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| Developed to satisfy a US Navy requirement of 1944 for a single-seat carrier-based dive bomber and torpedo carrier, the Douglas AD Skyraider (as it became designated) materialised too late for operational service in World War II. Ordered into production alongside the Martin AM Mauler, which had been developed to meet the same specification, it was to continue in production until 1957; although Martin's aircraft was taken off the production line after 151 had been built.
The Skyraider reflected the navy's wartime experience gained in the Pacific theatre, where it had been proved that the most important requirement for such aircraft was the ability to carry and deliver a heavy load of assorted weapons. Of low-wing monoplane configuration, a big Wright R-3350 radial engine was selected as the most suitable power plant to meet the load-carrying requirement, and this more or less dictated the fuselage proportions. The prototype XBT2D-1 flew for the first time on 18 March 1945. When production terminated 12 years later 3,180 aircraft had been built in many variants.
Although too late for World War II, Skyraiders were successfully deployed in both the Korean War and in Vietnam. Steady development led to the introduction of new power plant and equipment and the AD-5 was one of the most versatile military aircraft in US service. It differed significantly from earlier versions by having a wider and lengthened fuselage and providing side-by-side seating for two crew; specially designed quick-change kits were available so that the basic AD-5 could be utilised as a 12-seat transport, as well as for freight-carrying, ambulance and target-towing roles. When the US tri-service designations were rationalised in 1962, AD-1 to AD-7 versions became redesignated from A-1A to A-1J.
In addition to serving with the US Navy, Skyraiders have been operated also by the USAF and with the Royal Navy, French and Vietnamese Air Forces among others.
| MODEL | AD-7 (AD-1J) |
| ENGINE | 1 x Wright R-3350-26WA, 1985kW |
| WEIGHTS |
| Take-off weight | 11340 kg | 25001 lb |
| Empty weight | 4785 kg | 10549 lb |
| DIMENSIONS |
| Wingspan | 15.47 m | 51 ft 9 in |
| Length | 11.84 m | 39 ft 10 in |
| Height | 4.78 m | 16 ft 8 in |
| Wing area | 37.16 m2 | 399.99 sq ft |
| PERFORMANCE |
| Max. speed | 515 km/h | 320 mph |
| Ceiling | 7740 m | 25400 ft |
| Range | 1448 km | 900 miles |
| ARMAMENT | 4 x 20mm cannon, 3629kg of bombs |
| CDR Lanny Cox, USN (Ret), e-mail, 21.02.2010 08:14 First flew the venerable Skyraider during advanced pilot training at VT-30 in Corpus Christi, TX. Got my wings in Oct 1964, then to Lemoore, CA for more training in VA-122 with orders to join VA-152. While in VA-122, was selected to fill VAW-13's need for a Spad pilot who was already CARQUALED and who could transition quickly to the AD-5Q (EA-1F) the ECM version of the Spad. Spent 30 months (1964-67)in VAW-13, deployed to WESTPAC twice, flew 135 combat missions in support of Navy strikes over North Viet Nam, launching from the carriers Oriskany, Bon Homme Richard, Independence, Kitty Hawk, Ranger, Midway, Intrepid, Midway, Constellation, and F.D. Roosevelt. Drove Spads for over 1,200 hours and loved the airplane. Transitioned to jets in 1967 and flew the A-4 Skyhawk and A-7E Corsair II. "Jets are for kids". reply | | Ron Soule, e-mail, 20.02.2010 04:17 Flew A-1e /g /h /j's with USAF Air Commandos /Special Opns out of NKP 1968-69. The E's and G's with side-by-side seating in cockpit restricted vision out of the right side of acft, so tendency was to come off the tgt and break left. It didn't take the FNG (New Guy) long to realize the gomer gunners had this figured out -- the gunner usually drew lead to the left and the FNG conviently jinked into the ground fire. Usually only happened once. Old heads would say, "Told you not to break left." reply | | Chet Simpson, e-mail, 15.02.2010 19:43 I am looking fro some pictures from 1955--1957 of VMA-212 aircraft. While with that squadron we flew 4,276.2 hours in the month of May 1956 from MCAS Kaneohe Bay, Hawii, T.H. reply | | Larry Warren, e-mail, 15.02.2010 05:54 Great airplane and close air support weapon. Engine & Cockpit were armor plated. Equipped with 20mm guns and 13 stations from which you could fire, shoot, eject, or drop about any munition; or use three of them for fuel tanks. My first assignment out of UPT, and probably my best flying assignment. Flew with the 56th Special Ops Wing under callsigns Zorro, Sandy, Spad, Hobo, and others with the 22nd & 1st SOS at Nakhon Phanom, Thailand; and the 56th OLAA at Danang. reply | |
| | Peter Leyden, e-mail, 06.02.2010 05:28 I was attached to VAW33(1962-4) out of Quonset Point. At that time the squadron was flying AD5Q's and AD5W's Got lots of experience repairing radar equipment on the AD5W("Guppy).I only got to fly in one of our planes twice -both times to Norfolk for school. I was so worried about doing something dumb that I barely noticed anything about the plane or the flight. She was a beautiful plane, easy to work on.After I retired in 2001 I volunteered as a tour guide at the American Airpower Museum and was thrilled when an AD4N version ended up as one of our exhibits and I could show, rather than just tell visitors about "my plane".
