[#1]
Tomcats are defensive weapons.
A-6 intruders are offensive weapons. Incredible payload, day/night all weather with a huge combat radius. |
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Posted: 4/30/2022 2:32:45 PM EDT
[#2]
I almost forgot. Arf’s only other member with an A-6E avatar.
@cone256 |
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Posted: 4/30/2022 2:33:07 PM EDT
[#3]
My uncle was an engineer who designed something on the A-6. I can’t recall what it was though.
They’re badass planes. |
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Posted: 4/30/2022 2:37:04 PM EDT
[#4]
Computer Froze? Kick that Bitch to "Reboot" it...
 From Flight of the Intruder so not sure if it is in anyway "real" ...   Flight of the Intruder Sam City BIGGER_HAMMER 
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Posted: 4/30/2022 2:38:51 PM EDT
[#5]
Quote HistoryQuoted: My uncle was an engine who designed something on the A-6. I can’t recall what it was though. They’re badass planes. Was your uncle a piston or turbine engine?
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Posted: 4/30/2022 2:39:00 PM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Computer Froze? Kick that Bitch to "Reboot" it... From Flight of the Intruder so not sure if it is in anyway "real" ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvyBrX1eK4I&t=65s BIGGER_HAMMER I love that movie. It’s the top gun for bomber enthusiasts |
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Posted: 4/30/2022 2:42:03 PM EDT
[#7]
When I was in the Navy, I worked on the Jammers for our EA-6B Prowlers. They were a cool plane with awesome capabilities. A fun fact is that at the time, they were the fastest non afterburner equipped jet we had.
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Posted: 4/30/2022 2:43:08 PM EDT
[#8]
The first A-6 prototype model had moveable downward tilting jet exhausts.
Wasn't used for production models. 
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Posted: 4/30/2022 2:43:24 PM EDT
[#9]
I believe those are the planes where I was able to use the simulators a couple of times at NAS Whidbey back in the 90’s.
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Posted: 4/30/2022 2:44:51 PM EDT
[#10]
I was always a fan of the plane myself. I remember reading Flight of the Intruder in high school, I enjoyed the book and it introduced me to that particular airframe.
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Posted: 4/30/2022 2:45:50 PM EDT
[#11]
I grew up in the 80s near Andrew’s Air Force base. Saw a lot of F-4s, C-5 Galaxies, Air Force One, and Marine 1 (which is a helicopter by the way)
That said. The F-14 was always on my dream list to see in flight. That didn’t happen until I was 26 years old in 2002 sitting on the beach in Corolla NC. It was like an out of body experience. Tomcat > Intruder Change my mind |
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Posted: 4/30/2022 2:49:14 PM EDT
[#12]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Tomcat > Intruder Change my mind They had different missions. Yet if kill count is what your looking for the A-6 wins ten fold. |
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Posted: 4/30/2022 2:51:02 PM EDT
[#13]
Awesome plane. I always think of it as the A10 without the Gatling gun.
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Posted: 4/30/2022 2:51:03 PM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryQuoted: They had different missions. Yet if kill count is what your looking for the A-6 wins ten fold. I edited my post while you were quoting me. I’m just saying the F-14 is the sexiest goddamn aircraft God ever bestowed upon the United States |
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Posted: 4/30/2022 2:54:26 PM EDT
[#15]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Tomcat > Intruder Change my mind This is like saying Knife>Spoon. Tomcats ended their career dropping bombs but the A-6 was a fantastic strike aircraft and killed a whole bunch more bad guys than F-14s ever did. A-6C TRIM - night attack variant with big ventral tub for the purpose of killing trucks on the Ho Chi Minh trail . It had a low light TV and early FLIR but also had the interesting ability to detect ignitions.  Attached File |
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Posted: 4/30/2022 2:55:52 PM EDT
[#16]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I edited my post while you were quoting me. I’m just saying the F-14 is the sexiest goddamn aircraft God ever bestowed upon the United States I agree with you. |
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:00:01 PM EDT
[#17]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Tomcats are defensive weapons. A-6 intruders are offensive weapons. Incredible payload, day/night all weather with a huge combat radius. Outstanding angle. I never thought of it like that. I’m gonna use that in the future. @cpl_fisher |
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:02:26 PM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Computer Froze? Kick that Bitch to "Reboot" it... From Flight of the Intruder so not sure if it is in anyway "real" ...  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvyBrX1eK4IBIGGER_HAMMER I'm an A-6 guy, an old pic of my squadron shooting a Maverick.  Attached File |
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:02:59 PM EDT
[#19]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I almost forgot. Arf’s only other member with an A-6E avatar. @cone256 Don't forget @A6BN. |
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:06:52 PM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Don't forget @A6BN. I sure did. He is the A-6 guru. Hope he chimes in. |
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:08:26 PM EDT
[#21]
I was a BT on tin cans in the 70's & 80's and when we were on deployment we would go top side and watch the A6's. The pilots were amazing, they would come by upside down, or fly between our stacks. I am sure they were using us for target practice. Saw a lot of them up in the Red Sea and Libya.
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:08:27 PM EDT
[#22]
Sounds like a toy for anal
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:10:28 PM EDT
[#23]
Quote HistoryQuoted: The early A-6's had a rotary drum memory system in that thing he is kicking, the PCU. It would stick and kicking it would get it running again. I'm an A-6 guy, an old pic of my squadron shooting a Maverick. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/80691/a62_jpg-2367396.JPG The Blue Blasters. Iconic Intruder squadron. What did you do? |
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:13:14 PM EDT
[#24]
Of the ones produced, the "B" was the most interesting to me. It would have nice to have seen the "F" produced though.
