A-4F Skyhawk

A-4F Skyhawk. Millville Army Air Field Museum. , The Millville Army Air Field Museum's Skyhawk was assigned to Attack Squadron 192 (VA-192) aboard the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany (CVA-34) on April 2, 1968 to commence its first Vietnam War combat tour. From May 19 to June 27, 1971 VA-192 operated from Naval Air Station Lemoore, CA for flight training. On June 28, 1971, it was transferred to VA-55 and went aboard the USS Hancock’s (CVA-19) for combat operations in Southeast Asia. On the USS Hancock’s return to the United States, on May 7, 1973, VA-55 went ashore to operate from NAS Lemoore once again. This transfer signaled the end to Skyhawk 154200’s combat record. , , The Millville Army Air Field Museum is fortunate to be one of a very few air museums in the United States to have a true combat aircraft in its inventory., Specifications: , Wingspan-27 ft, 6 in. , Length-40 ft, 1 and ½ in. , Height 15 ft. 2 in. , Empty Weight-9,284 lbs. , Max Loaded Weight (carrier)-24,400 lbs. , Max. Loaded (airfield)-27,420 lbs. , Max Speed (clean)-680 mph. , Range (with max. bomb load)-920 miles. , Range (with max. fuel load)-2,000 miles. Engine-One Pratt and Whitney J-56-6 turbojet with 9,300 lbs. thrust. , Armament-One Mark 12 20mm cannon in each wing (near fuselage). , Max. Bomb Load-10,000 lb of various ordnance (rockets, bombs, missiles, etc.), The A-4 Skyhawk was created by Ed Helnemann at Douglas Aircraft Co. in June of 1952. It was approved by the U.S. Navy on June 22, 1954 and went on to exceed all Navy requirements for an aircraft carrier based bomber. Called the “Bantam Bomber”, “Scooter”, “Hot Rod”, “Ford”, and “Tinkertoy”. It remained in production for 26 years. Deliveries totaled 2,960 air frames of all different models (America used: A-4A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, L, M and N. Foreign used: A-4B, G, H, J, N, P, Q, and S). The A-4 models used in the Vietnam War included the A-4B, A-4C, A-4D, A-4E, A-4F, A-4M and the two-seat TA-4F. The first Skyhawks to see action in the Vietnam War were A-4C’s. In August, 1964, while the last were the markedly improved A-4Ms. The A-4F displayed here was accepted by the U.S. Navy on June 26, 1967 in Long Beach CA. It was decommissioned on September 30, 1992 while assigned to Composite Fighter Squadron 12 (VCF-12) at MAS Oceana, VA. It is distinctive among earlier Skyhawks due to the long electronics “hump” on top of its fuselage. This feature was deemed necessary to house additional electronic countermeasures “black box” due to the extremely lethal-anti-craft missile treat experienced over North Vietnam.