Douglas A-1 Skyraider

The mammoth Skyraider series would have been a major player in the Second World War if it were designed and produced a few years earlier than it had. Regardless, the system would prove itself quite a capable close-support aircraft through the impending Korean and Vietnam wars. The system would gain a reputation for resilience, ease of lying and payload capacity and receive a variety of major marks to boot.

The Skyraider system was initially flow in March of 1945 as the XBT2D-1 "Destroyer II" prototype aircraft. This first instance was actually designed as a carrierborne torpedo dive bomber in the vain of the SBT Dauntless before it. The system provided observers with an impressive display of its capabilities and the series was put into production shortly thereafter as the AD-1 Skyraider.

The AD-1 Skyraider was a large aircraft for it being a single-engine, single-seat low-monoplane aircraft. As such, a larger Wright series radial would be fitted to the fuselage and power the system through two major conflicts encountering low-level sorties throughout its stellar career. From the first AD-1, featuring a 2,500 horsepower engine and twin 20mm cannons to the AD-4B that was modified to be nuclear capable, the Skyraider proved its weight in gold by the sheer number of variants produced for this highly adaptable system.

Underwing stores could be carried that consisted of bombs and rockets which, when coupled with the integrated standard cannon armament, could provided a devastating punch on ground targets in the open or in hiding. The large fuselage allowed the system to be modified for more specialized roles including an anti-ship model that featured a widened fuselage to make room for a second crewmember sitting side-by-side with the pilot. The "N" model featured a crew of three personnel and was specialized in the night-fighting role.

After a stellar run of these multiple variants numbering past 3,000, production was halted. The system would later be redesignated to the more traditionally identifiable A-1 series. The Skyraider was used by both American and South Vietnamese forces in the Vietnam War.

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Last Revision: 9/3/2009