Flight Handbook: Navy Model A4D-1, A4D-2, Aircraft; NAVWEPS 01-40AVA-1
Washington DC: United States Navy, Office of the Chief of the Bureau of Naval Weapons, 1961. Revised version. Wraps. Five-hole punched and stapled at left side. Ink notation on front cover. Front and back cover stiff card. [6], iv, 142 pages. Illustrations (diagrams, drawings, photographs, some with color). This version canceled or previously incorporated Interim Revisions Nos 1 through 33. Interim Revision No. 34 is incorporated in this version. Interim revision No. 35 is included between the front cover and title page. Interim Revision No. 37 laid in (1 page, with ink notation and frayed fore-edge), and states that Interim revision No. 36 had been canceled). This includes the following sections: Description, Normal Procedures, Emergency Procedures, Auxiliary Equipment, Operating Limitations, Flight Characteristics, System Operation, Crew Duties, All Weather Operation, and Index. The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is a single-seat subsonic carrier-capable light attack aircraft developed for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps in the early 1950s. The delta-winged, single turbojet engine Skyhawk was designed and produced by Douglas Aircraft Company, and later by McDonnell Douglas. It was originally designated A4D under the U.S. Navy's pre-1962 designation system. The Skyhawk is a relatively lightweight aircraft, with a maximum takeoff weight of 24,500 pounds (11,100 kg), and has a top speed of 670 miles per hour (1,080 km/h). The aircraft's five hardpoints support a variety of missiles, bombs, and other munitions. It is capable of carrying a bomb load equivalent to that of a World War II–era Boeing B-17 bomber, and can deliver nuclear weapons using a low-altitude bombing system and a "loft" delivery technique. The A-4 was originally powered by the Wright J65 turbojet engine; from the A-4E onwards, the Pratt & Whitney J52 engine was used. The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is a very versatile light attack-bomber that has been a U.S. Navy first-line aircraft for many years. Despite its relatively small size, it is able to carry a large and varied assortment of aerial weapons. In the early 1950s some of the aircraft design group at the Douglas Aircraft Company became concerned by the trend toward increasing complexity and weight in combat aircraft. The group, led by Ed Heinemann, whose design philosophy was to "Simplicate and Add Lightness," proposed a new attack plane with a gross weight of about half the official specification weight of 30,000 lb. The A4D-1 was the first production version of the Skyhawk. The first A4D-1 (BuNo 137813) took off on its first flight on August 14, 1954, only two months after the first flight of the prototype XA4D-1. A total of 165 A4D-1s were built, the last one being delivered in 1957. The A4D-1 was much the same as the XA4D-1, but differed from the XA4D-1 in having a "sugar scoop"-shaped jet tailpipe fairing., and was fitted with an arrester hook. All three weapons pylons were fitted, one underneath the fuselage centerline and one underneath each wing just outboard of the main landing gear. Up to 5000 pounds of ordinance could be carried on the three underwing pylons. Alternatively, up to three drop tanks could be carried, with a combined capacity of 800 gallons. A large blade antenna for the UHF radio was installed immediately aft of the cockpit. The frameless windshield of the XA4D-1 was replaced by a framed windscreen. An internal armament of two 20-mm Colt Mk 12 cannon was fitted, one gun in each wing root, with 100 rounds per gun. The aircraft did not carry any radar, the nose cone being filled with avionics equipment. The A4D-1 was powered by the 7700 lb.s.t Wright J65-W-4 or W-4B turbojet. The next model of the Skyhawk was the A4D-2 (A-4B), which included provisions for inflight refueling (both as a receiver and as a tanker), a powered rudder, and some structural strengthening. The A4D-2N (A-4C), first flown in 1959, incorporated radar in the nose and an improved ejection seat. Condition: Good.
Keywords: Douglas Skyhawk, Naval Aircraft, Emergency Procedures, Auxiliary Equipment, Flight Characteristics, System Operation, Crew Duties, All Weather Operation, Cockpit, Underwater Escape, Harness Release, Survival Gear
[Book #81079]
Price: $125.00