VX-3

Air Development Squadron 3 or VX-3 was a United States Navy air test and evaluation squadron established on 20 November 1948 and disestablished on 1 March 1960.

Operational history
VX-3 was established by the merger of the assets of VA-1L and VF-1L and based at NAS Atlantic City, its aircraft carried the tail code "XC".

In late 1949 VX-3 received the F6U Pirate which it operated for a short period before sending them into storage at NAS Quonset Point.

In March 1953 VX-3 began operational trials of probe and drogue aerial refueling using AJ-1 Savage bombers.

In late 1954 VX-3 carrier-qualified the F9F-8 Cougar aboard the USS Midway (CV-41).

In August 1955 VX-3 F9F-8s successfully tested the first mirror landing system aboard USS Bennington (CV-20).

VX-3 received the first F-8U-1 Crusaders in December 1956 and conducted carrier qualifications of the Crusader aboard the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV-42) in April 1957. During testing of the Crusader two aircraft and pilots were lost. On 6 June 1957 a VX-3 Crusader set a US coast to coast speed record of three hours and twenty-eight minutes, launching from USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31) on the West Coast and landing on USS Saratoga (CVA-60) on the East Coast.

Notable former members
Walter Starghill AT3
 * Thomas J. Hudner Jr.
 * Donald D. Engen