North American AJ Savage
The North American AJ Savage (later A-2 Savage) was a U.S Navy carrier-based medium bomber built by North American Aviation. It was designed shortly after World War II to carry atomic bombs. To do this, it needed a 12,000-pound (5,400 kg) bomb load, making it the heaviest aircraft yet built to operate from a carrier. The Savage was powered by two piston engines and a turbojet mounted in the rear fuselage. The AJ-1 entered service in 1950. Several were deployed to South Korea in 1953 as a deterrent against North Korea. A total of 140 aircraft were built, along with three prototypes. Thirty were configured for reconnaissance. In the mid-1950s, inflight-refueling equipment was added. The Savage began to be replaced in 1957 by the Douglas A3D Skywarrior. After its military career, it was used for experiments such microgravity flights and jet engine testing.
Summary from Wikipedia, photo via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA.
- Manufacturer
- North American Aviation
- Category
- Attack aircraft
- Country of origin
- United States
- First flight
- 1948-07-03
Specifications
- Cruise speed
- 400 kt
- Max speed
- 409 kt
- Range
- 1,504 nm
- Service ceiling
- 40,800 ft
- Rate of climb
- 2,900 ft/min
- Max takeoff weight
- 50,954 lb
- Empty weight
- 27,558 lb
- Fuel capacity
- 300 US gal
- Powerplant
- 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-2800-44W Double Wasp, 1 × Allison J33-A-10 turbojet
- Engines
- 3
- Seats
- 3
- Length
- 63 ft
- Wingspan
- 71 ft
- Height
- 21 ft
- Number built
- 143
Specifications are approximate and may vary by variant. Compiled from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Reference and training only. Specifications vary by variant — consult the manufacturer and the official documents.