1bigrich
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Post by 1bigrich on Aug 9, 2020 15:09:45 GMT
Over on the Naval What-ifs forum, we swerved into the topic of A-4 Skyhawks with the Royal Navy.
It reminded me of some excellent fiction by New Golconda of Warships1/Navweaps and other Yuku/Tapatalk forums. I found his story very enjoyable and interesting, perhaps others will as well.
The map for his Scooter World can be seen here:
Someone joked he accomplished what the RAF tried to do, move Australia closer to the UK....
The stories are in chapter form over at [url-https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/geopoliticshistoryandmedia/]Geopolitics, History and Media [/url][/div]
To avoid those interested searching through the fiction board there, below are links to each chapter in order:
Regards,
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Aug 9, 2020 15:13:01 GMT
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1bigrich
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Post by 1bigrich on Aug 9, 2020 15:25:12 GMT
As I recall the specification Douglas responded to was for a 30,000 lbs. aircraft. Ed Heinemann, their brilliant chief designer, responded with a (less than) 17,000 lbs. aircraft that was so small, it didn't even need folding wings.
True, it didn't carry much, but then it wasn't as big a target or as expensive as aircraft that could carry more. In its day, the Skyhawk was a workhorse, providing light daylight attack, but its performance was good and it was able to take on other roles. Some, like Singapore and New Zealand had theirs upgraded with air-to-air radar (I think like that of the F-16) so they even had an air defense role.
I've often wondered if one of those upgrades would have fit an afterburner how they would have performed....
Regards,
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Aug 9, 2020 15:28:35 GMT
As I recall the specification Douglas responded to was for a 30,000 lbs. aircraft. Ed Heinemann, their brilliant chief designer, responded with a (less than) 17,000 lbs. aircraft that was so small, it didn't even need folding wings. True, it didn't carry much, but then it wasn't as big a target or as expensive as aircraft that could carry more. In its day, the Skyhawk was a workhorse, providing light daylight attack, but its performance was good and it was able to take on other roles. Some, like Singapore and New Zealand had theirs upgraded with air-to-air radar (I think like that of the F-16) so they even had an air defense role. I've often wondered if one of those upgrades would have fit an afterburner how they would have performed.... Regards, Where did India and Australia move to:  |
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