douglas a-4 skyhawk.

Douglas A-4 Skyhawk. - A U.S. A Navy A-4E Skyhawk of VA-164, from the USS Oriskany, approaches a target in North Vietnam, November 21, 1967.

The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is a single-seat subsonic carrier-capable light attack aircraft developed for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps in the early 1950s. The hang glider, single turbojet engine Skyhawk was designed and manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, and later by McDonnell Douglas. It was originally designated A4D under the US Navy's pre-1962 designation system.

Douglas A-4 Skyhawk.

The Skyhawk is a medium-sized aircraft, with a take-off weight of 24,500 pounds (11,100 kg), and a maximum speed of 670 miles per hour (1,080 km/h). The five strong bays of the plane support various missiles, bombs and other weapons. It can carry a bomb load equivalent to that of a World War II-era Boeing B-17 bomber, and can deliver nuclear bombs using a low-altitude bombing system and an "attic" delivery method. The A-4 was originally powered by the Wright J65 turbojet engine; from the A-4E onwards, the Pratt & Whitney J52 engine was used.

Airfix: Douglas A4 Skyhawk In 1:72

Skyhawks played important roles in the Vietnam War, the Yom Kippur War, and the Falklands War. In 2022, nearly seven decades after the aircraft's first flight in 1954, approximately 2,960 had been produced (up to February 1979)

The Skyhawk was designed by Ed Heinemann of Douglas Aircraft in response to the call of the U.S. Navy jet-powered attack aircraft to replace the old Douglas AD Skyraider (later redesignated A-1 Skyraider).

Heinemann chose a design that would reduce its size, weight and complexity. The result was an airplane that weighed half the weight of the Navy.

It had a single wing that did not need to be folded for carrier stalling. The first 500 production examples cost an average of $860 each, less than the Navy's $1 million.

Former Us Naval Aviator Explains Why The A 4 Skyhawk Was The Most Fun Aircraft He Ever Flew

The humble Skyhawk quickly earned the nicknames "Scooter", "Kiddiecar", "Bantam Bomber", "Tinker Toy Bomber", and, for its speed and agile performance, "Heinemann's Hot-Rod".

The aircraft is a conventional post-World War II design, with a low delta wing, tricycle undercarriage, and a single turbojet engine in the rear fuselage, with two air intakes on the side fuselage. The tail is of a cruciform design, with a horizontal stabilizer mounted above the fuselage. Armament included two 20 mm (.79 in caliber) Colt Mk 12 cannons, one in each wing root, with 100 rounds per gun (the A-4M Skyhawk II and models based on the A-4M have 200 rounds per gun), as well as a range of bombs, rockets, and missiles were carried on a fixed point under the fuselage fuselage and fixed points under each wing (initially one per wing, later two).

The short-length wing did not require the complexity of folding the tip, saving 200 pounds (91 kg). Its spares were made of forging that passed between the two wings.

The front slats are designed to drop automatically at the appropriate speed with gravity and wind, saving weight and space by leaving performance motors and switches. Similarly the main undercarriage did not extend over the main wing spar, it was designed so that when retracted only the wheel itself was inside the wing and the undercarriages sat in the fairing under the wing. Thus the shape of the wings was lighter and wider. The rudder was made of a single panel reinforced with external ribs.

A 4 Skyhawk Production History

A4D Skyhawk with the rear fuselage removed and the engine slid into place, Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, 1959

The turbojet engine is obtained for use or replacement by removing the rear portion of the fuselage and sliding out the engine. This eliminated the need for front doors with hinges and hinges to further reduce weight and stiffness. This is contrary to what is common in aircraft design where increasing a small weight in one area leads to an increase in weight in other areas to match, creating the need for more powerful forces, heavy engines, large wings and a sharp point, etc. on in a vicious circle.

The A-4 pioneered the concept of "buddy" air-to-air refueling. This allows these aircraft to be supplied with more of the same type, reducing the need for dedicated refueling aircraft - something that is ideal for small air weapons or operating in remote areas. This allows a significant improvement in efficiency and emphasis on the loss or inoperability of tankers, although this reduces the strength of the army that works on board of the carrier.

