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The Vikings were the most understated plane on the deck when I was there. Between the whirling blades of death on the Hawkeyes, the tooth rattling of the Prowlers and the thundering afterburners of the Tomcats and Hornets, was the gentle whine of the Vikings. They did their job very well! Cheers!

When is he gonna do a video: Mega Projects: Simon Whistler

As a Viking Sailor for 13+ years and a Viking Tech Rep for another 15+ years let me say I LOVE THE VIKING more than almost anything in my life.

I serve aboard the USS Constellation with VS-37 (pictured aircraft) in 1988. I am almost positive that that is LT Hinshaw at the controls. I screamed like a schoolgirl at a Beatles concert when I saw that picture. Those planes did everything on our ship. They were loved because they brought mail

This is one of the most underrated planes of the Cold War. They are definitely worth keeping around the boneyard for future use!

VS-29 "Dragonfires" Tracked a Soviet Sub for 27 hours while deployed on WestPac 84/85 on board the USS Carl Vinson CVN-70. Several S-3A Vikings kept track of the sub, she was caught coming out of Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam and was targeted ofr nearly the entire time of contact.

3:00 Lockheed Martin did not exist yet; the contractor was "Lockheed Aircraft Corporation" which later merged with Martin Marietta in the 1990s to become today's Lockheed Martin. Martin Marietta was formed by a merger in the early 60s between Glenn L. Martin company and American Marietta. Martin, in the old days, was known for building, among other things, various flying boats.

The Viking is one of my favorite planes! (Btw, it's "General Dynamics" not "Dinamics")

I had to share this with my buddies from the S-3 community. Thank you for putting the lady I popped my cherry with. I loved working with her from 1993 to 1995 and see action in 1994 with the Viking Outlaw on board the USS Kitty Hawk. There are many things you missed, but you can talk hours with this aircraft, specially with the ES-3A Sea Shadow.

This is one of my favorite birds, right along with the F-14 and F-4. I operated the flight deck cameras on the USS Theodore Roosevelt during OIF and OEF, and truly fell in love with the S-3B during those deployments. My work center/shop was the ILARTS/IFLOLS shop directly below the waist catapults, and I used to love the sound of the S-3's roaring overhead as they left the cats. My berthing was also as far forward as you can go below the flight deck, and my rack was directly below the water brakes. If you look at the front of a carrier, the two circular porthole windows below the flight deck were on either side of my rack. We slept in shifts during flight ops, and we'd try and ID birds by the sound of their engines as they took off while waiting for sleep. One guy would stand at each window, keeping score. Those racks were uncomfortable, the food sucked, my shipmates were a**holes, and I miss every bit of it. Best years of my life. "I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harm's way" -Cpt. John Paul Jones Continental Navy

Can you do the history of The Thunderbirds? The aircraft are always evolving, entertaining millions. Most don't know their story is tragic and decades long.

I served on the USS Bremerton (SSN-698) as an EM1(SS) and during the years I was onboard, we were never detected by either the USSR Navy or the US Navy. As for the US, we played multiple war games with surface ships (aka targets) and we could have sank every vessel there. We would get under the aircraft carrier and get targeting solutions on the other ships to prove we could sink them. One time the Captain of our boat crept up on a carrier before the start of the games and one minute after the start, he fired two “torpedos” which were later ruled to have sunk the carrier. The carrier CO was pissed at our CO. We frequently went out on weekly ops so surface ships could get practice tracking a submarine. Our boat was so quiet, we had “noise makers” installed in the sail to give the surface ships something to track. We could cut power to it and get away anytime we desired.

Hear me out: There are multiple Simons. He's discovered cloning technology and keeps his clones locked in the Blazement with Danny, Sam, and Peter, only releasing one at a time to produce a video. That's the only logical way that one man can have so many channels of unerringly good quality. He's slowly, methodically trying to repopulate the planet with Simons. He is legion.

Damn. The Viking was like "I don't get to hunt submarines like I was designed for? Fuck it, I'll be awesome at everything else." Haha. Lockheed Martin almost always delivers properly.

