Aircraft Gallery
A-4 Skyhawk
SPECIFICATIONS:
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)
Empty weight: 10,450 lb (4,750 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney J52-P8A turbojet, 9,300 lbf (41 kN)
Maximum speed: 585 kn (673 mph, 1,083 km/h)
Range: 1,700 nmi (2,000 mi, 3,220 km)
Service ceiling: 42,250 ft (12,880 m)
Though designed as a nuclear bomber, the A-4 Skyhawk became legendary as the Navy’s leading light bomber in the 1960s. Affectionately called “The Scooter”, its rugged simplicity and energetic performance placed the A-4 in the forefront of the close-in bombing war in Southeast Asia. However, Skyhawk squadrons endured correspondingly heavy casualties to the increasingly effective North Vietnamese air defenses. This experience helped push the development of today’s ‘smart bombs’.
