This is a brand new DVD, released during this year's Atlanta IPMS Convention and covers the A3J/RA-5C Vigilante. A most timely release, following the two kits from Trumpeter. This is the third Rocket  Aero release and from what I was told, they plan on doing about 3 releases a year.

What you get is a well done DVD that has been divided into three sections. One is on Proceedures (as in Navy training film stuff), one is on Operations, and the third is a selection of Photos which takes you through a slide show of stills from the various movies that are included in the package. I might suggest that it may not be a bad idea to try to incorporate actual still images into this section as there are a lot of nice Viggie images out there and they can be presented in better resolution than those taken from movies. There are separate still sections on both the A-5A and RA-5C parts.

The meat of the DVD for me is the Operations section. Here you will find both black & white and color footage of the Vigilanted, including an excellent section in color of the A-5A operating aboard the USS Enterprise. In the RA-5C section is color footage of this and other aircraft operations, including a few camouflaged Viggies.

Hidden within the DVD is the ability to access footage of the 1965 Forrestall fire. This is low resolution and runs about 15 minutes. In it the Vigilante is quite prominent. I only wish there was a bit more as I wanted to see how they eventually got a damaged RA-5C over the side!

Overall, this is an outstanding DVD. It has very good repeat watching value and is something I most highly recommend.

August 2005

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