Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_A-4_Skyhawk

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

The Skyhawk is a relatively lightweight aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight
of 24,500 pounds (11,100 kg) and has a top speed of more than 670 miles per hour
(1,080 km/h). The aircraft's five hardpoints support a variety of missiles,
bombs and other munitions. It was capable of carrying a bomb load equivalent to
that of a World War II-era Boeing B-17 bomber, and could deliver nuclear weapons
using a low-altitude bombing system and a "loft" delivery technique. The A-4 was
originally powered by the Wright J65 turbojet engine; from the A-4E onwards, the
Pratt & Whitney J52 was used.

Skyhawks played key roles in the Vietnam War, the Yom Kippur War, and the
Falklands War. Sixty years after the aircraft's first flight, some of the nearly
3,000 produced remain in service with several air arms around the world,
including from the Brazilian Navy's aircraft carrier, São Paulo.

The Skyhawk was designed by Douglas Aircraft's Ed Heinemann in response to a
U.S. Navy call for a jet-powered attack aircraft to replace the older Douglas AD
Skyraider (later redesignated A-1 Skyraider). Heinemann opted for a design that
would minimize its size, weight, and complexity. The result was an aircraft that
weighed only half of the Navy's weight specification. It had a wing so compact
that it did not need to be folded for carrier stowage. The diminutive Skyhawk
soon received the nicknames "Scooter", "Kiddiecar", "Bantam Bomber", "Tinker Toy
Bomber", and, on account of its nimble performance, "Heinemann's Hot-Rod".

The aircraft is of conventional post-World War II design, with a low-mounted
delta wing, tricycle undercarriage, and a single turbojet engine in the rear
fuselage, with two air intakes on the fuselage sides. The tail is of cruciform
design, with the horizontal stabilizer mounted above the fuselage. Armament
consisted of 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 types based on the A-4M
have 200 rounds per gun), plus a large variety of bombs, rockets, and missiles
carried on a hardpoint under the fuselage centerline and hardpoints under each
wing (originally one per wing, later two).


Role
Attack aircraft, fighter, aggressor aircraft

National origin
United States

Manufacturer
Douglas Aircraft Company
McDonnell Douglas

First flight
22 June 1954

Introduction
October 1956

Retired
USMC (1998), U.S. Navy (2003)
Israeli Air Force (2015)
Argentinian Air Force (2016)

Status
In service with non-U.S. users

Primary users
United States Navy (historical)
United States Marine Corps (historical)
Israeli Air Force (historical)
Argentine Air Force (historical)

Produced
1954–1979

Number built
2,960

Unit cost

US$2.8–3.8 million


Variants
Lockheed Martin A-4AR Fightinghawk
McDonnell Douglas A-4G Skyhawk
ST Aerospace A-4SU Super Skyhawk

The Skyhawk proved to be a relatively common United States Navy aircraft export
of the postwar era. Due to its small size, it could be operated from the older,
smaller World War II-era aircraft carriers still used by many smaller navies
during the 1960s. These older ships were often unable to accommodate newer Navy
fighters such as the F-4 Phantom II and F-8 Crusader, which were faster and more
capable than the A-4, but significantly larger and heavier than older naval
fighters.

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

The Marine Corps would not take the U.S. Navy's replacement warplane, the LTV
A-7 Corsair II, instead keeping Skyhawks in service with both Regular Marine
Corps and Marine Corps Reserve attack squadrons (VMA), and ordering the new A-4M
model. The last USMC Skyhawk was delivered in 1979, and they were used until the
mid-1980s before they were replaced by the equally small, but more versatile
STOVL AV-8 Harrier II.

Skyhawks were well loved by their crews for being tough and agile. These
attributes, along with their low purchase and operating cost as well as easy
maintenance, have contributed to the popularity of the A-4 with American and
international armed forces. Besides the U.S., at least three other nations have
used A-4 Skyhawks in combat (Argentina, Israel, and Kuwait).

Skyhawks were the U.S. Navy's primary light attack aircraft used over North
Vietnam during the early years of the Vietnam War; they were later supplanted by
the A-7 Corsair II in the U.S. Navy light attack role. Skyhawks carried out some
of the first air strikes by the US during the conflict, and a Marine Skyhawk is
believed to have dropped the last American bombs on the country. Notable naval
aviators who flew the Skyhawk included Lieutenant Commanders Everett Alvarez,
Jr. and John McCain, and Commander James Stockdale. On 1 May 1967, an A-4C
Skyhawk piloted by Lieutenant Commander Theodore R. Swartz of VA-76 aboard the
carrier USS Bon Homme Richard, shot down a North Vietnamese Air Force MiG-17
with an unguided Zuni rocket as the Skyhawk's only air-to-air victory of the
Vietnam War.

Specifications (A-4F Skyhawk)

General characteristics
Crew: one (two in OA-4F, TA-4F, TA-4J)
Length: 40 ft 3 in (12.22 m)
Wingspan: 26 ft 6 in (8.38 m)
Height: 15 ft (4.57 m)
Wing area: 259 ft² (24.15 m²)
Airfoil: NACA 0008-1.1-25 root, NACA 0005-0.825-50 tip
Empty weight: 10,450 lb (4,750 kg)
Loaded weight: 18,300 lb (8,318 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 24,500 lb (11,136 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney J52-P8A turbojet, 9,300 lbf (41 kN)

Performance
Maximum speed: 585 kn (673 mph, 1,083 km/h)
Range: 1,700 nmi (2,000 mi, 3,220 km)
Combat radius: 625 nmi, 1,158 km, 719 mi ()
Service ceiling: 42,250 ft (12,880 m)
Rate of climb: 8,440 ft/min (43 m/s)
Wing loading: 70.7 lb/ft² (344.4 kg/m²)
Thrust/weight: 0.51

g-limit: +8/-3 g

Armament

Guns: 2× 20 mm (0.79 in) Colt Mk 12 cannon, 100 rounds/gun
Hardpoints: 4× under-wing & 1× under-fuselage pylon stations holding up to 9,900
lb (4,490 kg) of payload
Rockets:
4× LAU-10 rocket pods (each with 4× 127 mm Mk 32 Zuni rockets)

Missiles:
Air-to-air missiles: 4× AIM-9 Sidewinder

Air-to-surface missiles: 2× AGM-12 Bullpup
2× AGM-45 Shrike anti-radiation missile
2× AGM-62 Walleye TV-guided glide bomb
2× AGM-65 Maverick


Bombs:
6× Rockeye-II Mark 20 Cluster Bomb Unit (CBU)
6× Rockeye Mark 7/APAM-59 CBU
Mark 80 series of unguided bombs (including 3 kg and 14 kg practice bombs)
B43 nuclear bomb
B57 nuclear bomb
B61 nuclear bomb

Others: up to 3× 370 US gallons (1,400 L) Sargent Fletcher drop tanks (pylon
stations 2, 3, 4 are wet plumbed) for ferry flight/extended range/loitering time





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