I was a PC, then jet engine mech, then general maintance & corrosion control on the S-3Alpha/Bravo Vikings with the VS-33 Screwbirds aboard the USS Nimitz (CVN-68), CVW-9 from 1988--1992. Loved the Vikings. They were a multi-sorti mission bird!!! Good times! Salute

My grandfather was one of the chief design engineers on the S-3 project for Lockheed. He spent years stationed at Subic Bay, Philippines in the 70's and early '80's working with these birds. Many times he was civilian engineer aboard the Enterprise or Kitty Hawk working on the Vikings (and everything else they needed fixed). Thank you for covering the S-3's.

hahaha "General Dinamycs" good one

Thanks so much for this one! I was a Plane Captain with VS-37 (Sawbucks) in the early 90's. Great to see my old girl get some love! :)

I made my last flight in VS-37 off the Enterprise in Sawbuck 705 in 1983, the first S-3A shown in this video. Had well over a thousand hours in this platform and miss those days! Loved flying in the Viking!

The S3 Viking was my favorite all-time Naval aircraft.

My favorite Naval aircraft of all time. Watched these aircraft launch on the Kitty Hawk while my ship was assigned to a carrier battle group in the IO back in the 80’s. Interesting that a variant of the TF-34 engine is finding its way as the new engine for the B-52.

It is a relatively poorly known fact that the Canadian CP140 Aurora ( a version of the P-3 Orion) used mission electronics loosely based on the Viking. ... an Aurora former navigator here.

Simon, I was already cringing a little every time you said, "Grooman", but that title card with "General Dinamics" on it was really too much. Help me up off the floor here, I think I'm done laughing... though I may giggle unexpectedly over the next week or two when I think about it.

I was in the Navy and knew some Viking crews. They were very, very good at what they did, and their platform was exceptional.

Funny how the video immediately came to suggested searches because here in the Philippines, we have a business man who pledge to donate 2 units of this S-3 Viking aircraft for additional ASW of the Philippine military. I guess it soothes my curiosity to know its specifications

The P-3 went on to do even more than the S-3 it replaced and will go equally underappreciated into aviation history except by those who had the privilege of flying her. The P-3 has been adopted by militaries around the globe, government agencies, and researchers alike. The versatility of the airframe has seen it become the go to choice when heavy modifications are required for specific missions, like NOAA flying it through hurricanes, CBP and VX attaching E2 radar domes to them, and so much more. And that's not even getting into what other countries have done with the airframe, like Canada and their CP-140s.

Former S-3B NATOPS Instructor/Evaluator VS-41 here, the Bravo upgrades were completed in 1994, not 1984. West Coast squadrons were the last to receive the new avionics/weapons systems upgrades.

I proudly served as a Parachute Rigger in the US Navy, my last squadron was VS-41 Shamrocks. She was a good bird and we did call the Hoovers.

The A6 finally got a mention. What a beauty it was.

Very cool looking plane. Its gigantic vertical stabilizer almost makes it look toy-like in a way.

I can well remember seeing S-3Bs on the deck with a fuel tank under one wing and a Harpoon underneath the other. Because of their long range and ability to loiter over an area for long periods they were ideal ship hunters. When we were going through all that crap with Libya and Gaddafi we popped several patrol boats with them. I believe we also hit oil platforms by the Harpoon armed S3. Fabulous plane

It's testing was not as trouble free as you make out. It was so clean it had trouble decelerating, and issues with systems, handling challenges stemming from Lockheed not really having a lot of experience with carrier aircraft. When one senior naval aviator flew it in the eval process, he was asked by the Lockheed reps at NATC Pax River what he thought, prompting the classic response " Is piss poor one word, two words, or hyphenated?". Needless to say, Lockheed got their shit together and fixed the problems. Source: Flying the Edge by George Wilson.

I am VERY jaded that they decommed the Viking. I was with VS-41 for a year and fell in love with the aircraft. I get emotional when I see it. It's like seeing old videos of a passed away friend. Thank you for posting this. Brought back great memories.

