A-4's For New Year!

[Robbie Stuart]

Happy New Year Too All. Thought A Dose Of Scooter's Might Be In Order!
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Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico (Apr. 30, 2003) – Airman Carrie Bradshaw exchanges salutes with Cmdr. Tom McDonough, Commanding Officer of Fleet Composite Squadron Eight (VC-8), prior to the departure of the last active TA-4 Skyhawk in the U.S. Navy.

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A right side view of a Fighter Squadron 126 (VF-126) TA-4F Skywhawk aircraft parked on the flight line. Location: NAVAL AIR FACILITY, ANDREWS AFB, MARYLAND (MD) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

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Three Republic F-105B Thunderchief aircraft from the 508th Tactical Fighter Squadron, U.S. Air Force Reserve, and two U.S. Navy McDonnell Douglas TA-4J Skyhawk aircraft from Fleet Composite Squadron VC-1 flying in formation off Oahu, Hawaii (USA), on 25 January 1978.

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A Douglas TA-4J Skyhawk aircraft of training wing TW-3 waits behind the blast deflector for its turn at the catapult as another Skyhawk clears the flight deck of the auxiliary aircraft landing training ship USS Lexington (AVT-16) during pilot carrier training. The Lexington was first commissioned on 17 February 1943. In 1963 she became a training carrier until being decommissioned on 8 November 1991. On 15 June 1992, the ship was donated as a museum and since then operates as the USS Lexington Museum at Corpus Christi (Texas, USA)

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VF-126 aircraft over San Diego 1987.JPEG U.S. Navy fighter squadron VF-126 Bandits aircraft, based at Naval Air Station Miramar, California (USA), fly a trail formation on 14 September 1987 near San Diego, California: (l-r) General Dynamics F-16N Fighting Falcon, Northrop F-5E Tiger II, Douglas A-4E Skyhawk, TA-4J trainer, and a Rockwell T-2C Buckeye.

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A U.S. Navy Douglas A-4F Skyhawk from adversary fighter squadron VF-43 Challengers at the Naval Air Station Dallas, Texas (USA), on 1 February 1988.

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A Douglas A-4F Skyhawk (BuNo 154975) of U.S. Navy fleet replacement squadron VA-127 Cylons on 21 July 1975. This aircraft also served with the Blue Angels aerobatics team.


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Douglas A-4F Skyhawk aircraft of Attack Carrier Air Wing 21 (CVW-21) (tailcode "NP") are parked on the flight deck of the attack aircraft carrier USS Hancock (CVA-19), armed for a mission over Vietnam on 25 May 1972. Skyhawks NP-501, -505, and -510 belong to attack squadron VA-55 Warhorses, NP-316 to VA-212 Rampant Raiders, NP-412 and NP-416 to VA-164 Ghost Riders. The aircraft are armed with Mk 82 (500 lb/227 kg) and Mk 83 (1000 lb/454 kg) bombs.

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A U.S. Navy Douglas A4D-2 Skyhawk (BuNo 144900) of VA-34 Blue Blasters armed with an Mk 7 nuclear weapon prepares to launch from the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga (CVA-60). VA-34 was assigned to Carrier Air Group 3 (CVG-3) aboard the Saratoga flying the A4D-2 (after 1962 A-4B) between 1959 and 1962.

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Lieutenant (Junior Grade) William Belden ejects from his Douglas A-4E Skyhawk attack aircraft (BuNo 150117) as it rolls into the USS Shangri-La port catwalk after suffering a brake failure following recovery, 2 July 1970. Lt. JG Belden ejected safely and was rescued by Shangri-La´s Seasprite helicopter. The A-4E was assigned to attack squadron VA-152 Mavericks, Attack Carrier Air Wing 8 (CVW-8), tail code "AJ-505".

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A Douglas A-4F Skyhawk fighter (BuNo 154172) of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels flight demonstration team over the runway.

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Douglas A-4E Skyhawks of Marine attack squadron VMA-311 Tomcats on the aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea (CVA-43) in 1973. Nearest to the camera is A-4E BuNo 150049

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U.S. Navy Douglas A-4 Skyhawks in various stages of rework crowd a hangar at the Naval Air Rework Facility at the Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida (USA), circa 1980.

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Three U.S. Navy Douglas A-4C Skyhawk fighters of attack squadron VA-12 Flying Ubangis on the aircraft carrier USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVA-42), in 1962-64. VA-12 was assigned to Attack Carrier Air Wing 1 (CVW-1) aboard the FDR flying the A-4C for two deployments to the Mediterranean Sea, from 14 September 1962 to 22 April 1963 and from 28 April to 23 December 1964

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Douglas A-4M Skyhawk of Marine attack squadron VMA-214 Black Sheep, United States Marine Corps.

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A-4M Skyhawk VMA-211 1979.JPEG
A view of the exhibit and ceremony for the last A-4 Skyhawks built by McDonnell Douglas Corporation. The guests and spectators stand at attention while the Marine Corps Band plays at the McDonnell Douglas plant at Long Beach, California (USA), 27 February 1979. Visible is the A-4M (BuNo 158413) which was assigned to Marine attack squadron VMA-211 Wake Island Avengers

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The last of the many: rollout of the last of 2,960 McDonnell Douglas A-4 Skyhawks at the company's plant at Long Beach, California (USA), on 27 February 1979. The aircraft was an A-4M, BuNo 160264, which is today on display at the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum at Miramar, California.
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HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011!

[maxum96]

Great pictures. I grew up and lived next to Miramar for 35 years. I miss seeing the A-4's, F-4's, and F-14's going around the pattern.

[C VEICH]

The Blues in their Skyhawks, those were the days.

[bilwor]

Any USMC A-4M photos?

[whistlingdeath77]

these are some great photos. thank you

[Clifford Bossie]

If I may add a few:

[Clifford Bossie]

Any USMC A-4M photos?

[Clifford Bossie]

[K5DH]

Here's a Scooter that I'll bet few of you have ever seen or heard of! During the very late 1970s and into the 1980s, this TA-4J was assigned to the Naval Weapons Center (NWC) at China Lake, California. Take a look at the nose. That white pointy thing is a guidance section from a Texas Instruments (later Raytheon) AGM-88A High-speed Anti Radar Missile (HARM). This Skyhawk was one of two at China Lake that had their nose sections modified to mount a HARM guidance section. The outputs from the missile's radar-detecting seeker were processed by a computer and fed to a video display in the Skyhawk's rear cockpit. The back-seater could fly the airplane based on the radar image on the display, thereby simulating the flight path of a HARM but without expending a missile. The aircraft were equipped with radio telemetry equipment that relayed flight data to an earth station for collection and processing. The second photo shows a closeup of a nose section that has been de-mated from the aircraft. You can see that most of the guidance section was internal to the jet's nosecone, leaving the missile's radome exposed. These are unclassified publicity photos that I obtained during my 19+ years on the HARM program at TI/Raytheon. I don't have either of the BuNos or a photo of the other TA-4J that served the program. The number "2848" on the vertical tail is not related to the BuNo.