EKA-3 "Whale"
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Thread: EKA-3 "Whale"

  1. #1

    EKA-3 "Whale"

    has the alphasim EKA-3 Skywarior "Whale" gone to freeware, and if it has where can i find it?
    "Thats some of the best flying I have ever seen, upto the point that your dead, Never ever leave your wingman!"......Jester, Top Gun

  2. #2
    I assume the current Virtavia package is the one you're looking for, it's still payware but not a bad deal for $20...
    https://www.fspilotshop.com/virtavia...sx-p-3048.html

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by TARPSBird View Post
    I assume the current Virtavia package is the one you're looking for, it's still payware but not a bad deal for $20...
    https://www.fspilotshop.com/virtavia...sx-p-3048.html
    Purchased..and it was a good one to get....
    "Thats some of the best flying I have ever seen, upto the point that your dead, Never ever leave your wingman!"......Jester, Top Gun

  4. #4
    All Alphasim / Virtavia freeware here --> http://www.virtavia.com/Freeware/

    ttfn

    Pete

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by TARPSBird View Post
    I assume the current Virtavia package is the one you're looking for, it's still payware but not a bad deal for $20...
    https://www.fspilotshop.com/virtavia...sx-p-3048.html
    Is this one identical to the Steam Edition B-66 package?
    https://www.fspilotshop.com/virtavia...ge-p-5583.html

    Plus there is also this one: https://www.fspilotshop.com/virtavia...sx-p-6274.html

    Prices are different probalbly because the Steam edition has only one model but the quality of that model seems much higher. Of course only the one in your post is FS2004 compatible.

  6. #6
    The Navy A-3 Series (A-3A, A-3B, RA-3B, EA-3B, TA-3B, KA-3B and EKA-3B) are very different from the B-66, even though their general layout is similar. Make no mistake about it, if you want any A-3, get the Virtavia payware for a good value. The freeware Alpha is not bad, but the payware is an improvement. The B-66 is NOT going to be even close to an A-3, if that is what you want.

    Retired Naval Aviator/ "Whale" qualified

  7. #7
    SOH-CM-2024 Mick's Avatar
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    The then-AlphaSims FS9 A-3 / A3D Skywarrior is freeware now, and has been for quite some time.

    It's on the Virtavla freeware page:


    http://www.virtavia.com/Freeware/index.php

    If they still have a payware Whale, my guess is that it must be an FSX version.

    As Mike71 said, the B-66 is a different airplane. It was conceptually derived from the A3D, but by the time it was finished about all that remained of the A3D was the general layout and a family resemblance - as long as you don't look too closely. But if you're interested, it's also on the freeware page. The Whale is near the top of the list, as it's listed as the Alpha A-3, while the B-33 is near the bottom, being listed as the Virtavia B-66.

    .

  8. #8
    There is a payware version out for the FS9 A-3/A-3D Skywarrior under the Virtavia name. It has a newer panel layout with newer gauges and the paints that come with it are AWESOME. Worth the $20 bucks or so, featured in the FS Pilot Shop under Virtavia. I flew the freeware version for a while but purchased the payware model some time ago. It's a vast improvement.

    BB686
    "El gato que camina como hombre" -- The cat that walks like a man

  9. #9
    SOH-CM-2024 Mick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Blackbird686 View Post
    There is a payware version out for the FS9 A-3/A-3D Skywarrior under the Virtavia name. It has a newer panel layout with newer gauges and the paints that come with it are AWESOME. Worth the $20 bucks or so, featured in the FS Pilot Shop under Virtavia. I flew the freeware version for a while but purchased the payware model some time ago. It's a vast improvement.
    BB686
    I see! I had no idea that they'd re-done the Whale.

  10. #10
    Agree - the re-done A-3 panel and textures are a BIG improvement. I have both, the old Alpha one went to the boneyard less some performance and panel improvements I had made. The Virtavia is a winner.

    One big but not quickly obvious difference is that the B-66 had ejection seats - the Whales didn't. Getting 3 (or even 7 in an EA-3B) crew out of a Whale at low altitude was pretty much impossible. The RA/TA/EK-3Bs had a side fuselage door for the crew in the rear fuselage.

  11. #11
    Why is it called a Whale?