Unfortunately the plane is now gone. The plane was called "Naked Fanny" and can be seen on the internet reply |
| CHUCK STARK USN CORPSMAN, e-mail, 05.02.2010 22:24 HERE IN THE PALM BEACH'S THERE LIVED LCDR JOHN "BUCK" BUCHANAN WHO WAS A TEST "DRIVER" FOR THIS PLANE OUT OF CHINA LAKE, CA. IN 1947. HE HAD ASKED THAT HIS PLANE BE PAINTED WITH ORANGE STRIPES AS THE DARK BLUE WAS HARD TO PICK UP IN THE PHOTOS. HE GAVE ME A COPY OF THE PIC WITH HIM STANDING NEXT THE WING. COPY IS AT THE OFFICE OF THE ASSOC. OF NAVAL AVIATION. THE STORY IS IN THE SUMMER-FALL ISSUE 2006 "WINGS OF GOLD" HE WAS A "MUSTANG" STARTING OUT AS A WHITE HAT IN 1934. HE PASSED AWAY 23 MAY 2005 WAS A HONOR AND PRIVILEGE TO HAVE KNOWN HIM. REGARDS, CHUCK reply | | John Upthegrove, e-mail, 05.09.2010 06:58 I am searching for a Skyraider Pilot who flew in Nam during 1969, call sign Sandy, Spad, or Hobo, can't remember. My call sign was Eagle Claw and was on a Praire Fire mission to rescue a recon team in Laos. My aircraft was a Marine UH-1E gunship. To make a long story short, the Skyraider Pilot was high on reserve and after we made a few passes he called and said, "you boys are having all the fun, why don't you spread out that formation of yours and let use fly between your choppers? My suprised reply...can you fly this slow??? Reply... we sure can...we did and the skyraiders did. The boys back at the base in Phu Bhi had a hard time beliving what we told them. Give me a shout if you read this... reply | | Jim Galluzzi, e-mail, 04.02.2010 06:11 USAF Retired. Had the honor of being a Maintenance Officer on this aircraft in the Air Commando Wings at Hurlburt AFB and NKP 1966 -1972. Also logged lots of flying time in the "E". One of the greatest combat aircraft ever made. reply | | Kent Sezen, e-mail, 23.01.2010 03:46 My Uncle, Robert E. Calkins fly one of these planes. Wish I had the chance to met him, but he died before I was born. reply | | M Harnetty, e-mail, 20.01.2010 05:25 ANYONE OUT THERE COULD GIVE ME THE NAME OF AN AVIATION "OUTFIT" IN THE USA, WHERE I COULD HAVE MY FRIEND, RET. COL BOB,(ONE OF THE ORIGINAL "SANDY"!) TAKE ONE LAST FLIGHT IN HIS FAVORITE WAR AIRPLANE,( WHATEVER THE COST, SORT OF.. )? HE FLEW VIETNAM 65 /66.
