laststandonzombieisland

The Lockheed L-188 Electra airliner made its first flight on 6 December 1957, and within two years, a variant pitched to the Navy as an armed maritime patrol aircraft joined it. Soon to be accepted as the P-3 Orion, the first of 757 production models rolled off the assembly line in April 1961. Ironically, just 170 Electras were made, with its military sister much more prolific.

Now, an extremely respectable 65 years later, one of the last of the Navy’s handful of operational Orions, BuNo 158912, the sole NP-3C of the “Warlocks” of Scientific Development Squadron ONE (VXS-1) out of Pax River, tasked with supporting the Naval Research Laboratory, has flown into the sunset.

She was the last Atlantic Orion, with the service’s final trio of birds flying with the VX-30 “Bloodhounds” at NBVC Point Mugu. VQ-1 got out of the Orion game last year.

Lockheed Orion BuNo 158912 (MSN 285A-5584) was born as a P-3C-145-LO and accepted by the Navy on June 28, 1973, serving with the NATC. She was later converted to the P-3C-III standard in July 1991 with VX-1, then re-rated as a NP-3C in May 2013 with VXS-1.

As noted by VXS-1 on social media:

While most know the P-3 for hunting submarines during the Cold War, VXS-1’s own NP-3C flew a different but equally demanding mission set. Outfitted with specialized equipment for the Naval Research Laboratory, she supported Project Perseus in Iraq with Task Force ODIN hunting IEDs, conducted aerogeophysical mapping in Afghanistan, performed critical “Red Force” testing with PMA-226, and flew into hurricanes Idalia and Francine to track their fury.

Born from the Lockheed Electra airliner, this rugged, loud, and tireless bird became the backbone of Navy maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare. Its unmistakable MAD boom, long endurance, and the distinct sound of those four Allison engines (and that screaming APU) will be missed by everyone who ever flew, fixed, or supported her.

And as that familiar whine of the APU finally falls silent, we send our Orion off with this final poem:

There once was a mighty P-3,
Whose props spun for decades at sea.
Now the sun’s going down
On this old sub-hunter’s crown,
As the Orion flies off into history.
Fair winds and following seas, old girl.
You’ve earned your rest.

Who’s left?

This just leaves three with VX-30 in the Navy’s inventory: BuNos 150521 (a 1963 vintage NP-3D, originally a P-3A), 162999 (1987 vintage P-3C AIP+), and 163291 (1989 vintage P-3C AIP+ ARTR).

NOAA also has two 50-year-old WP-3D Orions, the famed N42RF (BuNo 159773) “Kermit” and N43RF (BuNo 159875) “Miss Piggy” hurricane hunters.

NASA has a sole P-3B (BuNo 152735, N426NA) airborne laboratory based out of Wallops, while DHS has its own fleet of 16 assorted P-3 LRTs and P-3 AEWs, which have been very busy in interdiction work in the Eastern Pacific.

Air Spray and Buffalo Airways are still operating a baker’s dozen L-188 Electra cargo and firefighting planes in Canada and the U.S.

Then, of course, there are over 150 P-3s in operation (and probably at least that many in storage) with a dozen militaries around the world, a flexible figure depending on how you count the airframes with the IRIAF left over from the Shah’s era.