One of the first squadrons to operate the S-3 back in the mid 1970s was VS-29; also one of the last to fly it. As with a lot of aircraft that were new when I was in the Navy, this one is reaching the end of its life span and is in the twilight of its years. Though starting as on-board ASW, that mission was taken away in the mid 1990s and all that expensive upgrade avionics was turned into million dollar scrap as the Viking lost it ASW team in the back and became little more than a tanker.

This particular sheet is from VS-29's CAG bird and may well be from a final cruise. I've not kept track of unit movements since retiring in 1993 so I'm not sure what the status of the unit is. The aircraft is in the overall FS 36320 scheme that is being used on S-3s and the sheet provides a complete set of stencils and other data markings. There is only one kit ever done of the S-3 in this scale and while it was originally an ESCI kit, it has been re-released in both AMT and Italeri boxes over the years. The kit is also an S-3A and though the external differences are small, these need to be taken care of if you want to do a proper S-3B.

February 2006

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