On 13 December 1960 an A-3J Vigilante crewed by naval aviator Commander Leroy Heath and bombardier-navigator Lieutenant Henry Monroe ascended to an altitude of 91,450.8 feet with a payload of 1,000 kilograms (2,402.62 pounds). The setting was overhead Edwards Air Force base in California and the official world record broke the previous record by the altitude of over 4 miles!
The Vigilante was originally designed as a strategic bomber for the Navy (It would be the last strategic Navy bomber). It was designed to fly a high altitude, supersonic speed attack profile and first flew in August 1958. Unfortunately the design for the linear bomb bay between the engines underneath the aircraft caused serious problems. Upon bomb jettison from the aircraft, the bomb packet tended to continue to draft the aircraft like a NASCAR race driver. No surprise here, no live weapons were ever dropped from the Viggie! Soon after its development, the Navy's Polaris missile program spelled the end for Navy strategic bombing and the Vigilante was adopted for the aerial reconnaissance role. During the Vietnam War, eighteen Vigilantes were lost in combat which was the highest loss rate of any Naval aircraft in the war. Eventually the high tech aircraft was phased out by the Navy from 1979-1980. One hundred and fifty-six Viggies were produced by North American Aircraft.
Watch this video on the Viggie!