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:15:01 PM EDT
[#25]
Quote HistoryQuoted: The early A-6's had a rotary drum memory system in that thing he is kicking, the PCU. It would stick and kicking it would get it running again. I'm an A-6 guy, an old pic of my squadron shooting a Maverick. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/80691/a62_jpg-2367396.JPG Neat. I didn’t know the Intruder ever used them. |
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:17:36 PM EDT
[#26]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Computer Froze? Kick that Bitch to "Reboot" it... From Flight of the Intruder so not sure if it is in anyway "real" ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvyBrX1eK4IBIGGER_HAMMER If I recall correctly, the author of the book, Stephen Coonts, was an A-6 bombardier. In the book the bombing computer was described. I consisted of several rotating wheels in gimbals and sometimes during hard maneuvers it would jam up. Kicking it was frequently effective in unsticking it. Kicking may have been in the official checklist for immediate action to get it going. I'm sure someone will be along to tell me I'm wrong. ETA: Answered by a pro above. |
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:18:01 PM EDT
[#27]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Sounds like a toy for anal And the A-10 is the full-fledged dick that goes in dry. |
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:18:06 PM EDT
[#28]
Quote HistoryQuoted: My uncle was an engine who designed something on the A-6. I can’t recall what it was though. They’re badass planes. My ex-wife’s grandfather was also an engineer for Grumman. He designed the arresting hook. He told me on the first day of the assignment they sent him to the film room where he watched arresting hook failures as well as ones that ripped the back half of the plane off. They told him to design something in between the two. He took me under one and showed me the parts he designed and the challenges involved. He’s about the only thing I miss about my in-laws. He recently passed at 95. |
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:20:05 PM EDT
[#29]
Do it Sandy. Do it now. I'd do it for you.
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:21:45 PM EDT
[#30]
My family's first house was a tiny duplex right in the runway path for Nas Oceana. Yeah I grew up loving planes.
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:22:54 PM EDT
[#31]
Everyone’s responses are great. Keep it going.
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:23:06 PM EDT
[#32]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Tomcats are defensive weapons. A-6 intruders are offensive weapons. Incredible payload, day/night all weather with a huge combat radius. ...and zero defensive armaments. |
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:23:11 PM EDT
[#33]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Do it Sandy, I'd do it for you. Not bad for a candyass. |
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:25:21 PM EDT
[#34]
And it was one of the few aircraft, if not the only one, that was never sold overseas.
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:29:55 PM EDT
[#35]
Is it true that the engines on the Intruder & Prowler were the loudest to work around on the carrier?
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:30:28 PM EDT
[#36]
My father worked on the TRAM radar system. Very sophisticated stuff for it's era.
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:31:16 PM EDT
[#37]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I love that movie. It’s the top gun for bomber enthusiasts I’ll take Flight of the Intruder over Top Gun all day any day |
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:31:45 PM EDT
[#38]
I don't think I ever saw one flying. But they had one at the Oregon Air and Space Museum that I would always take a good long look at every time I visited.
Cute kinda tadpole looking thing. 
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:31:58 PM EDT
[#39]
VA-115 12-81 12-85.
 I worked avionics, VDI/RDC/flight control systems |
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:31:59 PM EDT
[#40]
I was a big fan of the A6 when I was younger. This KA6D won me a first place trophy at a model show 34 years ago. It is a 1/72 scale Fujimi kit...
 Attached File Attached File |
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:33:56 PM EDT
[#41]
Love me some Intruder, thanks for the mention
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:34:03 PM EDT
[#42]
The A-6 played a large role in my aviation “spark” story. Back in the 90’s my dad was able to take me out on the flight line of a large east coast NAS. Out there one day and I remember seeing an A-6 rocket off the runway and perform what must have been an unrestricted climb because he went near vertical and disappeared in the clouds above. That was when I had my first, “ that’s what I want to do” moment as a kid.
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:40:09 PM EDT
[#43]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I don't think I ever saw one flying. But they had one at the Oregon Air and Space Museum that I would always take a good long look at every time I visited. Cute kinda tadpole looking thing. The only time I've actually seen one it was flying. An A-6E made a few passes down the runway at the Beckley, WV airshow in the early '90s. |
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:47:46 PM EDT
[#44]
I've always thought that was one of the coolest planes ever, the F-111 too, but the A-6 looks like a thug.
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:47:47 PM EDT
[#45]
My dad and I used to spend every Fourth of July on the golf course in Coronado, CA. The SEALS would put on a demo which included helicopter insertions into the bay and swift boats. One year they were simulating an air strike and an Intruder at about 100 feet came screaming in from the ocean and flew overhead. It was awesome.
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:49:27 PM EDT
[#46]
Quote HistoryQuoted: The Blue Blasters. Iconic Intruder squadron. What did you do? |
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:51:05 PM EDT
[#47]
Quote HistoryQuoted: ...and zero defensive armaments. |
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:51:39 PM EDT
[#48]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Is it true that the engines on the Intruder & Prowler were the loudest to work around on the carrier? |
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:54:04 PM EDT
[#49]
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Posted: 4/30/2022 3:57:22 PM EDT
[#50]
Didn't some guy get sucked into an A-6's engine on a carrier?
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