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The North American AJ Savage (later A-2 Savage) was a carrier-based medium bomber built for the United States Navy by North American Aviation. The aircraft was designed shortly after World War II to carry atomic bombs and this meant that the bomber was the heaviest aircraft thus far designed to operate from an aircraft carrier. It was powered by two piston engines and a turbojet buried in the rear fuselage. The AJ-1 first became operational in 1950 and several were based in South Korea during 1953 as a deterrent against the Communists. Of the 140 built, plus three prototypes, 30 were reconnaissance aircraft. Inflight-refueling equipment was deployed on the Savage in the mid-1950s. The bomber was replaced by the Douglas A3D Skywarrior beginning in 1957. ==Design and development== At the end of World War II, the U.S. Navy began a design competition on 13 August 1945 for a carrier-based bomber which could carry a bomb that was won by North American Aviation. Later that year, the Navy decided that it needed to be able to deliver atomic bombs and that the AJ Savage design would be modified to accommodate the latest Mark 4 nuclear bomb. A contract for three XAJ-1 prototypes and a static test airframe was awarded on 24 June 1946. The first prototype made its maiden flight two years later on 3 July 1948.〔Ginter 1992, pp. 3, 5.〕 The AJ-1 was a three-seat, high-wing monoplane with tricycle landing gear. To facilitate carrier operations, the outer wing panels and the tailfin could be manually folded.〔Ginter 1992, pp. 5, 7, 38.〕 It was fitted with two Pratt & Whitney R-2800-44W Double Wasp piston engines, mounted in nacelles under each wing with a large turbocharger fitted inside each engine nacelle, and a Allison J33-A-10 turbojet was fitted in the rear fuselage.〔 Only intended to be used for takeoff and maximum speed near the target,〔Johnson 2000, p. 343.〕 the jet was fed by an air inlet on top of the fuselage that was normally kept closed to reduce drag.〔Ginter 1992, p. 30.〕 To simplify the fuel system, both types of engines used the same grade of avgas. One self-sealing fuel tank was housed in the fuselage, and another tank was located in each wing. The aircraft usually carried tip tanks and it could house three fuel tanks in the bomb bay with a total capacity of . Other than its bombload, the bomber was unarmed.〔 Two of the three prototypes crashed during testing, but their loss did not materially affect the development of the aircraft as the first batch of Savages had been ordered on 6 October 1947. The most significant difference between the XAJ-1 and the production aircraft was the revision of the cockpit to accommodate a third crewman in a separate compartment. The first flight by a production aircraft occurred in May 1949 and Fleet Composite Squadron FIVE (VC-5) became the first squadron to receive a Savage in September.〔Ginter 1992, pp. 5, 7, 25, 75.〕 The squadron participated in testing and evaluating the aircraft together with the Naval Air Test Center (NATC) in order to expedite the Savage's introduction into the fleet.〔Miller 2001, p. 94〕 The first carrier takeoff and landing made by the bomber took place from the on 21 April and 31 August 1950, respectively. Many, if not most, surviving AJ-1s had their tails upgraded to the improved AJ-2 configuration.〔Ginter 1992, pp. 7, 11–12.〕 A photo-reconnaissance version of the Savage, initially known as the AJ-1P, but later designated as the AJ-2P, was ordered on 18 August 1950. It had improved R-2800-48 piston engines and the tail was redesigned to add of height to the tailfin. The 12° dihedral of the tail stabilizers was eliminated and the rudder enlarged which slightly lengthened the aircraft. Early AJ-2Ps retained the three-man crew, but late-model aircraft added a fourth crewman to the upper cockpit facing aft. The Savage's internal fuel capacity was also increased. The nose of the aircraft was remodeled with a prominent "chin" to accommodate a forward-looking oblique camera and a variety of oblique and vertical cameras could be fitted in the bomb bay. Photo-flash bombs could be carried for night photography missions.〔Ginter 1992, pp. 11, 43, 46, 48–53.〕 The AJ-2 incorporated all of the changes made to the late model AJ-2P and 55 aircraft were ordered on 14 February 1951. The AJ-2 deleted the separate compartment for the third crewman, but retained the third seat in the cockpit from the AJ-2P.〔Ginter 1992, p. 12.〕 Around 1954, NATC modified the sole surviving XAJ-1 to conduct inflight refueling tests using the probe and drogue configuration. The turbojet engine was removed and the fuel hose and its drogue extended out from the jet's former exhaust opening. Aircraft in service retained the turbojet and had their bomb bay doors modified to accommodate the hose and drogue. They were refueling aircraft during late 1954.〔Ginter 1992, p. 59, 75, 85.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「North American AJ Savage」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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