• Aircraft:

  Douglas A-4E Skyhawk

• Reg: 149656 photos
• Serial #:

  12980

• Airline: United States - US Navy (USN)
• Photo Date: Apr 24, 2016
• Uploaded: Sep 16, 2017
• Pensacola Naval Air Station - KNPA, USA - Florida

Designed to fill a carrier-based light attack role and as a nuclear delivery aircraft, McDonnell-Douglas's A-4 (A4D) Skyhawk became a mainstay in Navy and Marine Corps squadrons. The A-4 operated in naval attack squadrons from 1956 until 1987, but continued flying as a training aircraft long afterwards. Performing both close air support and deep strike missions, the Skyhawk gained fame during the Vietnam War. Hanging in the east Quarterdeck near the IMAX ticket counter, this A-4 Skyhawk is in the livery of the aircraft flown by Lieutenant Commander (later Senator) John McCain, shot down over Hanoi in October 1967. Nicknamed "Heinemann's Hot Rod," the A-4 responded to Navy and Marine Corps needs for a low-cost, light-weight, low-maintenance, carrier-based attack aircraft. Its versatile design enabled it to fulfill the light attack and close air support missions, but also made it capable of delivering tactical nuclear weapons. Designer Ed Heinemann literally designed the aircraft overnight. His unique approach produced an aircraft weighing less than half of the Navy's original specification, and incorporating design features that not only reduced weight, but because of the aircraft's simplicity, proved easy to maintain. The aircraft displayed is an A-4E in the livery of VA-163, part of Carrier Air Wing Sixteen, serving aboard USS Oriskany. VH-303 represents the aircraft flown by Lieutenant Commander John McCain, shot down over Hanoi in October 1967. The future Senator from Arizona and presidential candidate remained a POW for more than five years.

Photographer

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