AD-3 or 4 Skyraider, 1952 - Tell me what you see.

[Shay]

Hey folks,

I happened across this close up photo today and noticed things I'd never seen with regards to Skyraiders. As the titles states, for discussion sake take a look and call out all the things that stand out about this Skyraider.

Shay
____________
Semper Fortis

Last edited by Shay on Mon Jan 11, 2016 2:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[sandiego89]

A great photo.

A couple of things on interest jump out to me:
- The canister on the right wing, look like a parachute equipped survival kit- perhaps in the event of a downed wingman? Looks to be the prefect armament fit for search and rescue (known as Sandy in the next war) POW supplies? cloak and dagger? My guess on the markings: AGSK for air/groud survival kit, PCHT for parachute.
- The mission markings. Can't quite make them out, but the bottom 2 rows look like storks carrying a package, suggesting delivery of a special package- perhaps linked to the canister above?
- fuse extenders on the GP bombs- not that rare.
- Only one wing gun barrel sticking out- guess this varried by the model.

[AG pilot]

Night exhaust tips?

[Snake45]

Looks like it has the up-armor introduced on the -4 (also made available as retro kits), but also only one gun per wing. Armor retrofitted to an early -4, or even a -2 or -3?

Also, what's the gun-like tube sticking out of the wing near the actual gun? Don't think I've ever seen that before. Gun camera, maybe?

[Shay]

Good replys,

Things that stuck out to me were:

- The Fuse extensions - I've seen fuse extension before on Mk 82s but never seen'm on general purpose 500 pounders before.

- The canvas wing jacket protecting the interior of the wing - I've never seen this before and after a quick google search I've only found 1 other pic of another Skyraider with it.

- The missing 20mm - At first I thought this was maybe a modification but after further research I found out the AD-4s and earlier models only had 2 wing guns.

- The Night Fighter exhaust stacks - This makes me think that this may be a AD-3N or AD-4N

- H2 AGSK Pod - The theory that it might be a survival kit has merit and might explain the stork markings. - But another thought I had was if this is a night fighter then might be an illumination flare that dangles from a parachute to provide illumination over the battle field.

Shay
______________
SEMPER FORTIS

[Snake45]

I've seen the canvas covers before. In fact, I photographed them close-up on a warbird a few years ago. Thought I had pics on photobucket, but I don't. Anyway, IIRC, They were semi-permanently installed with screws or something similar, but had zippers running around the perimeter for quick and easy access to the guts inside. Looks like that's the case here.

I believe the four guns were introduced at some point in -4 production. But I'd have to check my refs to make sure.

[Versatile]

How about a Wixer detective track down Lt JG Phillips and ask him?

[southwind46]

My guess with the lug sticking out below the gun is a wing locking pin/solider here is a nice (found on google) colour picture of the canvas wing bags and a red lug.


Image copyrighted to Bill Spidle

Cheers Mit

[PropsRule]

My guess with the lug sticking out below the gun is a wing locking pin/solider here is a nice (found on google) colour picture of the canvas wing bags and a red lug.

I remember the Grumman Tracker had red tabs mounted on the inboard sides of the forward engine nacelles. Through a pulley and cable arrangement, the tabs would flip up when the wings were folded. This provided an easy way to check if the wings were folded from the pilots' seats (obviously something good to check before going flying!).

On the Skyraider, it's pretty easy to see if the wings are folded from the pilot's seat, so I'm not sure if the tab in the photos are for the same purpose.

My guess agrees with yours in that I think it has something to do with the wing fold system.

[raconnel]

I'm not familiar with that blister under the wingtip. Is that an AD-4N feature?

Richard

[Sabremech]

The lugs or tabs in question are there to confirm the wings are locked when down. They are interconnected to the wing lock pins.

[Ken]

Blister fairing under the wing caught my eye; not familiar.

Weapons pylons are an early type I'm not familiar with either.

Fuse extenders are very thin metal. The extenders first introduced in Vietnam were worn out 20mm barrels and obviously more robust.

1 cannon per wing is pre AD-4. The curved windshield glass narrows it down to an AD-2 or -3 variant. I can't tell enough from the photo if it's an N, W, or other suffix. The mission markings are certainly Korean War.

The night exhaust tips are interesting.

The cylindrical shape inboard of the gun (as David said) is a simple visual indicator for wing "unlocked". Although it looks robust, it is only a visual indicator mechanically linked to the wing pin linkage.

The canvas covers (as Snake said) were common.

Ken