Douglas A - 1 Skyraider The Douglas A - 1 Skyraider ( formerly AD ) was an American single - seat attack aircraft that saw service between the late 1940s and early 1980s . It became a piston - powered , propeller - driven anachronism in the jet age , and was nicknamed " Spad " , after the French World War I fighter . The Skyraider had a remarkably long and successful career , even inspiring its straight - winged , slow - flying , jet - powered successor , the A - 10 Thunderbolt II . It was operated by the United States Navy ( USN ) , the United States Marine Corps ( USMC ) and the United States Air Force ( USAF ) , and also saw service with the British Royal Navy , the French Air Force , the Air Force of the Republic of Vietnam ( VNAF ) , and others . Design and development . The piston - engined Skyraider was designed during World War II to meet United States Navy requirements for a carrier - based , single - seat , long - range , high performance dive / torpedo bomber , to follow - on from earlier types such as the Helldiver and Avenger . Designed by Ed Heinemann of the Douglas Aircraft Company , prototypes were ordered on 6 July 1944 as the XBT2D - 1 . The XBT2D - 1 made its first flight on 18 March 1945 and in April 1945 , the USN began evaluation of the aircraft at the Naval Air Test Center ( NATC ) . In December 1946 , after a designation change to AD - 1 , delivery of the first production aircraft to a fleet squadron was made to VA - 19A . The AD - 1 was built at Douglas ' El Segundo plant in Southern California . In his memoir " The Lonely Sky " , test pilot Bill Bridgeman quotes a production rate of two aircraft per day , describing the routine yet sometimes hazardous work of certifying AD - 1s fresh off the assembly line for delivery to the U . S . Navy in 1949 and 1950 . The low - wing monoplane design started with a Wright R - 3350 radial engine , later upgraded several times . Its distinctive feature was large straight wings with seven hard points apiece . These gave the aircraft excellent low - speed maneuverability , and enabled it to carry a large amount of ordnance ( more than its own weight in weapons ) over a considerable combat radius and loiter time for its size , comparable to much heavier subsonic or supersonic jets . The aircraft was optimized for the ground - attack mission and was armored against ground fire in key locations unlike faster fighters adapted to carry bombs , such as the Vought F4U Corsair or North American P - 51 Mustang , which would be retired by U . S . forces before the 1960s . Shortly after Heinemann began design of the XBT2D - 1 , a study was issued that showed for every of weight reduction the take - off run was decreased by , the combat radius increased by and the rate of climb increased by . Heinemann immediately had his design engineers begin a program of finding weight saving on the XBT2D - 1 design no matter how small . Simplyfing the fuel system found ; by eliminating an internal bomb bay and hanging the bombs , drop tanks and rockets from the wings or fuselage ; by using a fuselage dive brake ; and 100 lb by using an older tail wheel design . In the end , Heinemann and his design engineers found over of weight savings on the original XBT2D - 1 design . Navy AD series were initially painted in ANA 623 Glossy Sea Blue , but during the 1950s following the Korean War , the color scheme was changed to light gull grey ( FS26440 ) and white ( FS27875 ) . Initially using the gray and white Navy pattern , by 1967 the USAF began to paint its Skyraiders in a camouflaged pattern using two shades of green , and one of tan . Used by the USN over Korea and Vietnam , the A - 1 was a primary close air support aircraft for the USAF and VNAF during the Vietnam War . The A - 1 was famous for being able to take hits and keep flying . There was added armor plating around the cockpit area for added pilot protection . It was replaced beginning in the mid - 1960s by the Grumman A - 6 Intruder as the Navy ' s primary medium attack plane in supercarrier - based air wings ; however Skyraiders continued to operate from the smaller Essex class carrier s . The Skyraider went through seven versions , starting with the AD - 1 , then AD - 2 and AD - 3 with various minor improvements , then the AD - 4 with a more powerful R - 3350 - 26WA engine . The AD - 5 was significantly widened , allowing two crew to sit side - by - side ( this was not the first multiple - crew variant , the