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 USN McDonnell Douglas A-4C Skyhawk attack aircraft that was attached to VA-94 "Mighty Shrikes," then embarked upon the USS Enterprise (CVN-65), during the 1960s. Sold Out!

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

Release Date: March 2015

Historical Account: "Tough Kitties" - Strike Fighter Squadron 94 (VFA-94), also known as the Mighty Shrikes, is a United States Navy fighter squadron stationed at Naval Air Station Lemoore. It is an operational fleet squadron currently flying the F/A-18F Super Hornet. It is attached to Carrier Air Wing 17 (CVW 17) and based at NAS Lemoore, California. Its tail code is "NA" and its radio call sign is "Hobo".

The original squadron was known as the Tough Kitties and had a cartoon cat insignia. When the second squadron was formed and deployed aboard USS Hornet during its world cruise in 1954, it also used a cartoon cat insignia. There is no record of this insignia being officially approved for use by the squadron. The squadron's first official insignia was approved by Chief of Naval Operations on November 21st, 1955, and consisted of a yellow and black tiger paw with lightning bolts on a blue background. A new insignia was approved on April 21st, 1959, consisting of a dark blue stylized aircraft with above an atom symbol on a blue background. A modification to this insignia was approved on May 16th, 1967, replacing the atom symbol by a stylized bird design. The stylized bird was orange and the other colors from the previous design stayed the same.

Nicknamed the Mighty Shrikes, the squadron was named after a small carnivorous bird of prey, the loggerhead shrike. It engages in aerial combat to strike its prey in the air and on the ground, and then impales its victim on a sharp thorn.