Description

VX-6 Puckered Penguins (8320) 1964 C-130L Model

Fly again with the VX-6 Puckered Penguins in this handcrafted C-130BL Model circa 1964. Each piece is carved from wood and handpainted to provide a memorable showpiece!

• Length – 16 inches
• Wingspan – 21 inches
• Made from Mahogany
• US Veteran-Owned Business
• Official Licensed by Lockheed Martin
• The product is not intended to be used by children 12 years and younger

LOCKHEED MARTIN®, C-130 Hercules®, associated emblems and logos, and body designs of vehicles are either registered trademarks or
trademarks of Lockheed Martin Corporation in the USA and/or other jurisdictions, used under license by Squadron Nostalgia LLC

Air Development Squadron Six (VX-6 or AIRDEVRON SIX, commonly referred to by its nickname, “puckered penguins”) was a United States Navy Air Development Squadron based at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Established at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland on 17 January 1955, the squadron’s mission was to conduct operations in support of Operation Deep Freeze, the operational component of the United States Antarctic Program.

Using the tail code XD, the squadron flew numerous fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters over the course of its existence—many of which were pioneering endeavors. For example, the first air link between Antarctica and New Zealand was established by men and aircraft of VX-6 in 1955. The following year, a ski-equipped R4D Dakota of VX-6 became the first aircraft to land at the South Pole. In 1961, the first emergency midwinter medical evacuation flight was conducted from Byrd Station to Christchurch. In 1963, an LC-130F Hercules of VX-6 made the longest flight in Antarctic history. In 1967, a United States Navy LC-130F of VX-6 completed the first scheduled winter flight to Antarctica, landing at Williams Field.

VX-6 changed the tail code of its aircraft to JD in 1957, and was redesignated as Antarctic Development Squadron Six (VXE-6) on 1 January 1969. Over the first 14-years of its existence during the time it was designated VX-6, seventeen sailors and marines assigned died in Antarctica during Operation Deep Freeze missions.

History
VX-6 traces its roots to Operation Highjump (1946–1947), the fourth Antarctic expedition conducted by United States Navy Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd. That expedition set out in December 1946 to conduct an extensive aerial survey of Antarctica, using Martin PBM Mariners based in the pack ice of the Ross Sea, as well as land-based R4D Dakotas (Dakota, from the acronym “DACoTA” for Douglas Aircraft Company Transport Aircraft, was the designation used by the United States Navy to refer to the Douglas C-47 Skytrain). By the time Operation Highjump was concluded in late February 1947, the team had mapped about 5,500 miles (8,900 km) of coastline and 1,500,000 square miles (3,900,000 km2) of the interior of the continent.

VX-6 was one of six air development squadrons formed by the United States Navy beginning in 1946 to develop and evaluate aircraft tactics and techniques. These squadrons were initially directed by the Operational Development Force, which was redesignated in May 1959 as the Operational Test and Evaluation Force (OPTEVFOR). These six squadrons were initially designated as VX-1 (tail code XA), VX-2 (tail code XB), VX-3 (tail code XC), VX-4 (tail code XF), VX-5 (tail code XE) and VX-6 (tail code XD). On 1 January 1969, the surviving Air Development Squadrons (VX-1, VX-4, VX-5 and VX-6) became Air Test and Evaluation Squadrons. Their designations were changed to VXE-1, VXE-4, VXE-5 and VXE-6. Their tail codes of these squadrons were changed to JA, JF, JE and JD, respectively.