The A-4 Skyhawk is an attack aircraft originally designed to operate from United States Navy aircraft carriers. Fifty years after the type's first flight, some of the nearly 3,000 Skyhawks produced remain in service with smaller air arms around the world. The aircraft was formerly the A4D Skyhawk, and was designed by the Douglas Aircraft Corporation, later McDonnell Douglas, now Boeing.

The Skyhawk was designed by Douglas' Ed Heinemann in response to a U.S. Navy call for a jet-powered attack aircraft to replace the A-1 Skyraider. Heinemann opted for a design that would minimize size, weight, and complexity. The result was an aircraft that weighed only half of the Navy's specification and had a wing so compact that it did not need to be folded for carrier stowage. The diminutive Skyhawk soon received the nicknames "Scooter", "Bantam Bomber", "Tinker Toy Bomber", and, on account of its nimble performance, "Heinemann's Hot-Rod."

The Navy issued a contract for the type on June 12th 1952, and the first prototype first flew on June 22nd, 1954. Deliveries to Navy and U.S. Marine Corps squadrons commenced in late 1956.

The Skyhawk remained in production until 1975, with a total of 2,960 aircraft built, including 555 two-seat trainers. The US Navy began removing the aircraft from its front-line squadrons in 1967, with the last retiring in 1975. The Marines would pass on the A-7 Corsair II. The last USMC Skyhawk was delivered in 1979, and were used until the mid-1990s until they were replaced by the similarly small, but V/STOL vertical landing AV-8 Harrier.

Pictured here is a 1:72 scale RNZAF McDonnell Douglas A-4K Skyhawk attack aircraft that was attached to No.75 Squadron, then deployed to RNZAF Base Ohakea, during 1988. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 4-3/4-inches
Length: 6-3/4-inches

Release Date: June 2011

Historical Account: "Ohakea" - Located 22km West of Palmerston North, RNZAF Base Ohakea is one of the three Air Force bases. Ohakea opened in September 1939 as one of two bases for the Wellington bomber aircraft on order for the RNZAF. During World War II, Ohakea was the Air Force's main training base for aircrew undergoing operational conversion on fighters, observers/navigators for medium bombers and air gunners. After World War II, Nos 14, 42 and 75 Squadrons were reformed at Ohakea, and the Repair Depot relocated from Hamilton.

Following WWII Ohakea became the RNZAF's Strike base with Nos 14 and 75 Squadrons resident. A long time resident, No.42 Squadron was relocated to Whenuapai in 1984 to allow the reformation of No. 2 Squadron to Nowra (NSW Australia) in 1991. The strike force was disbanded in 2001. In 1993, RNZAF flying training previously carried out at Wigram by the Pilot Training Squadron and the RNZAF's Central Flying School was moved to Ohakea. No. 3 Squadron, which currently operates the Iroquois and Sioux helicopters, moved to Ohakea in January 2002.