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The Skyhawk
Douglas built 2,960 A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft between 1954 and 1979.
Built small to be cost effective and so that more of them could be accommodated on a carrier, the lightweight, high-speed bombers were affectionately nicknamed “Heinemann’s Hot Rod” (after Douglas designer Ed Heinemann), the Bantam Bomber, Mighty Mite and Scooter. Skyhawks provided the US Navy and Marines and friendly nations with maneuverable, yet powerful, attack bombers that had great altitude and range capabilities, plus an unusual flexibility in armament capacity.
As we have already explained, given its unique capabilities, for many pilots the Skyhawk was the most fun aircraft they ever flew.
AV-8B Vs A-4
But according to Pete Bowen, former US Marine Corps Harrier pilot, the AV-8B was even more fun to fly than the A-4, as he explains on Quora;
‘Loved flying the A-4 Skyhawk, but my favorite was the AV-8B Harrier.
‘The tactical flying (at the time 200′ 450kts) was just like any other attack aircraft, but the different takeoff and landing capabilities were most fun.
‘Downwind entry into the pattern from 25,000ft and 5 miles out.
‘Landing/taking off on a two-lane road in between an Amtrak train and Interstate 5 near San Clemente, CA.
‘Abeam the landing spot at 3,000ft. Point the engine nozzles ahead of the aircraft, and do a split-S to land precisely on the front part of a designated runway stripe at 60kts. (I won the bet)/
‘Vertical landing—blind—into a 75x75ft cut out in the forest, followed by a vertical takeoff.
You can’t do those things in other jets
‘Abeam at MCAS Yuma, AZ as a sandstorm blew in and totally obscured the place. Horizontal visibility maybe 200ft. Decelerated to find a taxi-way and basically air-taxied following the taxi-ways to the landing pad, turning the aircraft to do a vertical landing into the 45kt wind.
‘Taking off out of Yokota AFB (Tokyo) at night in the rain with 1,000ft overcast. Miscommunication on launch, so I was airborne over Tokyo at night at 800ft doing 450kts chasing lead down from a mile behind to catch him. With 150 kts of closure, in the Harrier you were able to point the nozzles ahead of the aircraft and drop that 150 kts in just a few seconds, join up, and climb out.’
Bowen concludes;
‘A ton of fun. Sometimes uncomfortable. Can’t do those things in any other jets.’
Photo credit: U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy
