McDonnell Douglas A-4C Skyhawk

Though the US Navy reconsidered its decision to retire the AD Skyraider after the Korean War, it was still a piston-engined attack aircraft designed during World War II, while the Navy preferred going to a modern, all-jet attack/fighter fleet. To supplement and then replace the AD, the Navy issued a requirement for a jet attack fighter weighing no more than 48,000 pounds, capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons, and with a speed of at least 550 miles an hour. The Navy was not surprised when Douglas’ chief designer, Edward Heinemann, submitted a proposal for a delta-winged, light attack jet—they were surprised to find that it met all of the requirements, yet weighed in at only 23,000 pounds, less than half the required weight. It was also so small that it did not need folding wings to fit on aircraft carrier elevators. Heinemann deliberately omitted as much weight as possible to bring the aircraft in under weight, and subsequently, at a lower unit cost than anticipated. One part of this effort was external structural ribbing for the rudder; this “temporary” solution would be used on every aircraft produced.

Heinemann’s design was quickly ordered by the Navy as the A4D Skyhawk. The first A4D-1 flew in June 1952, with deliveries to the fleet beginning in 1956. Pilots used to the increasingly larger and more powerful aircraft the US Navy fielded in the late 1950s, such as the F3H Demon and F4H Phantom II, were surprised at the diminutive A4D, which looked toylike on the decks of Forrestal-class supercarriers. It quickly earned the nicknames “Tinkertoy Bomber,” “Scooter,” and “Heinemann’s Hot Rod.”

The Skyhawk—redesignated A-4 in 1962—also quickly gained a reputation for reliability and nimbleness. Despite its small size, it could carry its own weight in bombs and still turn inside anything in the inventory, even the purpose-built F-8 Crusader fighter. For this reason, the Navy began assigning A-4C Skyhawks as “emergency fighter” detachments to Essex-class antisubmarine carriers, as these ships, still equipped with World War II-era hydraulic catapults and limited in deck space, could not carry the more modern F-4. Besides their internal 20mm cannon, A-4s could also carry up to four Sidewinder missiles.

It would be in the Vietnam War that the A-4 would prove its worth. Besides its large bombload and superb manuverability, the Skyhawk was also found to be able to take considerable punishment. Several A-4s returned to their carriers missing pieces of rudder or with holes shot through the wings. At the beginning of American involvement, the Navy began replacing the older A-4C “short-nose” models with the improved A-4E, which added a fifth hardpoint and a longer nose with more advanced avionics; this was quickly supplemented by the A-4F, which added a dorsal hump with still more avionics and ECM equipment.

Until the A-7 Corsair II began arriving in the fleet in the late 1960s, the A-4 represented the backbone of naval light attack units, operating alongside the A-6 Intruder in striking targets throughout Southeast Asia. On land, A-4s served with Marine Corps units, and proved so reliable and well-liked that the Marines decided not to use the A-7 at all. The Skyhawk also proved itself to be adaptable to other missions: A-4s carried out the US Navy’s first precision strike mission, a 1967 attack on the Hanoi thermal powerplant with AGM-62 Walleye missiles, and also served as Wild Weasel/Iron Hand suppression of enemy air defense aircraft, armed with AGM-45 Shrikes.

Though they were slower than the F-4 and F-8, and lacked the A-6’s ability to fly in the worst of inclement weather, the Skyhawk was not defenseless against enemy MiGs: it was the only American aircraft that could turn with a MiG-17 if it was “clean” of bombs, and only one A-4 was lost to enemy aircraft during the Vietnam War. In turn, one A-4, piloted by Lieutenant Commander Ted Schwartz, shot down a MiG-17 with Zuni rockets in 1967. Skyhawks would drop the first and last bombs of US Navy aircraft in the Vietnam War, and flew more sorties than any other naval aircraft—and paid a commensurate price: 362 Skyhawks were shot down or lost in accidents during the war, the most of any one type. Two A-4 pilots won the Medal of Honor during Vietnam, James Stockdale and Michael Estocin, the latter posthumously; longtime prisoner of war Everett Alvarez Jr. was also an A-4 pilot, as was fellow POW and later Presidential candidate, John McCain.

