https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_A-1_Skyraider
The Douglas A-1 Skyraider (formerly AD Skyraider) is an American single-seat
attack aircraft that saw service between the late 1940s and early 1980s. The
Skyraider had a remarkably long and successful career; it became a
piston-powered, propeller-driven anachronism in the jet age, and was nicknamed
"Spad", after the French World War I fighter.
It was operated by the United States Navy (USN), the United States Marine Corps
(USMC), and the United States Air Force (USAF), and also saw service with the
British Royal Navy, the French Air Force, the Republic of Vietnam Air Force
(VNAF), and others. It remained in U.S. service until the early 1970s.
The piston-engined Skyraider was designed during World War II to meet United
States Navy requirements for a carrier-based, single-seat, long-range, high
performance dive/torpedo bomber, to follow-on from earlier types such as the
Curtiss SB2C Helldiver and Grumman TBF Avenger. Designed by Ed Heinemann of the
Douglas Aircraft Company, prototypes were ordered on 6 July 1944 as the XBT2D-1.
The XBT2D-1 made its first flight on 18 March 1945 and in April 1945, the USN
began evaluation of the aircraft at the Naval Air Test Center (NATC). In
December 1946, after a designation change to AD-1, delivery of the first
production aircraft to a fleet squadron was made to VA-19A.
The AD-1 was built at Douglas' El Segundo plant in Southern California. In his
memoir The Lonely Sky, test pilot Bill Bridgeman describes the routine yet
sometimes hazardous work of certifying AD-1s fresh off the assembly line at a
rate of two aircraft per day for delivery to the U.S. Navy in 1949 and 1950.
Used by the USN over Korea and Vietnam, the A-1 was a primary close air support
aircraft for the USAF and VNAF during the Vietnam War. The A-1 was famous for
being able to take hits and keep flying. There was added armor plating around
the cockpit area for added pilot protection. It was replaced beginning in the
mid-1960s by the Grumman A-6 Intruder as the Navy's primary medium-attack plane
in supercarrier-based air wings; however Skyraiders continued to operate from
the smaller Essex-class aircraft carriers.
The Skyraider went through seven versions, starting with the AD-1, then AD-2 and
AD-3 with various minor improvements, then the AD-4 with a more powerful
R-3350-26WA engine. The AD-5 was significantly widened, allowing two crew to sit
side-by-side (this was not the first multiple-crew variant, the AD-1Q being a
two-seater and the AD-3N a three-seater); it also came in a four-seat
night-attack version, the AD-5N. The AD-6 was an improved AD-4B with improved
low-level bombing equipment, and the final production version AD-7 was upgraded
to a R-3350-26WB engine.
Skyraider production ended in 1957 with a total of 3,180 having been built. In
1962, the existing Skyraiders were redesignated A-1D through A-1J and later used
by both the USAF and the Navy in the Vietnam War.
Role
Attack aircraft
National origin
United States
Manufacturer
Douglas Aircraft Company
First flight
18 March 1945
Introduction
1946
Retired
1985 Gabonese Air Force
Status
Retired
Primary users
United States Navy
United States Air Force
Royal Navy
Republic of Vietnam Air Force
Produced
Number built
3,180
Developed into
Douglas A2D Skyshark
The Skyraider was produced too late to take part in World War II, but became the
backbone of United States Navy aircraft carrier and United States Marine Corps
into action from Valley Forge with VA-55 on 3 July 1950. Its weapons load and
10-hour flying time far surpassed the jets that were available at the time. On 2
May 1951, Skyraiders made the only aerial torpedo attack of the war, hitting the
Hwacheon Dam, then controlled by North Korea.
As American involvement in the Vietnam War began, the A-1 Skyraider was still
the medium attack aircraft in many carrier air wings, although it was planned to
be replaced by the A-6A Intruder as part of the general switch to jet aircraft.
Skyraiders from Constellation and Ticonderoga participated in the first U.S.
Navy strikes against North Vietnam on 5 August 1964 as part of Operation Pierce
Arrow in response to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, striking against fuel depots
at Vinh, with one Skyraider from Ticonderoga damaged by anti-aircraft fire, and
a second from Constellation shot down, killing its pilot.
During the war, U.S. Navy Skyraiders shot down two North Vietnamese Air Force
(NVAF) Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 jet fighters: one on 20 June 1965, a victory
shared by Lieutenant Clinton B. Johnson and LTJG Charles W. Hartman III of
VA-25; and one on 9 October 1966 by LTJG William T. Patton of VA-176. Using
their cannons, this was the first gun kill of the Vietnam conflict. While on his
very first mission, Navy pilot LTJG Dieter Dengler took damage to his A-1H over
Vietnam on 1 February 1966, and crash-landed in Laos.
As they were released from U.S. Navy service, Skyraiders were introduced into
the Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF). Skyraiders were also used by Air
Force Special Operations Command for search and rescue air cover. They were also
"Sandy" helicopter escort on combat rescues. On 10 March 1966, USAF Major
Bernard F. Fisher flew an A-1E mission and was awarded the Medal of Honor for
rescuing Major "Jump" Myers at A Shau Special Forces Camp. USAF Colonel William
A. Jones III piloted an A-1H on 1 September 1968 mission for which he was
awarded the Medal of Honor. In that mission, despite damage to his aircraft and
suffering serious burns, he returned to his base and reported the position of a
downed U.S. airman.
Specifications (A-1H Skyraider)
General characteristics
Crew: One
Length: 38 ft 10 in (11.84 m)
Empty weight: 11,968 lb (5,429 kg)
Loaded weight: 18,106 lb (8,213 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 25,000 lb (11,340 kg)
Performance
Maximum speed: 322 mph (280 kn, 518 km/h) at 18,000 ft (5,500 m)
Cruise speed: 198 mph (172 kn, 319 km/h)
Range: 1,316 mi (1,144 nmi, 2,115 km)
Service ceiling: 28,500 ft (8,685 m)
Rate of climb: 2,850 ft/min (14.5 m/s)
Power/mass: 0.15 hp/lb (250 W/kg)
Armament
Hardpoints: 15 external hardpoints with a capacity of 8,000 lb (3,600 kg) and
provisions to carry combinations of: Other: bombs, torpedoes, mine dispensers,
unguided rockets, and gun pods.
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