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Sascha66 View Post
    Why is it called a Whale?
    Because it was HUGE (for a carrier aircraft) and didn't look too gainly.

  13. #13
    SOH-CM-2024 Mick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike71 View Post
    ...One big but not quickly obvious difference is that the B-66 had ejection seats - the Whales didn't. Getting 3 (or even 7 in an EA-3B) crew out of a Whale at low altitude was pretty much impossible. The RA/TA/EK-3Bs had a side fuselage door for the crew in the rear fuselage.

    Yeah, the joke was that the original designation, A3D, stood for All Three Dead.

  14. #14
    I purchased the Whale, and i don't regret it. Though taking it off the deck of an Essex class carrier is just absolutely unbelievable but i love doing it...

    My granddad was involved in the testing of the Whale over at Pax River.
    "Thats some of the best flying I have ever seen, upto the point that your dead, Never ever leave your wingman!"......Jester, Top Gun

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mick View Post

    Yeah, the joke was that the original designation, A3D, stood for All Three Dead.
    I had a friend who was an FE on P-3s and crewed A-3s before that, he told me that the nose gear had a propensity to come up through the FE's seat during uncontrolled landings.

    Sean

  16. #16
    The A-3 series had no FE; they had a pilot, one set of controls, a Bombardier/Navigator (Navy "NFO") in the right seat, and a rear facing enlisted crewman behind the pilot. originally the 3rd seater operated the rear gun turret remotely, but when they were removed, he acted as an ECM operator and general aircrewman (folding up the drag chute after landing on an airfield, servicing the plane when necessary, etc). The enlisted aircrewman were typically E-4s or E-5s with ratings of ADJ , AE or AMH typically.

    Whales had a high accident rate aboard ship, but in my opinion they were not well understood in the Carrier community, whose pilots all were flying smaller more nimble airplanes like F-8s, A-4s, F-4s, A-7s, etc. Also, young pilots sent to A-3s would tend to dive for the deck at the last moment to avoid a bolter, and it put heavy stresses on the forward fuselage. If you look closely at the forward fuselage of many A-3s, you can see what appears to be wrinkled skin - which it is! These were caused by high downward bending loads during heavy cat shots, where the bridle attachment hooks were well aft on the bottom of the fuselage, and pulled downward between the main and nose landing gear, causing this bending stress during a shot, as well as simple longitudinal stresses.

    I checked out in the KA-3B and RA-3B as a test pilot at Pax River in the 70's. I was pretty senior and experienced, and really learned to like the plane in general, but could well understand the problems it could have aboard ship - ESPECIALLY the small converted ESSEX Class that still populated the fleet up into the mid 70s. I also enjoyed flying with the small cadre of enlisted aircrewmen we had to fly in, and help maintain, them at NATC. We had a sort of "Whale Flying Club", and were pretty proud of it.

    Although I had flown many types of planes with many different types of engines, I really liked the reliability, response, and yes - the sound - of the J-57 engine.

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike71 View Post
    The A-3 series had no FE; they had a pilot, one set of controls, a Bombardier/Navigator (Navy "NFO") in the right seat, and a rear facing enlisted crewman behind the pilot. originally the 3rd seater operated the rear gun turret remotely, but when they were removed, he acted as an ECM operator and general aircrewman (folding up the drag chute after landing on an airfield, servicing the plane when necessary, etc.

    Whales had a high accident rate aboard ship, but in my opinion they were not well understood in the Carrier community, whose pilots all were flying smaller more nimble airplanes like F-8s, A-4s, F-4s, A-7s, etc. Also, young pilots sent to A-3s would tend to dive for the deck at the last moment to avoid a bolter, and it put heavy stresses on the forward fuselage. If you look closely at the forward fuselage of many A-3s, you can see what appears to be wrinkled skin - which it is! These were caused by high downward bending loads during heavy cat shots, where the bridle attachment hooks were well aft on the bottom of the fuselage, and pulled downward between the main and nose landing gear, causing this bending stress during a shot, as well as simple longitudinal stresses.

