15 October 1955: At Edwards Air Force Base, California, Lieutenant Gordon L. (“Gordo”) Gray, Jr., United States Navy, set a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record For Speed Over a Closed Circuit of 500 Kilometers when he flew a pre-production Douglas Aircraft Company YA4D-1 Skyhawk light attack bomber, Bureau of Aeronautics serial number (Bu. No.) 137820, to an average speed of 1,118.7 kilometers per hour (695.128 miles per hour).¹
The Douglas A4D-1 Skyhawk is a single-place, single-engine, delta-winged light attack bomber designed for operation from aircraft carriers. It is 39 feet, 4 inches (11.989 meters) long with a wingspan of 27 feet, 6 inches (8.382 meters) and overall height of 15 feet (4.572 meters). Its empty weight is 8,400 pounds (3,810.2 kilograms). It was powered by a Curtiss-Wright J65-W-2, a licensed-production version of the Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire axial flow turbojet engine, which had a 13-stage compressor and 2-stage turbine. It produced 7,200 pounds of thrust (32.03 kilonewtons).
The A4D was in production from 1956 to 1979. 2,960 one- and two-place aircraft were built. The Skyhawk remained in service with the United States Navy until 2003.
¹ FAI Record File Number 8859
© 2017, Bryan R. Swopes
The Skyhawk is clearly NOT a delta winged aircraft as stated in this article.
Hmmmm. Well, I could be wrong, I suppose, but these sources suggest otherwise: According to “Century of Flight,” “. . . a delta wing is a wing whose shape when viewed from above looks like a triangle, often with its tips cut off.” The U.S. Navy’s “NAVWEPS01-40-AVA-1 Flight Handbook Navy Model A4D-1 and A4D-2 Aircraft” describes the A4D as a “. . . single-place monoplane with a modified delta-planform wing. . .” According to a NACA report,”Quest for Performance: The Evolution of Modern Aircraft,” the configuration of the A4D “. . . is characterized by a cropped delta wing of 33° sweepback. . .” Another NASA report, “NASA’s Contributions to Aeronautics describes “the Douglas Company’s superlative A4D-1 Skyhawk” as a “tailed delta.” The National Naval Aviation Museum calls it “The delta-wing A-4 (A4D) Skyhawk. . .” The Museum of Flight describes them as, “stubby modified delta wings. . .” The Oregon Air and Space Museum writes about the “simple yet extremely strong modified delta platform [sic] wing. . . ” The Western Museum of Flight states that the A-4A Skyhawk is “delta-winged.” Skytamer refers to Ed Heinemann’s “choice of a delta wing. . .” The A-4 Skyhawk Association website has a photograph with the caption, “A-4 Delta Wing Assembly Line.” There are another four photographs on that site identified as “Douglas photo of the A-4 Delta Wing.”
The A-4 was a “Delta with a flair.” Style never fails to exert its pull.
Wasn’t the Skyhawk called “Heineman’s Hot Rod” after Ed Heineman?
That sounds familiar. 🙂
Yes it is
It definitely is a delta wing aircraft, it just also has a conventional horizontal stabilizer, as opposed to having no horizontal tail, as in the Convair F-102/106 or Concorde. Delta refers to the shape of the wing, not on whether there’s a horizontal tail or not.
Tinker Toy Bomber!
The “Scooter.”
A true delta wing has specific airflow around it at high angles of attack. I don’t think the A4 wing has that. Maybe because the leading edge sweep is only 33°
The late John McCain was shot down over Hanoi in his Scooter and became guest at the Hanoi Hilton for 7 years