"peter wezeman" wrote in message
m...
The Douglas F4D Skyray had high performance in its day, holding several
time-to-climb records that were not broken until the Phantom II was built.
Was the Skyray ever flown in simulated air combat maneuvering against
other fighters? If so, how well did it perform?

Surely it was flown against other aircraft(note the mention of the alleged
USAF jealousy over its turning capability in the second source cited below),
but the best "nutshell" description of its capabilities and limitations
comes from Baugher's site:

"The service life of the Skyray with the Navy and USMC was relatively brief,
since the aircraft was specialized to the high-altitude interception role
and lacked the multi-mission capability that was becoming increasingly
important. The Skyray had a good climb rate, a high ceiling, a relatively
high speed, and a good radar, all features which made it a good interceptor.
However, it had a reputation of being a difficult plane to fly. The last
Skyray left service on February 29, 1964. The Skyray never saw any combat,
although it was deployed to Taiwan in 1958 and to Guantanamo in 1962 in
response to crises."
http://home.att.net/~jbaugher1/f6_2.html

A more complete, and longer winded, description can be found at:
www.vectorsite.net/avskyray.html

"It was also very maneuverable, featuring an incredible rate of roll, and
one Navy test pilot who flew the Skyray said that Air Force chase-plane
pilots were desperate to find a USAF machine that could out-turn it. Air
Force pilots flew the F4D, no doubt with an eye to assessing its strengths
and weaknesses. It did have weaknesses, significant ones. Along with its
agility came a degree of instability, particularly in the critical transonic
speed range. This does not seem too surprising given the aircraft's aspect
in the top view, which suggests some of the aerodynamic features of a
pancake; it also had a steep glide ratio, being described as a "lead sled".
One pilot said the Ford's handling "bordered on the bizarre." In fact, there
were some test pilots who despised the F4D and felt it should have never
been accepted into operational service. This appears to have been a minority
opinion, but even its admirers admitted the Ford's instability made it a
handful for a relatively inexperienced pilot. Skilled pilots who liked the
machine also found it tiring to fly for long distances: keeping it on the
level was a continuous balancing act."

Brooks