At the height of the Cold War, the Soviet Union fielded a formidable navy—both above and below the surface. In response, the United States Navy required a carrierbased, fixedwing aircraft with long onstation time and a formidable airtosurface and subsurface avionics sweet and weapons capability. The result was the twinturbofan, highwing Lockheed Martin S3 Viking.

On this episode, retired US Navy Commander David “Deke” Slayton joins us to discuss S3 variants, which weapons it can carry, why it looks the way it does, and much more. And turns out, Deke was an S3 instructor when cohost Sunshine received his initial fleet training in the Viking—an aircraft he would fly before later transitioning to the F/A18 Hornet.

During the listener question segment, we dig a little deeper into the Mutha trophy, discuss the purpose of exchange programs, talk about the relevance of a gun on combat fighters, stereotypes for military pilots, the need to selfassess before flight, and brushes with death.

Check out Wings Over America and support scholarships for military dependents.
https://wingsoveramerica.us/

To compliment the interview, click here to order Brad Elward’s authoritative book, S3 Viking in Action.
https://amzn.to/2D1M56g

Episode artwork by Janek Krause. Bumper music by Jaime Lopez.