AD - 1Q being a two - seater and the AD - 3N a three - seater ) ; it also came in a four - seat night - attack version , the AD - 5N . The AD - 6 was an improved AD - 4B with improved low - level bombing equipment , and the final production version AD - 7 was upgraded to a R - 3350 - 26WB engine . For service in Vietnam , USAF Skyraiders were fitted with the Stanley Yankee extraction system , which acted similarly to an ejection seat though with a twin rocket pulling the escaping pilot from the cockpit . In addition to serving during Korea and Vietnam as an attack aircraft , the Skyraider was modified into a carrier - based airborne early warning aircraft , replacing the Grumman TBM - 3W Avenger . It served in this function in the USN and Royal Navy , being replaced by the Grumman E - 1 Tracer and Fairey Gannet respectively in those services . Skyraider production ended in 1957 with a total of 3 , 180 built . In 1962 , the existing Skyraiders were redesignated A - 1D through A - 1J and later used by both the USAF and the Navy in the Vietnam War . Operational history . Korean War . Though the Skyraider was produced too late to take part in World War II , it became the backbone of United States Navy aircraft carrier and United States Marine Corps ( USMC ) strike aircraft sorties in the Korean War ( 1950 – 1953 ) , with the first ADs going into action from the with VA - 55 on 3 July 1950 . Its weapons load and 10 - hour flying time far surpassed the jets that were available at the time . On 2 May 1951 , Skyraiders made the only aerial torpedo attack of the war , hitting the Hwacheon Dam , then controlled by North Korea . On 16 June 1953 , a USMC AD - 4 from VMC - 1 piloted by Major George H . Linnemeier and CWO Vernon S . Kramer shot down a Soviet - built Polikarpov Po - 2 biplane , the only documented Skyraider air victory of the war . AD - 3N and - 4N aircraft carrying bombs and flares flew night - attack sorties , and radar - equipped ADs carried out radar - jamming missions from carriers and land bases . During the Korean War , A - 1 Skyraiders were flown only by the U . S . Navy and U . S . Marine Corps , and were normally painted in dark navy blue . It was called the " Blue Plane " by enemy troops . A total of 128 Navy and Marine AD Skyraiders were lost in the Korean War - 101 in combat and 27 to operational causes . Most operational losses were due to the tremendous power of the AD . ADs that were " waved - off " during carrier recovery operations were prone to perform a fatal torque roll into the sea or the deck of the aircraft carrier if the pilot mistakenly gave the AD too much throttle . The torque of the engine is so great it would cause the aircraft to rotate about the propeller and slam into the ground or the carrier . Cathay Pacific VR - HEU Incident . On 26 July 1954 , two Douglas Skyraiders from the aircraft carriers and shot down two Chinese People ' s Liberation Army Air Force La - 9 s off the coast of Hainan Island while searching for survivors after the shooting down of a Cathay Pacific Skymaster airliner three days previously , also by La - 9s . Vietnam War . As American involvement in the Vietnam War began , the A - 1 Skyraider was still the medium attack aircraft in many carrier air wing s , although it was planned to be replaced by the A - 6A Intruder as part of the general switch to jet aircraft . Skyraiders from and participated in the first U . S . Navy strikes against North Vietnam on 5 August 1964 as part of Operation Pierce Arrow in response to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident , striking against fuel depots at Vinh , with one Skyraider from " Ticonderoga " damaged by anti - aircraft fire , and a second from " Constellation " shot down , killing its pilot . During the war , U . S . Navy Skyraiders shot down two North Vietnamese Air Force ( NVAF ) Mikoyan - Gurevich MiG - 17 jet fighters : one on 20 June 1965 , a victory shared by Lieutenant Clinton B . Johnson and Lieutenant , junior grade Charles W . Hartman III of VA - 25 ; and one on 9 October 1966 by LTJG William T . Patton of VA - 176 . While on his very first mission , Navy pilot LTJG Dieter Dengler took damage to his A - 1H over Vietnam on 1 February 1966 , and crash - landed in Laos . As they were released from U . S . Navy service , Skyraiders were introduced into the South Vietnamese Air Force ( VNAF ) . They were also used by the USAF to perform one of the Skyraider ' s most famous roles : the " Sandy " helicopter escort on combat rescues . USAF Major Bernard F . Fisher piloted an A - 1E on 10 March 1966 mission for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor for rescuing Major " Jump " Myers at A Shau Special Forces Camp . USAF Colonel William A . Jones , III piloted an A - 1H on 1 September 1968 mission for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor . In that mission , despite damage to his aircraft and suffering serious burns , he returned to his base and reported the position of a downed U . S . airman . After November 1972 , all A - 1s in U . S . service in Southeast Asia were transferred to the South Vietnamese Air Force ( VNAF ) and their roles taken over by the subsonic LTV A - 7 Corsair II . The Skyraider in Vietnam pioneered the concept of tough , survivable aircraft with long loiter times and large ordnance loads . The USAF lost 201 Skyraiders to all causes in Southeast Asia , while the Navy lost 65 to all causes . Of the 266 lost A - 1s , five were shot down by surface - to - air missiles ( SAMs ) , and three were shot down in air - to - air combat ; two by North Vietnamese MiG - 17s . The first A - 1 was shot down on 29 April 1966 , and the second A - 1 was lost on 19 April 1967 ; both were from the 602 Air Commando Squadron ( ACS ) . The third A - 1 Skyraider was from Squadron VA - 35 and was lost to a Chinese MiG - 19 ( J - 6 ) on 14 February 1968 . Lieutenant ( j . g . ) Joseph P . Dunn , USN , had flown too close to the Chinese held island of Hainan , and had been intercepted . Lieutenant Dunn ' s A - 1 Skyraider was the last U . S . Navy A - 1 lost in the war . He did not survive . Shortly thereafter , A - 1 Skyraider naval squadrons transitioned to the A - 6 Intruder , A - 7 Corsair II or Douglas A - 4 Skyhawk . In contrast to the Korean War , fought a decade earlier , the U . S . Air Force used the naval A - 1 Skyraider for the first time in Vietnam . As the Vietnam War progressed , USAF A - 1s were painted in camouflage , while USN A - 1 Skyraiders were gray / white in color ; again , in contrast to the Korean War , when A - 1s were painted dark blue . In October 1965 , to highlight the dropping of the six millionth pound of ordnance , Commander Clarence J . Stoddard of Attack Squadron 25 ( VA - 25 ) , flying an A - 1H , dropped a special , one - time - only object in addition to his other munitions – a toilet ( " see photos at reference " ) . South Vietnamese Air Force . The A - 1 Skyraider was the close air support workhorse of the South Vietnamese Air Force ( VNAF ) for much of the Vietnam War . The U . S . Navy began to transfer some of its Skyraiders to the VNAF in September 1960 , replacing the VNAF ' s older Grumman F8F Bearcat s . By 1962 the VNAF had 22 of the aircraft in its inventory , and by 1968 an additional 131 aircraft had been received . Initially Navy aviators and crews were responsible for training their South Vietnamese counterparts on the aircraft , but over time responsibility was gradually transferred to the USAF . The initial trainees were selected from among VNAF Bearcat pilots who had accumulated 800 to 1200 hours flying time . They were trained at NAS Corpus Christi , Texas , and then sent to NAS Lemoore , California for further training . Navy pilots and crews in Vietnam checked out the Skyraiders that were being transferred to the VNAF , and conducted courses for VNAF ground crews . Over the course of the war , the VNAF acquired a total of 308 Skyraiders , and was operating six A - 1 squadrons by the end of 1965 . These were reduced during the period of Vietnamization from 1968 to 1972 , as the U . S . began to supply the South Vietnamese with more modern close air support aircraft , such as the Cessna A - 37 and Northrop F - 5 , and at the beginning of 1968 , only three of its squadrons were flying A - 1s . As the U . S . ended its direct involvement in the war , it transferred the remainder of its Skyraiders to the South Vietnamese , and by 1973 , all remaining Skyraiders in U . S . inventories had been turned over to the VNAF . Unlike their American counterparts , whose combat tours were generally limited to 12 months , individual South Vietnamese Skyraider pilots ran up many thousands of combat hours in the A - 1 , and many senior VNAF pilots were extremely skilled in the operation of the aircraft . Great Britain . The Royal Navy acquired 50 AD - 4W early warning aircraft in 1951 through the Military Assistance Program . All Skyraider AEW . 