@ Estrella Warbird Museum, Paso Robles, CA
August 2017
The Douglas A-3 Skywarrior was among the longest serving carrier-based aircraft in history, entering service in the mid-1950s and finally retired in 1991. The early A-3 variants had a crew of three with the pilot and bombardier/navigator seated in a side-by-side arrangement with the pilot having full flight controls. Efforts to reduce weight led to the deletion of ejection seats during the design process for the Skywarrior, based on the assumption that most flights would be at high altitude. Aircrews began joking morbidly that “A3D” stood for “All Three Dead”. Nikon D500 w/Tokina 10-16mm, processed with Aperture and Aurora HDR.