The A-4’s story did not end with Vietnam. Recognizing its superb manueverability, the US Navy began building adversary units with Skyhawks simulating the MiG-17 as part of the Top Gun program, beginning in 1969. These stripped down “Mongoose” A-4s proved to be a match even against far more advanced F-14 Tomcats and F-18 Hornets, and A-4s remained in the adversary role until 1998. Alongside these aircraft, the Navy used two-seat TA-4J Skyhawks as advanced trainers until 2003, while Marine units continued to use the penultimate A-4M Skyhawk in the light attack role until after the First Gulf War in 1991; Marine OA-4M “fast FAC” forward air control aircraft flew as late as 1998. The TA-4J was replaced by the T-45 Goshawk; there has never truly been a replacement for the A-4E adversaries and A-4M light attack aircraft, though the AV-8B Harrier supplemented them.

While Vietnam was the last war for American Skyhawks, foreign users would put the aircraft to further use. Israel would use their A-4H/Ns in the Yom Kippur War with heavy casualties, due to more advanced Egyptian and Syrian air defenses; better luck was had in the Lebanon War of 1982. Argentina’s A-4B/Qs saw extensive service over the Falklands in 1982, impressing even their British adversaries with hair-raising low-level bomb runs against British ships in San Carlos Water: though the Argentine aircraft took severe punishment from Fleet Air Arm Sea Harriers, they also sank or damaged five ships. Finally, Kuwait used their A-4KU Skyhawks from the beginning of the First Gulf War.

Overall, 2960 A-4s were produced and flew with the air arms of eleven nations; Argentina, Israel, Brazil, and Singapore still fly them—Brazil’s A-4s still fly from carriers, while Singapore’s A-4SUs are extensively upgraded with turbofan engines and F-16 radar. Still others survive as government contract aggressor aircraft, or in private hands, while many are preserved in museums.

This A-4C, Bureau Number 147681, was a complete surprise for me. A friend and I spotted it purely by chance at Wasta, South Dakota from Interstate 90 while passing by from Rapid City, and stopped in to check it out. It’s on display at a small military museum in the rather tiny town of Wasta, and it is in utterly pristine condition–there is no hint of wear or rust anywhere on the airframe. Unfortunately, the museum was closed the day we stopped, so we were unable to talk to the curator about it–which is a real shame, because he flew it.

As it turns out, 147681 joined the Navy in 1960 as part of VA-192 ("World Famous Golden Dragons"), aboard the USS Bon Homme Richard. It went through several other units during the Vietnam War, and saw combat. In 1971, after its final assignment with Naval Reserve unit VA-305 ("Hackers"), it was retired to AMARC in Arizona, but at some point thereafter, was taken to NAS Fallon, Nevada, where it was finally struck off charge and scrapped. Its story does not end there, of course: a pilot who flew 147681 found the wreck, took it to his hometown of Wasta, and lovingly restored it to its present, superb condition.

As displayed, 147681 appears as it did while flying with H&MS-15 Detachment N, aboard USS Hornet (CVS-12) from 1965-1966. As the CVS antisubmarine carriers lacked fighters of their own, Navy and Marine units often detached small units of A-4s to operate in ship protection duties, flying combat air patrols and occasional airstrikes. (My dad’s carrier, USS Yorktown, carried a detachment from VSF-1, an A-4 squadron whose sole mission was CVS protection, but Marine H&MS units also undertook these missions.) It carries standard USN camouflage of light gray over white at the time, with H&MS-15’s emblem on the fuselage; the red rudder panels were probably also a squadron affectation. Under the cockpit, 147681 carries the name "Fanny Hill"–Fanny Hill was the nickname of a prostitute dating from the 18th Century.

The lesson here: always be on the lookout when you’re driving, even in quiet places like South Dakota. You never know what treasures await around the next hill.

Posted by The Roving Aircraft Historian on 2018-05-23 03:17:08

Tagged: , McDonnellDouglas , Douglas , A-4 , A-4C , Skyhawk , H&MS-15 , USSHornet , CVS-12 , USNavy , Navy , Wasta , WastaMilitaryMuseum , attack , VietnamWar