North American XA2J-1 "Super Savage "

elmayerle

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XA2J-1 was yet another aircraft killed by the unreliability of the T40 engine. One wonders what converting it to a swept wing and pure jet engines would have produced and if NAA ever looked at this.
 
I imagine in that configuration, it would've been a lot like Douglas' A3D.


elmayerle said:
XA2J-1 was yet another aircraft killed by the unreliability of the T40 engine. One wonders what converting it to a swept wing and pure jet engines would have produced and if NAA ever looked at this.
 
Although it was mentioned on a few occasions on this forum (see above), it is about time this fascinating aircraft got a topic of its own...

Developed under NA-158, the so-called « Super Savage » (also found as the « Turbine Savage » or « Turbo Savage ») was built and flown in 1952 as the NA-163. It received U.S. Navy BuAer numbers 124439/124440.

Pictures of this rare bird are hard to come by!
 

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Could the Super Savage have been profitably adapted to an AWACS role? ASW? Assuming some powerplant solution was found, of course.
 
NAA factory proposal model of the A2J-1 Turboprop Savage, showing the later, production cockpit glass configuration (per Tailspin Turtle).
 

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circle-5 said:
NAA factory proposal model of the XA2J-1 Turboprop Savage, showing early cockpit glass arrangement.
Actually, that may be closer to the production airplane cockpit than the prototype's, which had a jettisonable canopy and ejection seats because of an AJ-1 crash in flight test that killed the crew. The production cockpit was similar to the A3D's, including the slide.
 

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NAA factory models of AJ-1 Savage (in blue) and XA2J-1 prototype, showing the early cockpit configuration, as described in the previous post.
 

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Stargazer2006 said:
Although it was mentioned on a few occasions on this forum (see above), it is about time this fascinating aircraft got a topic of its own...

Agree!!!!

Regards
Pioneer
 
Madurai said:
Could the Super Savage have been profitably adapted to an AWACS role? ASW? Assuming some powerplant solution was found, of course.

Interesting!!!!!

Something for the 'What If' artists!! (hint hint ;) )

Regards
Pioneer
 
More photos of the North American XA2J-1, in flight. I believe the last mission of this aircraft was to be fire-bombed for public entertainment at an Edwards AFB open-house.
 

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Love that plane. IIRC it's in one of the Secret Projects books.
 
North American AJ concept photo circa 1949 found on eBay. Super Savage?

URL:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Off-North-American-Aircraft-Photo-USN-XA3J-1-Vigilante-Artist-Concept-1959-2-/251136206608?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a78e26710
 

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The original A2J very closely resembled the AJ Savage, only with turboprops plus the jet engine rather than reciprocating engines plus the jet engine. The next iteration had a cockpit well forward, with the pilot seated by himself and the bombardier and third crewman sitting side-by-side behind him. This was the configuration at the September 1948 mockup review. By April 1949, the aircraft had acquired a tail turret. This came in two flavors: one with the pilot still sitting forward by himself with the crew sitting behind and below him and the other with side-by-side seating for the pilot and bombardier under what appears to be a sliding canopy. The final version, which was built and flown, deleted the jet engine and retained the side-by-side seating.
 

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Apparently the guy was told about the mistake. He changed the title and caption in his eBay page (but accidentally left the "V" from Vigilante, so it's now a "North American Aviation/ US Navy XA2J-1 V." Ah well... ::)
 
Vintage Airplane Photograph
North American Aviation/ US Navy XA2J-1 V inflight artist concept photos. This is marked "Confidential with the artist signature and dated 1949.
 
nugo said:

Nice find my friend!
It looks so much 'cleaner' aerodynamically than that of the actual XA2J-1!
Is this the way in which the actual production Super Savage was supposed to have looked, as apposed to the prototype??

Regards
Pioneer
 
Good Day All -

On EPay at the moment is this AJ-2P model.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NORTH-AMERICAN-AVIATION-AJ-2P-SAVAGE-FACTORY-IN-HOUSE-US-NAVY-DESK-DISPLAY-MODEL-/400912394993?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d583daaf1

Seems a bit plain finish wise or someone started to restore it...

Enjoy the Day! Mark
 

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A few more A2J Development Design Study slides from NARA II RG402 to add to your knowledge and enjoyment

bill
 

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The above slides from Bill S show the XA2J-2 which was created in response to the request from BuAer to create an all ground attack aircraft. It is entirely different from the XA2J-1 flown by Bob Baker of NAA. This -1 was delayed over a year due to engine development problems (XT40) but there were other reasons for its cancellation. The following are excepts from the history of the aircraft for the “Preparedness Investigative Subcommittee” headed by Lydon Johnson, written by BuAer Lee M Pearson and signed by R.N.Dixon dated 17 Dec, 1957:

“Mock-ups of the revised XA2J-1 and the XA3D-1 designs were held concurrently 12-22 September 1949.”

“While the two designs were undergoing development and the airframes were being constructed, the Navy, as part of the three-fold expansion in naval aircraft procurement which followed the outbreak of the Korean Conflict, found it necessary to procure a limited number of high performance heavy attack aircraft. This meant that a selection had to be made between the A2J and the A3D, even though neither aircraft had flown.

“For various reasons, the A3D was selected for production rather than the A2J. Subsequently, the A3D was determined to meet all essential requirements for a heavy atttack aircraft and the XA2J contract was terminated.”

“Important in this determination was a decision first publicly announced in April, 1952, after tests held in January-March, 1952, that steam catapults would be adapted for use on U.S. aircraft carriers. When such catapults were installed in smaller carriers, limitations involved in operating A3D’s from them would be considerably relaxed.”
 
It would have needed T-56s... but then again, Skywarrior made it perfectly unuseful. And Tracker, too.
 
Somewhere between August 2019 and today, I lost my way on this topic. Sorry. Here is a set of A2J Development Model Photos to go with the files I previously posted in 2019.
 

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