This latest CD from Aero Research is the first time they have featured the S-3 Viking. I found this compilation to be quite interesting, especially as I was personally associated with the aircraft for many years durint my Navy career. I thought I knew all of the various schemes and markings carried by the plane, but was surprised to see a few I did not recognize, though some were after I retired.

As with other CDs in this series, an effort was made to cover all of the various schemes and markings carried by the S-3 during its career. This starts with the prototype and through VX-1. Many of the images came from NAS Fallon and these are interesting as they show the plane carrying ordnance on the wing pylons, something one rarely saw in normal unit service.

In all there are 151 images covering 265 megabytes of data on a single disc. It is the perfect reference for modelers who are interested in either ensuring their markings are accurate or are looking for something a bit out of the ordinary. I found one error and that is with a VS-33 image. This is the US-3A as it is carrying a blivet and has no wing tip pods. These aircraft were farmed out to deployed Viking squadrons until they were combined into VRC-50, for which this disc has no images. I also noticed that there were no VRC-50 US-3A images. To take care of that omission, here is a 'Miss Piggy' I photographed landing at Diego Garcia in 1986.

In all, it is a fine selection of images and just what the USN modeler will want to have when tackling this aircraft.

 You can get more information by visiting www.aeroresearchcds.com.

Thanks to Aero Research for the review CD.

August 2013

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