During my 20.5 year Navy career as an S-3A/B AW I flew just short of 3300 hours and 886 traps aboard carriers... I miss the hunt.

You should do a video on the A-6 Intruder because it was a beast that couldn't be replaced.

Been watching you forever, love the channel and content. Keep it up... one of the few channels on KZfaq that's actually worth watching!!

Thanks. Just to share, I served in VS-32 USS America during the Cold War. Keep these cool vids coming, Simon.

I'm from Tucson Arizona, and at Davis Monthan AFB they have a ton of s-3 wrapped up in storage, you can drive right by them.

I was an S3 AW3 in 1978 to 1980, 1 MED cruise with VS33 Screwbirds. Tracked lots of subs in the med that summer!

My first squadron was VQ-5 Sea Shadows, eventually DET-5. As an Airframer, I loved that airplane.

Great video and you have me in the video at time 15:12-14.... lol. I flew in the S-3A/B Viking for 20 years as an Aircrew AW.

"On time and within budget" is probably the most miraculous part of this vehicle.

I've got a couple hundred traps and over 2000 hours in the Viking. It wasn't glamourous, but it was versatile and reliable. We got to do all the cool stuff: formation, drop bombs, shoot rockets, in relative comfort. Unlike the F-4's, F-8's, A-7's and F-18's, fuel was never really an issue. Plus, it flew AND landed great on one engine! Seriously, it was a great airplane.

I served onboard the USS Forrestal in the late 70's. I wasn't in the S-3 squadron but loved the aircraft. It was the first high bypass fan engine I'd ever seen. Loved it when they started up or went to taxi. They sounded like the Hoover vacuum cleaner they called. Like my beloved A-6, these got retired too soon to make room for the "Bug", the F/A Hornet. 😩😢☹

I used to work on these jets back in the early 2000s... Absolutely amazing bird and a joy to maintain. VS-38 / CV64

These plane videos are my favorite megaprojects videos, more please

Thanks for the cool vid. I was a technican who tested and repaired the AN/ASQ-81 Magnetic Anomaly Detection (MAD) system that detected the subs. The MAD boom detector used an enclosed sphere of a noble gas and lasers excited the gas electrons to a higher energy state and IR detectors measured the photon emission when the electrons returned to their normal orbit. The earth's magnetic field interacts with the photons and changes their frequency so slighty but detectable. The ferrous metal of a submarine causes a large change in magnetic field strength and density and is easily picked by the MAD gear.

Please cover how spacesuits work!

Thanks for a great video on a great aircraft. I live near a US Naval Air Station where these aircraft flew from for many years. We all called them the "Hoovers" because of the characteristic whooshing sound like an old vacuum cleaner that the engines made in the landing pattern. You never had to look up to see what was flying, hearing it was enough.

Love the videos on the underrated and little known aircraft!

As a kid living in Coronado by NAS North Island these guys were taking off and landing all the time. The VWOOOMP VWOOOOMP when they landed was always fun to hear.

I got to ride in a US-3. Utility version. Could carry mail and it had 4, maybe it was 6 passenger capacity, I can't remember. Catapult shot off Cat three of the Enterprise in the North Pacific. Landed in Adak Alaska where I hopped a P3 headed for NARF in the bay area. What a privilege to ride both planes. Cool as hell. Especially that cat launch.

