A-4 Skyhawk Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
| Douglas A-4F Skyhawk | ||
|---|---|---|
image depicts later A-4M version | ||
| Description | ||
| Role | Attack aircraft | |
| Crew | one, pilot | |
| Dimensions | ||
| Length | 12.22m | 40' 3" |
| Wingspan | 8.38m | 27' 6" |
| Height | 4.57m | 14' 11" |
| Wing area | 24.15m² | 259ft² |
| Weights | ||
| Empty | 4,750kg | 10,448 lb |
| Loaded | ||
| Maximum take-off | 11,136kg | 24,500 lb |
| Powerplant | ||
| Engines | 1x Pratt & Whitney J52-P8A | |
| Power | 41.4 kN | 9,300 lb |
| Performance | ||
| Maximum speed | 1,100km/h | 686 mph |
| Combat range | 3,220km | 2,000 miles |
| Ferry range | ||
| Service ceiling | 12,880m | 42,250ft |
| Rate of Climb | 2,572m/min | 8,440ft/min |
| Armament | ||
| Guns | 2x 20mm Colt Mk 12 cannon | |
| Fuselage centreline station | 1,590kg | 3,500 lbs |
| Inboard wing stations | 1,000kg each | 2,200 lbs each |
| Outboard wing stations | 454 kg each | 1,000 lbs each |
The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk (formerly A4D Skyhawk, Douglas later McDonnell Douglas, now Boeing) is an attack aircraft originally designed to operate from United States Navy aircraft carriers. Fifty years after the type's first flight, some of the nearly 3,000 Skyhawks produced remain in service with smaller air arms around the world.
| Table of contents |
|
2 In Combat 3 Variants 4 Units Using the A-4 |
History
The Skyhawk was designed by Douglas' Ed Heinemann in response to a Navy call for a jet-powered attack aircraft to replace the A-1 Skyraider. Heinemann opted for a design that would minimize size, weight, and complexity. The result was an aircraft that weighed only half of the Navy's specification and had a wing so compact that it did not need to be folded for carrier stowage. The diminutive Skyhawk soon received the nicknames "Scooter", "Bantam Bomber", and on account of its nimble performance, "Heinemann's Hot-Rod".
The aircraft is of conventional design, with a low-mounted delta-like wing, tricycle undercarriage, and a single jet engine in the rear fuselage, with intakes on the fuselage sides. The tail is of cruciform design, with the horizontal stabilizer mounted above the fuselage. Armament consisted of a Colt Mk 12 20mm cannon in each wing root, and large variety of bombs, rockets, and missiles carried on a centreline hardpoint under the fuselage and two hardpoints under each wing (early versions had only one hardpoint under each wing).
The Navy issued a contract for the type on June 12 1952, and the first prototype first flew on June 22, 1954. Deliveries to Navy and Marine Corps squadrons commenced in late 1956.
The Skyhawk remained in production until 1975, with a total of 2,960 aircraft built, including 555 two-seat trainers. The US Navy began removing the aircraft from its front-line squadrons in 1967, with the last retiring in 1975. The last Marine Skyhawk was delivered in 1979 and were used until the mid 1990s. Trainer versions of the Skyhawk remained in Navy service, however, until 1999 when the last were replaced with the T-45 Goshawk. As of 2001, a few last Skyhawks remained in military use in the US for target-towing and as adversary aircraft for combat training.
In Combat
Skyhawks received much use in the early years of the Vietnam War until being supplanted by the A-7 Corsair II in the light bomber 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 US bombs on the country. Shortly afterwards, Israeli Air Force Skyhawks would prove their worth in the Yom Kippur War. Argentine Navy Skyhawks played a role in the Falkland Islands War, and more recently, Kuwaiti Air Force Skyhawks fought in the first Gulf War.
Variants
Prototypes
A-4A
A-4B
A-4C
A-4E
A-4F
A-4M
Units Using the A-4
USN
USMC
Brazillian Air Force
Argentinian Air Force
Argentinian Navy
Royal Australian Navy
Royal New Zealand Air Force
Israeli Air Force
| Related content | |
|---|---|
| Related Development | |
| Similar Aircraft | |
| Designation Series | A-1 - A-2 - A-3 - A-4 - A-5 - A-6 - A-7 |
| Related Lists | List of military aircraft of the United States |
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