THE "BIG IRON BEAST" OF WARBIRDS

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DOUGLAS A-1 SKYRAIDER
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INTRODUCTION: Would you believe that there was in World War II, a single-engine "fighter-type" plane, that could carry more ordnance than the multi-engine bombers---B17, B 25, and a number of others.  It was the Douglas A-1 Skyraider, that went into service, but not action, right at the end of WWII. It proved to be one of the great planes in the history of U.S. military aviation.
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Most of us little Clovis kids that grew up in WWII were simply inundated with the whole thing---constant war news on the radio, and early on---most of it bad. We soon were caught up in all kinds of drives for scrap material: paper, rubber, aluminum, tin foil, bacon grease, and stuff I can't even remember. Almost everything---gasoline, sugar, coffee, shoes, some clothes, candy, and chewing gum, and I don't know whatall--- was eventually rationed.

We boys were, as that war went along, interested in all the warplanes. We read "Dave Dawson in the R.A.F.," built model planes of all kinds, and watched, sometimes open-mouthed, as bombers of various kinds, endlessly droned around the outskirts of Clovis. These planes were crewed by men in training to head overseas; a major military airbase was five miles west of town.

All the boys had their favorite planes! I guess we all loved the B17, that tough four-engine bomber---the main U.S. bomber in the European Theater. Much history and many stories accrue to that plane...My "really-favorite-one," was the Doolittle Tokyo Raider's B-25, two-engine bomber, the plane shown in our favorite movie---"Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo!"

But many years later, long after WWII, I came to greatly admire a plane from that war---one that never fired a round in anger--that I know of during that war. It was the Douglas A-1 Skyraider. Having read a considerable amount of history on WWII and the Viet Nam war, when I encountered this plane and its history, I was totally amazed, and remain so to this day!

                                            DOUGLAS A-1 SKYRAIDER
                                       INFORMATION//SPECIFICATIONS
                                      (There were seven models; specs vary.)

ROLE---Attack aircraft
ORIGIN--- United States
MANUFACTURER---Douglas Aircraft Compnay
FIRST FLIGHT---18 March 1945
INTRODUCTION ---1946
PRIMARY USERS---
    United States Navy
    United States Air Force
    Royal Navy
    S. Vietnamese Air Force
PRODUCED---1945--1957
NUMBER BUILT---3,150
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ARMAMENT--- Four 20 mm cannons; wide assortment of bombs, rockets, mines, grenades, flares, and gun pods; fifteen external hard points for ordnance

ENGINE---Wright R-3350, 18 cylinder, twin-row radials

MAX SPEED---325 mph
CRIUSE SPEED---198 mph
RANGE---1500 miles
SERVICE CEILING---28,500 feet
MAX TAKEOFF WEIGHT--- 24, 872 lbs.
WEIGHT EMPTY---11,965 lbs.
LENGTH---38 feet, 10 inches
WINGSPAN---50 feet
HEIGHT---15 feet, 8 inches
RATE OF CLIMB---2,850 feet per minute
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                                          IMPORTANT FACTS TO KNOW

1. The lifting  power of a Douglas A-1 Skyraider was so great that it was capable of carrying more guns and bombs than a fully-loaded B17 of WWII. It could carry more weight in ordnance than its own weight. It was flown by a single pilot. Its engine and torque were so powerful, that on carrier "wave-offs," care had to be taken when suddenly going to full power. lest the plane rotate and crash.

2. It was the LAST piston engine combat aircraft that was used by all our armed forces.

3. It was designed during WWII to meet Naval requirements for a carrier-based, single-seat, long-range, high performance dive//torpedo bomber. The plan was to use it to replace the older Hellcat and the Avenger. Prototypes were ordered on 6 July 1944, and it made its first flight 18 March 1945. As stated, it barely missed being used in WWII.

4. At least seven models//variations evolved over time, including two, three, and four-seat models. They were nicknamed in Viet Nam---"Spads," "Big Iron Beasts," and "Sandys," from their rescue squadron's call sign--"the Sandys."

5. For reasons not entirely clear to this writer, the workhorse Wright R-3350 twin-row radial engines in the A-1 were notorious oil burners---to the extent that the joke was---"It burns more oil in an hour than you car burns gasoline."

  6. Though not designed for or capable of supersonic speed and air-to-air combat with jets, it is reported that an A-1 did down an enemy jet in the Viet Nam war.

  7. The number of A-1 Skyraiders manufactured, 3,150, is a sizeable number when you consider that that number is about 20 plus % of the number of each of the B-17 and the B-24 totals manufactured in WWII.

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    The plane came into it's own in Viet Nam as a close-ground-support aircraft; in a jet age, its ability to fly slower was an asset. It bombed supply routes. Its main and most important use was in helping rescue downed fliers, all over Viet Nam. It carried plenty of ordnance of all kinds and had the ability to linger long periods over the target area (the downed flier) and protect him from encroaching  ground searchers, by constant strafing, bombing, and rocket runs, while a rescue copter team was in route. A supersonic jet was much too fast and fuel-consuming for such a feat, and the turning radii of jets was likely 10-15 miles, whereas an A-1 could probably turn in 4 or 5 miles.

Think how you might feel, in Viet Nam, 10,000 miles from home, your plane just shot out from under you, you bailed out and may have been injured and/or severely shaken up, and there you are---in a hot steaming 110 degree jungle with the enemy closing in around you. It would be nice to have an A-1 pilot making countless runs over your head, keeping you safe, until a copter team could arrive. Keep in mind that this A-1 pilot has probably done a good many dangerous missions like this before, he is a sitting duck up there, and he has a wife and kids back home that he'd like to see again too.

There are a number of good books out there on the A-1 Skyraider, all available from Amazon. "CHEATING  DEATH," by  Captain George J. Marrett is one of the best. He flew 188 rescue missions in the A-1, and finished his career as a test pilot, testing forty different military planes.

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BY MIL
1/24/13



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