The A-4 was chosen to have a cter-mounted "buddy store", a large external fuel tank with a hose reel in the rear section and a lockable dope fueling bucket. The aircraft was disarmed and launched. Fighter aircraft were heavily armed and fueled as much as their maximum takeoff weight allowed, which was less than a full tank.

Airfix A50185 Mig 17f Fresco & Douglas A 4b Skyhawk 'dogfight Doubles'

Once airborne, they removed their fuel tanks from the tank using the A-4's fixed fuel tank on the starboard side of the nose of the aircraft. They could attack with both full armament and fuel loads. The A-4 was rarely used for refueling in US service. after the KA-3 Skywarrior tanker became available in large transports.

The A-4 is also designed to be able to make an emergency landing, in case of hydraulic failure, on the two drop tanks that are always carried by these aircraft. Such descent caused minor damage to the nose of the aircraft which could be repaired in less than an hour.

The last production A-4, the A-4M of Marine squadron VMA-331 had the flags of all the nations that used the A-4 painted on its fuselage sides.

The Skyhawk proved to be the standard United States Navy aircraft overseas of the postwar era. Because of its size, it can be used by large, small World War II-era aircraft carriers continued to be used by many small naval vessels in the 1960s. These older ships were often unable to accommodate the Navy's newer fighters such as the F-4 Phantom II and F-8 Crusader, which were faster and more capable than the A-4, but much larger and heavier than the older fighters.

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The Navy operated the A-4 in Regular Navy and Naval Reserve light attack squadrons (VA). Although the use of the A-4 as a training and adversary aircraft would continue into the 1990s, the Navy began removing the aircraft from its forward attack groups in 1967, with the last (Super Foxes of VA-55/212/164) being retired in 1976.

The Marine Corps would not accept an American fighter jet. Navy, the LTV A-7 Corsair II, instead keeping the Skyhawks in service with the Regular Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserve attack squadrons (VMA), and ordering the new type of A-4M. The last USMC Skyhawk was introduced in 1979, and was used until the mid-1980s before being replaced by the equally smaller, but more efficient STOVL AV-8 Harrier II.

VMA-131, Marine Aircraft Group 49 (the Diamondbacks) retired its last OA-4Ms on 22 June 1994. Trainer versions of the Skyhawk remained in Navy service, however, gaining another stage of life with the advt of "enemy training. ", where the nimble A-4 was used as a substitute for the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 in various air attack training (DACT). Worked in that position at TOPGUN until 1999.

The A-4's nimble performance also made it a suitable replacement for the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II which the Navy demoted as its Blue Angels demonstration aircraft, until the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornets became available in the 1980s. . The last U.S. Navy Skyhawks, the TA-4J model of the VC-8 squadron, remained in military use for towing, and as enemy aircraft, for combat training at Naval Station Roosevelt Roads. These aircraft were officially decommissioned on 3 May 2003.

Mcdonnell Douglas A 4g Skyhawk

Skyhawks were well liked by their crews for being tough and gentle. These qualities, along with its low purchase and operating costs and easy maintenance, contributed to the A-4's popularity with the American military and around the world. Besides the United States, three other countries used A-4 Skyhawks in combat (Argentina, Israel, and Kuwait).

Skyhawks were an American aircraft. The Navy's primary light attack force was used over North Vietnam in the early years of the Vietnam War; they were later replaced by the A-7 Corsair II in the US Navy light attack role. Skyhawks carried out some of the first American airstrikes during the conflict, and the Marine Skyhawk probably shot down the last American bombers in the country.

Notable pilots who flew the Skyhawk included Lieutenants Everett Alvarez, Jr. and John McCain, and Commander James Stockdale. On 1 May 1967, an A-4C Skyhawk piloted by Capt. Theodore R. Swartz of VA-76 aboard the USS Bon Homme Richard shot down a North Vietnamese Air Force MiG-17 with a Zuni unguided rocket as the Skyhawk's only air defense. - air victory of the Vietnam War.

From 1956 onward, Navy Skyhawks were the first aircraft deployed outside the United States equipped with the AIM-9 Sidewinder.

Development] Douglas A 4b Skyhawk: A Story Of Simplicity

In the early to mid-1960s, the standard U.S. Navy A-4B Skyhawk squadrons

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