Did any of you fly the Skyraider............................

Check this great modeling job " 1/72 Hasegawa A-1H Skyraider 'catching a wire'" by Neil Burkill that is on this site:

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/

check under the Tuesday, January 20 postings.

Bones, I meant to get to your question, but got caught up in the other stuff!

Anyhoo, here's some links to a couple'a reviews on the 48th Tamiya A-1. I recall seing a few more, but cannot find 'em at the moment.

Tamiya 1/48 AD-4 Skyraider - This article describes how the guy backdated his A-1/AD-6.

Tamiya 1/48 A-1 Skyraider - This guy takes the USN bird and turns it into a Sandy.

I've yet to build one of these, but my overall impression just looking at the kit is that it's the nicest Skyraider out there. Hard to find a Tamiya kit these days that isn't gorgeous, but almost all of 'em seem to have at least one annoying bit. I dunno what that bit might be on this kit, however.

I built the 'ole Monogram kit years ago as a junior modeler in transition to the senior ranks and remember enjoying every second. Wish it was still around. Fell to that cat's claw long ago. Still have a crappy photo that someone in the club took of it though. Ah, memories...


Fade to Black...

The Spad was awesome to behold. While the Air Farce may have flown them in VN, the AD was primarily a Navy aircraft. I served in 1957-1961 (peacetime) and we had a squadron of AD-1's (VA-115) flying in our CAG. The buzz was that an AD could carry its own weight in armaments (bombs, rockets, 50 cal). It was fun to watch them lumber off the flight deck under their own power, while our Demons couldn't have gotten airborne without the catapult. Watching them land, was like watching a bird set down on a park bench. Our Demon landings were controlled crashes. The scariest thing about them was the prop, walking behind one in full turnup could put your ****** on the deck!

I plan to model one or two using the VA-115 markings.

Oh dang, almost forgot!

Here's a couple more links:

A-1 Skyraider Association Site
- This is where that VA-176 MiG-Killer Page came from, I believe. There's more audio on the rest of the site.

The Able Dogs



Fade to Black...

I forget the date, the mission and all that, but VA-25 dropped a toilet on Charlie during the course of operations in Vietnam. We were supposedly accused of employing biological warfare as the toilet was full to the rim. I wish I could find that photo, although it wouldn't matter much, my photo host is giving me fits. Grrrrrr.....

Anyhoo, as I said Hasegawa released the 48th Mongram A-1 in the 80's and included the toilet and markings for that bird which carried it. I think that Hasegawa also had a release of their 72nd A-1 which included the toilet. Other than that, I dunno where you can get one. Although I still have the extra sprue from my Dad's kit and have been planning on casting it in resin someday...


Fade to Black...

Here's more on the Skyraider:
.
"carrying a nuke to Sevastopol" -- what would it be like to fly a prop-driven Douglas Skyraider carrying a nuclear bomb on the first day of World War III?
http://www.danford.net/spadguy.htm
.
Byron Hukee's journal of his tour in Vietnam (This is great stuff!)
http://skyraider.org/hook/index.htm
.
Pilot's Report of an AD-5
http://www.airbum.com/pireps/PirepAD-5.html
.
So, anyway, what's up with the toilette?

Regards,

-Drew

Are there any reviews on the 1/48 Tamiya kit? How good of a kit is it?

I'd like to hear that guy's stories sometime stinger!

PS - Although they were developed in the Korean War era, they were highly under-rated. They had one of the highest armament loading capabilities of any aircraft ever built.

My friend, Jack "Hammer" never said anything about the toilet thing. What is that about anyway?

I had a good friend about ten years ago that flew Spads in VietNam fo r the Air Force. I lost touch with him about six years ago, but he told me a few things about his tours.

He had two dead stick landings.
His worst experience (most fearful) was landing with a "hung" bomb (one that didn't depart the aircraft after being pickled), His best landing ever, he said.
His favorite thing about flying over Nam........ NAPALM!!!!!!!! ( He told me that one while flying with him in his Baron, and instinctively looked back and down over his left shoulder).
He also flew more Sandy missions than he could count, most of which were on his way back to base from his bombing run.
Anyway, thought this might give you some sort of inspiration

later, Stinger

Great audio on that sight!

There's plenty of webstuff out there on Spads, but here's a link to my fave page. I usually go for websites with tons of info and photos, but this page has only one photo and a short blurb. However, at the bottom of the page is something infinitely more interesting than almost any photo or words that one could find. Check it out and see what I mean...

VA-176 MiG Killers

As to the toilet, I dunno if anyone has ever released it as an aftermarket piece or not. But it was included as an extra sprue in a Hasegawa release of the Monogram A-1H back in the early to mid 80's. Good luck trying to find one, though...


Fade to Black...