S-3 viking

[The Rat]

Always thought that this aircraft would look good, and perhaps become more versatile, with a fuselage extension, front and back. Thoughts? And if anyone wants to run with it and do such a model, be my guest.

[NARSES2]

Must admit it's always looked a little on the short side to me, as though someone in the Drawing Office (remember those) had folded the plans and nobody had noticed until it was far to late and anyway they were far to embarrassed to admit it 

[McColm]

I tend to lean towards the Boeing V-22 Osprey as they seem to look very similar from the front,  a possible kitbash in the making.

[zenrat]

You can also move the engines out to the position of the outer hsrdpoints.  Easy to do and IMHO likely to escape notice as it looks so normal.

ziking Ragnar  - 8 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

[PR19_Kit]

Absolutely! The Viking's always looked to me as if it had been put in a crusher BEFORE it left the factory! 

No doubt it had something to do with the size of the lifts on the carriers of the time though.

Longer wings wouldn't go amiss either..............

[Zero-Sen]

Always thought that this aircraft would look good, and perhaps become more versatile, with a fuselage extension, front and back. Thoughts?...

If I remember correctly Steven Lewis aka FAR148 worked on that idea...
https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=24579.msg359121#msg359121

[zenrat]

Always thought that this aircraft would look good, and perhaps become more versatile, with a fuselage extension, front and back. Thoughts?...

If I remember correctly Steven Lewis aka FAR148 worked on that idea...
https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=24579.msg359121#msg359121

Just looked at that.  It's before my time but it was, IMO looking really promising until he decided to build it with folded wings.  I don't think you can really appreciate an aircraft when its all folded up like that.

[Old Wombat]

Shelf space issues, probably.

[The Rat]

If I remember correctly Steven Lewis aka FAR148 worked on that idea...
https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=24579.msg359121#msg359121

Looks good. So far...

[jcf]

Unconstrained span proposal:

From here:
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19810020580/downloads/19810020580.pdf


Jens Baganz (Jemiba on Secret Projects) provisional drawing of the proposed KC-3 COD version,
based on limited published material.

[PR19_Kit]

I wonder how many wing folds an 'unconstrained span' Viking would need? Like a Gannet to the max! 

And that KC-3 would have made some sense, more so than the US-3 I reckon.

[sandiego89]

Agree with Kit and Wombat that carrier elevator, hangar deck and deck space were likely all factors in the pudgy result.  Spotting factor is a real issue, especially for carrier operations, as is weight.  Not the only aircraft that had size constraints put on it: Buccaneer was short and fat with the folding radome and speed brake, A-4 to fit the lift without wing fold, Sea Harrier nose radome, F-35B to fit the elevators, E-2 to fit and not cross the foul line, Sterling to fit the hangars (true?).....

The Viking in my opinion was retired too early from US Navy service.  Still lots of fatigue life left and they were a much better tanker than the Super Hornet, and their patrol capabilities were still useful, even if ASW had been shifted to other assets.       

[The Rat]

Agree with Kit and Wombat that carrier elevator, hangar deck and deck space were likely all factors in the pudgy result.

Which is why I made the comment about versatility. It could have been put to other uses by other services that didn't need to follow dimensional restrictions, and civilian operators. If it's built tough enough to pound itself onto a carrier deck, repeatedly for years, it could last a lot longer in other roles.

[Jesse220]

How about a Stealth Variant?

[sandiego89]

How about a Stealth Variant?

That would take a lot.  With that big slab sided fuselage and tail, podded engines, and exposed compressor sections of the engines happily spinning away, the Viking was decided non-stealthy.