    I checked out in the KA-3B and RA-3B as a test pilot at Pax River in the 70's. I was pretty senior and experienced, and really learned to like the plane in general, but could well understand the problems it could have aboard ship - ESPECIALLY the small converted ESSEX Class that still populated the fleet up into the mid 70s. I also enjoyed flying with the small cadre of enlisted aircrewman we had to fly in, and help maintain them, at NATC. We had a sort of "Whale Flying Club", and were pretty proud of it.

    Although I had flown many types of planes with many different types of engines, I really liked the reliability, response, and yes - the sound - of the J-57 engine.

    You are correct, I miss-spoke (typed?) that it was an FE seat. My experience was in P-3s so my mind just sort of went there. When I was at Pt. Mugu, there was a VAQ? unit next to us flying A-3s Would that of been EA-3 of some sort?

    Sean

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    From having experienced it personally, I found AF B/EB-66 aircraft were absolute SCREAMERS on the ground - probably the loudest bird we had in the inventory with the possible exception of the A/T-37.

    A high-school classmate had his brother visit us in the NJROTC class I was in back in 1970. His bro was an A-3 enlisted aircrewman who had a few interesting stories to tell us about carrier ops in general and with that bird in particular. I remember him commenting on the lack of ejection seats, which was a virtual death sentence for the crew at low/zero altitude. His fears were borne out about a year later. He was killed in the A-3 he was flying in when it suffered a dual engine failure at only a few hundred feet following takeoff at, I think, Alameda NAS, CA.

  19. #19
    VAQ was EA-3Bs - electronic snoopers. They sent dets to various Carriers. VAP was heavy photo, with RA-3Bs. VAK was converted A-3Bs to KA-3Bs and later EKA-3Bs. Again, tailored dets to deployed Carriers were the standard ops method in those days, after the pure bombers went away as the A-6 came into the fleet.

  20. #20

    Whales

    I flew with some spooks that had some time (previously) in the whales. They would say that if it wasn't leaking hydraulic fluid, don't get in it - that means it was empty.

    hazegraystudios.net

  21. #21
    Pretty much spot on! I recall the size of the reservoirs - looked like 55 gal drums as I recall --

  22. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike71 View Post
    VAQ was EA-3Bs - electronic snoopers. They sent dets to various Carriers. VAP was heavy photo, with RA-3Bs. VAK was converted A-3Bs to KA-3Bs and later EKA-3Bs. Again, tailored dets to deployed Carriers were the standard ops method in those days, after the pure bombers went away as the A-6 came into the fleet.

    If I remember correctly they flew missile profiles against surface ships. They pretended to be cruise missiles or something like that.

    Sean

  23. #23
    The EA-3B was an electronic signals collector. However, I think some VC and VX squadrons used them, with A-4s flying wing on each side, to fly anti-ship attacks for training of ship Combat Systems crews. At a certain distance and altitude, the A-4s would accelerate out toward the ship simulating dual cruise missiles, while the Whale turned back - simulating Russian BEAR and BADGER tactics of the time. Russia had a significant anti-naval air force arm in my day. I joined up on more than a few snoopers as they roamed around battle groups in the North Atlantic, Med and Pacific rim. The BEAR had unreal range and endurance, but of course somewhat slow.

  24. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by Ripcord View Post
    I flew with some spooks that had some time (previously) in the whales. They would say that if it wasn't leaking hydraulic fluid, don't get in it - that means it was empty.
    God's truth there, LOL... same thing with the F-8's. John Massey, our Maintenance Master Chief in VFP-63, always carried one of those red shop rags in his pocket to wipe leaking hydraulic fluid off the jets as he traveled around the hangar and flight line. An A-3 "in the groove" would always cause the flight deck personnel to perk up and move away from the landing foul line, especially on the Essex class carriers. That was a big jet to be operating on those smaller decks.

  25. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by jackryan172 View Post
    You are correct, I miss-spoke (typed?) that it was an FE seat. My experience was in P-3s so my mind just sort of went there. When I was at Pt. Mugu, there was a VAQ? unit next to us flying A-3s Would that of been EA-3 of some sort?

    Sean
    Having been born and raised in Camarillo the final approach pattern for PMTC(Pt.Mugu) was right over my house and to this day I miss watching VAQ-34's Whales screaming overhead.They also flew two-seat A-7s.Sadly VAQ-34 is no more along with VX-4.

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