THANKS. M Harnetty reply | | paul amos amh-2, e-mail, 04.01.2010 01:58 was in vaw-11 and vaw-13 1959-end of 1962 love these ad's and loved to work on them reply | | JEB Stuart, e-mail, 11.12.2009 04:31 I flew 150 combat missions in 1965 and 1966 off of the Coral Sea and Intrepid with VA-165 and the SPAD brought me home every time. We had the A-H /J models. Our mounts, phased out of the Navy with VA-165, I retreated to Pensacola and flew another year, flying the A-1E with NAMI. My mission--to try to get volunteer subjects sick, with an aerobatic routine while the Flight Surgeons in back tried just the opposite with the latest anti-nausea drugs. Fun for me! reply | | BILL DAVIDSON, e-mail, 11.10.2009 22:25 Was a YN in VF-193 back in 1955 and didn't draw many flight skins but I did get the ride of my life in an AD5 from Moffett to Fallon, NV with Alan B. Shepard Jr. Didn't spend a lot of time on this trip right side up and I have told my grand children about it. reply | | Jim Merkle, e-mail, 25.09.2009 17:24 I flew Spads off the Saratoga in 1965 and our skipper "Whiskey" Bill insisted we do an endurance flight. I tooled around the med,for 13.6 hours, 2 box lunches popped some pills from the flight surgeon, and landed over the LSO's screams. reply | |
| | John Campbell, e-mail, 26.04.2009 00:28 we had an A-1E aboard the USS Intrepid, it had at one time ditched into ocean and was recovered. it spent months in re-work.On its test hop all went very well, not a glitch, but upon engageing arresting gear both external fuel tanks released and the engine mounts broke causing engine to fold away drom front of fuselage. reply | | Richard Goodrum, e-mail, 02.04.2009 00:11 I too was a member of VA176 aboard the Sexy Sara (CVA - 60 ). I remember the News Networks commenting about what was going on during the 6 day war. Then we were hearing in the squadron "Thats not what I saw". This plane was one of a kind. Able to do any task from close cover support to refueling the fuel hungry jets. The only plane since, any where similar would be the "Wart Hog". reply | | two98ZJs, e-mail, 02.03.2009 04:25 A1s, This plane was second to God's hand for the ground troops in Nam. Not too fast, plenty of hurt until the choppers could get there to slice and dice the situation. ThankYou again and Welcome Home, SPAD drivers of BienHoa, NhaTrang, Pleiku '66. You were the best.... 2 /09. reply | | LT. DAVE RANDOLPH, e-mail, 05.02.2009 03:02 WHILE ON CVA-60,USS SARATOGA, SUMMER, 1967, CAG WANTED TO PROVE THAT SKYRAIDERS COULD FLY LOW LEVEL (200' ABOVE GROUND, 100' ABOVE WATER) FROM AREAS OF THE MED TO DEEP PENETRATION OF AN ENEMY COUNTRY AND DELIVER A WEAPON. AT 6AM, CDR. JACK FRENCH (CO) AND I (GREEN ENSIGN) LAUNCHED AT SUNRISE EAST OF PALERMO, SICILY, TRAVERSED SAME AT 200' AGL AND WENT "FEET WET" AT THE FOOT OF MT. AETNA. ISLAND HOPPING THE AEGEAN, FEET DRY IN SOUTHERN TURKEY, 2 HOURS INLAND THEN REVERSE COURSE AND "FEET WET" ONCE AGAIN IN THE AEGEAN SEA. MORE ISLAND HOPPING UNTIL LANDING AT SUNSET JUST SOUTH OF THE STRAITS OF MESSINA. FLIGHT TIME WAS IN EXCESS OF 12 HOURS. ALL DONE WITH "DR" NAVIGATION A "WAC" CHARTS. THEY WORK! reply | | jack g king at1 usn ret, e-mail, 13.10.2008 23:40 in 1954 cdr nyburg and i flew one flight for 13.7 hrs off uss midway i have about 900 hrs in ad4nls and 5,s reply | | jack g king at1 usn ret, e-mail, 13.10.2008 23:35 in 1954 on the uss midway cdr nyburg and i his crewman flew 13.7 hrs in one long flight how about topping that bud reply |
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Peter, Both my wife and I are retired AF. My wife’s father Smith, David G, LT (j.g.) USNR was stationed at Quonset Point NAS from Sep 61 - Mar 62 until he was killed in an AD-5W accident on /or about 1101 /05 Mar 62. We have no solid details about how the crash occurred, but the plane was found in the Dismal Swap near Oceana NAS. Not sure when you arrived QP in 62, but if have any information concerning the crash we would greatly appreciate it.
Miles
Miles L. Kirkhuff III, Maj, USAF (Retired)
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