Interesting to see a piece of history that directly relates to my own. I served almost 6 years with S-3 Vikings back in he Cold-War days. We called it "jokingly" the War-Pig. It had many features that were quite unique. It was stubby and often joked the ugliest plane on the carrier, I always thought the Hawkeye or SH-3's had that title. We didn't care. Its turbofan engines and airframe were easy to work on. Very roomy cockpit and even had two bomb bays. The one downside was keeping them clean. It was a big airplane and our pilots like to fly low to the ocean. However my favorite testiminial to its true bad-assery - is we were deep-water ops - it lost its radome (the whole nose section) at high altitude. Officially due to a pinhole leak ... scuttlebutt said it was more likely a deliberate dive to over 500+ knots. These birds could barely do 450 knots in level flight. Regardless of the true cause - the plane, (if memory serves me well - number 707), looked like it had been shot to pieces with parts missing, pitot tubes bent, flir about to fall out and yet the mighty Viking took a beating and still made it home to the carrier. Oh get this F14 guys - with an ok 3-wire and fuel to spare on the very 1st attemp to land! That bird became our hangar queen the rest of the cruise. If memory serves me well - I believe she was patched up stateside and flew again. Sadly we lost one plane to the triple-threat of bad weather, poor decisions, and a miscalculated cat shot. The pilot did his best to save the plane but he just didn't have time. The plane dropped a wing and only the back left seater, Senso, got out in time. It was a sad time. But one that is part of naval aviation. Hats off to all that have served. Cheers everyone.

Great video about a great aircraft. Thanks for all the hard work!

I flew the "A" model of this plane in the early 80s. Nice video that I only found today. Appreciate it.

Thank you for doing this video. I graduated from VS - 41 from class 2-98S. I was able to watch this video with my son and show him what I did.

From the SBD, TBF Avenger to S-3 Vikings the US had probably the best carrier based attack aircraft

Good video. Now do the S-2 Tracker Family. Only one minor nitpick: Lockheed Aircraft Corp developed the S-3. Lockheed Martin didn't exist until the 1995 Lockheed Aircraft Corp/Martin Marietta Corporation merger. Keeping track of the post-1990 whom merged with whom and when and what is the new name is a confusing task.

Was a War Hoover sailor VS28/CV62 81-85. Never understood why it was cut. A great versitatile bird.

As a 20 year Viking technician, this is one of the best documentary/reviews of what the MIGHTY Hoover was capable of. I miss being around such an iconic aircraft and miss even more the unique sound she made when airborne. Thank you for doing her justice.

Yes, this vid is about the Viking but I wanted to give a Shout Out to the amazing Tracker, that I have fond memories of operating. We kept them in Canuck service long past their "best before" date but they were so good at what they did (sub hunt +) and [Yanks wanted more for their Viks than we could afford for such a niche role], they still performed wonderfully, even from land bases. :)

Someone else said this below, but I also think right about now we could use a couple of these in the south China sea area. Also, this was the first 3d model I helped up-scale for Harpoon 4 a million years ago. Never knew so much about it until today though. I just remember being impressed with its beautiful curves. Fun times.

Worked on her from '91 - '95. VS-21. Great bird, great squadron, great people.

Awesome video. I didn’t know that this plane existed. Thank you.

Thanks for this I had an Esci 1/48 S-3A Viking plane 👍✈️

The E-2C Hawkeye would be a pretty cool vid! As always awesome content Simon and co. 🍻

Very informative. I enjoyed the video.

I was in VS-24 when the last S2's left and we received our S3-A's. It was a great aircraft and we soon deployed it to the USS Nimitz. What a time.

Have a friend who did 100 "traps" in a Viking. He was also the air boss of the Big E. If you watch Smithsonian "Carrier at war- USS Enterprise", he is in it.

LTV: That's Link Temco Vought, later shortened to Vought. In the 60's and 70's Link was also for building training equipment, IIRC.

Eye in the sky always cool

As a former crewman and instructor in the Viking. I thought it was a great video. Really enjoy MegaProjects. Thank you Simon! A few details were incorrect. But overall a superb video.

I’d love to see you do an in depth video on the F-20 ‘Tigershark’. According to many, an outstanding fighter developed from the F-5 Tiger. It was so good that it gave the F-16 a run for its money.

I can see where Battlestar Galactica (the 2004 series) got their inspiration from for the Raptor

Thanks Simon.

Yay the Viking

Spectacular as always Simon

Good vlog. Thanks!

My older brother served aboard the USS Independence (CV62) in their ASW squadron, as an electronics tech, when an S3 was lost due to mechanical failure, I believe. At that time it was the only occasion all four crewmembers successfully ejected from a Viking. I think this was during operation Urgent Fury, the liberation of Granada.

