Are there other Skyhawk fans here ?

Let's share nice pictures and info about this flying marvel ! (My personal all time favorite military jet)

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Police cars carry three agents. The first one can read, the second one can write and the third one keeps watch on those dangerous intellectuals.
Unknown subversive activist - 20th century.

Beauty is in the eye of the bee-holder.

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Bah!

Out of curiosity what is it you like about the A-4 ? I don't recall any European countries using the aircraft and they got shot down alot in Viet Nam, Falklins, and the 1973 war in the middle east.

I have some pictures of A-4's I have taken at airshows in the past but they are mostly trainers from the naval air station in Corpus Christi Texas. I will be happy to scan them to you if you are interested and PM your e-mail address. I also have a magazine of pictures of the New Zealand air force's former A-4's flying that are pretty good to look at.

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Work Harder ! Millions on welfare are depending on you.

Erm...I did not expected to be greeted by dozens of Skyhawk fans, but neither I expected a mockery about my taste in planes, or serious (which hurts even more) interrogation about why the hell the Skyhawk is my favorite plane.

I love the Skyhawk because it looks awsome ! And it was very innovative and compact and it has proven itself over the years and conflicts, and had losses because it was undertaking the tough job.

Anyway, Ta I'm interested, I will PM you my mail.

IIRC you were interested in WWII western planes in Soviet hands, especialy P-40's ? I got my hand on some, so if it's still the case, I'll work on the scan too

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Police cars carry three agents. The first one can read, the second one can write and the third one keeps watch on those dangerous intellectuals.
Unknown subversive activist - 20th century.

Wasn't Senator John McCain shot down piloting a Skyhawk?

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Best Regards,
JW

Ooooooh, you're sensitive today... Don't worry, my other favourite planes are the Phantom and the Skyraider, which others will say are the set standard for ugliness.

For pretty USN planes none has beat the Tiger (F11F) and the Tigercat (F7F) in sheer elegance!

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Bah!

Yes John McCain was shot down in the A-4 by a SAM

I was only curious as to why you liked the A-4 since you come from the country of the beautiful Mirage series, I did not mean to offend you in any way. I did not get your PM and I will be working a long day Wednesday so it will be Thursday before I can scan you the pictures I have of the A-4. Most are of the two seaters if you are still interested.

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Work Harder ! Millions on welfare are depending on you.

I found this "memoral" for John McCain in Viet Nam. The person who posted it was not a George W fan but they are kind of rare these days.

"The Pirate John McCain" on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

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Work Harder ! Millions on welfare are depending on you.

Proof that with enough horsepower, even a brick can fly.

An Alabama National Guard fighter wing (187th) is based here in Montgomery. Until sometime in late 80s or early 90, they flew F-4s and competed against F-16s in the Air Force. The National Guard regularly defeated Air Force pilots. I worked with orthopedists who flew with them and he said it was because they had flown their planes for years and knew them backward and forward, whereas the Air Force pilots had not flown theirs as long because they would be promoted to a desk job as they were getting comfortable with the plane.

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Best Regards,
JW

I don't want you to hate me, choccy, so here goes:

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Bah!

The thing that sticks out (most for me) when it comes to the A4 Skyhawk is the high number of losses experienced by the IAF during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. I think they were chosen over the Phantom for their payload capacity, but their slow speed made them more susceptible to SAM's.(?) How 'bout their Vietnam record? My most bestest favourite jet of all time is the "missle with a man in it." Can you guess which plane I'm talking about?

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Guys, I was joking of course I understand some people find this plane ugly.
I like the Phantom alot too

About the A-4 being shotdown often, well, as I said, it did the tough job : an amazing payload for attack missions, at the expense of speed.

TA: I send you the mail.

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Police cars carry three agents. The first one can read, the second one can write and the third one keeps watch on those dangerous intellectuals.
Unknown subversive activist - 20th century.

The second thing that comes to mind is the F-104 Starfighter but I have to admit that for a moment, the Japanese Ohka weapon also popped into my head. I discarded that thought immediately because Ohka was a rocket powered bomb with a man in it, not a missile with a man in it.

Personally, I like how the looks of the Skyhawk. Unfortunately, it just couldn't handle the surprisingly agile Harrier during the Falklands war.

You were right the first time, and, good guess. She's quite a 'beaut', don't you agree?

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Yeah, the F-104! Those were exceptional times for plane designers, no computers telling you what the most efficient shape was.

Damn, I love the Thud, the Rhino, the Spad, the Vigilante, the Bronco, the Mohawk, the Crusader, even the Skyknight and Skywarrior... I grew up with the Vietnam War on, and I read all my elder brother mags (Air International, later it changed name). I fell in love with those.

Valkyrie, Delta Dart, oh, and also the Vautour, Mirage, Super-Mystère B.2, Hunter, Canberra...

When the F-16 came up I knew aviation had gone the drain

Shit, computers are so good to write in forums, why spoil things by using them to design planes!?

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Bah!

One of my favorites.

Gee, Za, those are all really nice airplanes. However, after your first post, I thought you'd give us another monster. Oh well, I'll take the liberty...the "Bruce Spence

from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" Transavia PL 12 Airtruck...Quite an ugly bird, heh?



Then again, I really can't decide what's uglier...the Airtruk or Bruce Spence (his green-toothed smile as the gyro captain in The Road Warrior).

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Then you must like the 1/72 scale Hobby Master die-cast A-4s. I think they are great.
Hobby Master 1-72 A-4 Skyhawk index page

Gotta love the A-4. They took losses in Nam because they were doing the dirty work in the largest numbers for the Navy and Marine Corps. Wish we were still flying these.

Ah! An "Ugly." As of course, opposed to the EA-6B aka "Double Ugly."

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Truth is stranger than bullshit!

I think they were kind of cool, and even though I am a former USN enlisted, I have to go with my cousin, Russell has retired long ago I am still proud of him and his USAF service.


He had gone to work for one of the major military suppliers, and was just out of Kuwait when Saddam invaded, and the first President Bush reacted. Here is a little bit of the final paragraph concerning his duty time, from his USAF bio-page. It was written while he was still in the Air Force.

"The general is a command pilot with more than 3,500 flying hours including 308 combat hours in F-100s, F-105s, F-106s, F-4s, A-10s, T-33s, T-38s, T-39s, and C-12s. His military decorations and awards include the Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters and Presidential Unit Citation with "V" device and two oak leaf clusters."

From:

MAJOR GENERAL RUSSELL L. VIOLETT

When talking to him (in the 70's) after his Vietnam time, but before he went to D.C. he said his personal favorite was always the "Thud", especially the single seat version (F-105D), although he did fly a few "wild weasel" missions in the two seat version he didn’t care for the performance of that version compared to the "D".

He liked the "Super Saber" and the "Delta Dart" well enough, but compared to the "Thunderchief" he would always take the "Thud" for the kick in the pants the afterburner would lay on yer butt. Toward the end of his career he was in charge of the a-10 "Warthog" maintenance, and flew it many, many times, and while he loved the rugged tank-killer for its handling and such, he never could get the 105 out of his mind as the "best" in his mind.

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Happy Trails,
Clint.