1s were operated by 849 Naval Air Squadron , which provided four - plane detachments for the British carriers . One flight aboard took part in the Suez Crisis in 1956 . 778 Naval Air Squadron was responsible for the training of the Skyraider crews at RNAS Culdrose . In 1960 , the Fairey Gannet AEW . 3 replaced the Skyraiders , using the APS - 20 radar of the Douglas aircraft . The last British Skyraiders were retired in 1962 . In the late 1960s , the APS - 20 radars from the Skyraiders were installed in Avro Shackleton AEW . 2s of the Royal Air Force which were finally retired in 1991 . Sweden . Fourteen British AEW . 1 Skyraiders were sold to Sweden to be used by " Svensk Flygtjänst AB " between 1962 and 1974 . All military equipment was removed and the aircraft were used as target tug s with the Swedish armed forces . France . The French Air Force bought 20 ex - USN AD - 4s as well as 88 ex - USN AD - 4Ns and five ex - USN AD - 4NAs with the former three - seaters modified as single - seat aircraft with removal of the radar equipment and the two operator stations from the rear fuselage . The AD - 4N / NAs were initially acquired in 1956 to replace aging Republic P - 47 Thunderbolt s in Algeria . The Skyraiders were first ordered in 1956 and the first was handed over to the French Air Force on 6 February 1958 after being overhauled and fitted with some French equipment by Sud - Aviation . The aircraft were used until the end of the Algerian war . The aircraft were used by the 20e " Escadre de Chasse " ( EC 1 / 20 " Aures Nementcha " , EC 2 / 20 " Ouarsenis " and EC 3 / 20 " Oranie " ) and EC 21 in the close air support role armed with rockets , bombs and napalm . The Skyraiders had only a short career in Algeria . But they nonetheless proved to be the most successful of all the ad hoc COIN aircraft deployed by the French . The Skyraider remained in limited French service until the 1970s . They were heavily involved in the civil war in Chad , at first with the " Armée de l ' Air " , and later with a nominally independent local air force staffed by French mercenaries . The aircraft also operated under the French flag in Djibouti and on the island of Madagascar . When France at last relinquished the Skyraiders it passed the survivors on to client states , including Gabon , Chad , Cambodia and the Central African Republic . ( several aircraft from Gabon and Chad have been recovered recently by French warbird enthusiasts and entered on the French civil register ) . The French frequently used the aft station to carry maintenance personnel , spare parts and supplies to forward bases . In Chad they even used the aft station for a " bombardier " and his " special stores " – empty beer bottles – as these were considered as non - lethal weapon s , thus not breaking the government - imposed rules of engagement , during operations against Libyan - supported rebels in the late 1960s and early 1970s . Notable appearances in media . The A - 1 Skyraider received various nicknames including : " Spad " and " Super Spad " ( derived from the aircraft ' s AD designation , its relative longevity in service and an allusion to the " Spad " aircraft of World War I ) , " Able Dog " ( phonetic AD ) , " the Destroyer " , " Hobo " ( radio call sign of the USAF 1st Air Commando / 1st Special Operations Squadron ) , " Firefly " ( a call sign of the 602nd ACS / SOS ) , " Zorro " ( the call sign of the 22nd SOS ) , " The Big Gun " , " Old Faithful " , " Old Miscellaneous " , " Fat Face " ( AD - 5 / A - 1E version , side - by - side seating ) , " Guppy " ( AD - 5W version ) , " Q - Bird " ( AD - 1Q / AD - 5Q versions ) , " Flying Dumptruck " ( A - 1E ) , " Sandy " ( the 602nd ACS / SOS call sign for Combat Search And Rescue helicopter escort ) , and " Crazy Water Buffalo " ( South Vietnamese nickname ) . While the Skyraider is not as iconic as some other aircraft , it has been featured in some Vietnam - era films such as " The Green Berets " ( 1968 ) , " Flight of the Intruder " ( 1991 ) flying as Sandy escort , and in " We Were Soldiers " ( 2002 ) in the ground support role . The Skyraider also played a computer - generated role in Werner Herzog ' s " Rescue Dawn " ( 2007 ) . Skyraiders were also featured in the classic Korean War movie " The Bridges at Toko - Ri " ( 1953 ) . A formation of U . S . Navy A - 1s stood in for U . S . Army Air Force P - 47s in the 1962 film , " The Longest Day " .