Some of my observations of the S3. TF34 engines are the same as those that power the A-10 "Warthog". All the "Black Boxes" were painted Beige, don't know if that's a Lockheed thing or not as boxes out of other aircraft I worked with were Black or a shade of Gray. In the early 70's the computerized repair stations for the electronic boxes ran on tape, not magnetic tape but paper tape and the repair stations themselves were huge things the length of a living room. Really old tech stuff here. But everyone remembers the sound of the engines spooling up and hence the "Hoover" nickname.

I started in the Navy working on S3A. Then we got S3B. Then I went on to work on the new ES3A. All interesting aircraft.

VS-33 Screwbird AT here. Loved my time with the WarHoover!

I worked as an electronic technician on their avionics for 9 years 1985 1999, the flight director computer "FDC" mostly, "MAD" mode magnetic anomaly detection mode was insane. Trust me, I would have not wanted to be that pilot when that was engaged. Still proud to be part of that part of history.

I was aboard USS Nimitz CVN-68 during the Iranian hostage grab in 1979/80. I remember the S-3 as a fantastic supply plane. They regularly made runs to Diego Garcia and brought back all manner of goodies. This included tropical fish for the ship's aquarium, yes, we had a fish tank by the mess deck maintained by volunteers, including me, for the entertainment of the crew. The Carrier Onboard Delivery (COD) version was also great. The C-1 version of the Tracker, was deemed a hazard due to using high octane gasoline vs JP5. The C-3 did not replace the C-2 Greyhound which is still operating with the fleet. I agree that the Osprey variant is no where as useful as the Greyhound or Viking. Just as the F-18 Lawndart is a poor air to air refueling aircraft.

VS-31 worked on the avionics on the S-3A when they were brand new. It was a great plane.

S-3 VIKING and A-5 VIGILANTE two of the navys most beautiful aircraft that never got the chance to perform their designed mission .

1:14 - HE'S DONE IT AGAIN - That's an A6 Intruder, not a Viking. This is like when they showed a B25 instead of a P38 for that video.

Since you seem to be on a bit of a fighter kick the past couple of months two fighters you might be interested in looking at if for nothing than personal interest would be the F-111 Aardvark which pioneered most of the technologies that went into the legendary F-14. The other is the absolutely absurd F-104 Starfighter also known as "The missiles with a man in it." Holding simultaneous world records for airspeed, altitude, and time-to-climb in 1958.

Had about 12 of these from the Matchbox sets when I was like 6..... not as Iconic as an A10 or F16, but still an Iconic bird

I was ASW Officer on a destroyer in the Mediterranean summer of '80, and worked with S-3s a lot. Interesting hearing the stories of the platform working well, because our experience was the opposite. We'd frequently have an S-3 check in with us with none of their sensor systems working. We'd just have them do a visual search, because at least the aircrew's eyeballs were online. Supposedly, the systems were checked and operational prior to launch, but the stress of the cat shot caused the malfunctions. Electronics on a carrier aircraft that can't handle the cat shot? :(

I've always loved that ridiculously large vertical stabilizer.

umm... is it me or did they misspelled the “dynamics” in General Dynamics? also fun fact, the S-3 Viking share the same turbofans as the A-10 Warthog...

Love your Channel Simon....

what a cool looking plane love the wings

Hey! - That C2 Greyhound was landing on USS Lexington! I served on Lady Lex from 89-91.

I love the say that “General Dynamics” is misspelled.

I got to ride the Greyhound ticket. The aircraft carrier catapult is one hell of a ride.

The “secret weapon “ of the S3 and P3 aircraft were if memory serves, the “Monkey Senior” data relay and sonobouys which were expelled through the holes in the bottom of the fuselage. The only US nuclear sub that I ever tracked and identified was a lucky channel assigned by an S3 that dropped the sonobouy practically on top of the contact during an Orange/Blue forces exercise. I suspect my antique AN/SQS-54B LAVA set was at it’s very best that day, mo too. Thanks! That was a fun video to watch.

I could be wrong but I think it's General Dynamics, not Dinamics.