Douglas A-1, A-2, A-3, A-4 : livres - histoire et technique

Douglas A-1 Skyraider (WarbirdTech)

Solid technical coverage of the Douglas A-1 Skyraider, a long-lived aircraft that served from the end of WWII through Vietnam. Includes its many models and variants, technical drawings and construction and maintenance photos.

Douglas A-1 Skyraider Manual (1945-1985) - The legendary US post-war single seat-attack aircraft (Haynes Aircraft Manual)

The Douglas Skyraider enjoyed a long and successful combat career with the US Navy and US Marine Corps flying off aircraft carriers in the Korean War (1950-53); during the Vietnam War (1964-72) with the US Navy, USAF and South Vietnamese Air Force as a close air-support aircraft; with the French Air Force in the Algerian War of the 1960s, and with mercenary pilots in the 1970s during the civil war in Chad.
Centrepiece of this manual is Kennet Aviation's AD-4NA Skyraider, G-RADR, a combat veteran with a richly documented service history.

Author Tony Hoskins is a Deputy Chief Engineer of Kennet Aviation, a specialist warbird restoration company whose aircraft include Douglas Skyraider G-RADR. As well as undertaking aircraft restoration in his Sussex workshop, Tony also collaborates with other warbird operators.

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Douglas A-1 Skyraider - A Photo Chronicle

An illustrated book dedicated to the famed Douglas A-1 Skyraider in Korea and Vietnam, emphasizing its great ground assault capabilities.

AD Skyraider Units of the Korean War (Osprey)

The Douglas AD Skyraider is considered the most effective naval aircraft of the Korean War despite the emergence of new jet fighters that captured public imagination.
Built to replace the World War 2 workhorses like the Dauntless, Helldiver and Avenger diveand torpedo-bombers, the Skyraider operated numerous combat missions from carrier decks and from US Marine Corps land bases throughout the conflict.

Drawing from personal interviews with AD pilots, the authors paint a harrowing picture of the deadly combat of this often forgotten air war as pilots took on Chinese and North Korean forces during daring night attacks and whilst outnumbered in daytime attacks.

Contents: Stemming the Communist Tide - Enter the Chinese - Close Air Support-Protecting the Troops - Interdicting the Roads and Railways in North Korea - Memorable Mission Accounts of the Pilots - Appendices.

A-1 Skyraider Units of the Vietnam War (Osprey)

Nicknamed the 'flying dump truck', the A-1 was a key component in naval air wings from the end of World War II into the 1960s, allowing the aircraft to play its part in the escalating conflict in Vietnam. Both A-1 attack and EA-1F airborne early warning aircraft saw action in Southeast Asia from 1960 through 1969, when the last examples were finally retired from carrier decks. The A-1s in particular bombed targets in both North and South Vietnam, despite the aircraft being highly vulnerable to enemy flak and fighters.
Co-written by a two-tour Vietnam War combat veteran in the A-1, this is the first book that focuses exclusively on the aircraft's service in Vietnam.

Contents:
Chapter 1 - 1960-1962
Chapter 2 - 1960-1964
Chapter 3 - 1964-1965
Chapter 4 - 1965-1966
Chapter 5 - 1966-1969
Appendices

USAF and VNAF A-1 Skyraider Units of the Vietnam War (Osprey)

USAF Skyraider units were originally tasked to serve as quasi-training units for the fledgling VNAF. Equipped only with the two-seat models of the Skyraider, American pilots were required to have VNAF 'observers' in the aircraft for every mission. Eventually, this arrangement was changed as enough Vietnamese pilots were trained to man their own squadrons, while USAF squadrons were tasked with close support for US ground forces.
Eventually, no fewer than four USAF and seven VNAF Skyraider units saw service in Vietnam. Additionally, one A-1 training squadron flew from Hurlburt Field, Florida, throughout the Vietnam War era. In the ten years that this squadron was active, nearly 1000 USAF and 300 VNAF pilots were trained in the Skyraider.
While the core mission of all Skyraider squadrons was Close Air Support (CAS), other missions were accomplished at various times. Among these were Search and Rescue (SAR), night interdiction on the Ho Chi Minh trail, helicopter escort and special forces support to name but a few. Each of these missions took full advantage of the Skyraider's ability to deliver a variety of munitions in close proximity to friendly forces while inflicting heavy casualties on enemy forces.

Contents: Introduction - Skyraider and its ordnance - Original Skyraider units - Follow-on Skyraider units - Final Skyraider units - Appendices.

Douglas Skyshark A2d Turbo-Prop Attack (Naval Fighters)

First published in 1997, the book chronicles the short life of the XT-40 powered turbo-prop Douglas A2D Skyshark. It was dubbed later in life as "Son of Spad", Spad being the popular nickname for the AD/A-1 Skyraider.
The aircraft produced an unprecedented amount of power, vibration and noise which along with the troublesome power plant eventually doomed the project. If the project had been successful this would have been the Navys heavy lifter with 22-hard points for hanging ordnance.

Douglas A-3 Skywarrior - Pilot's Flight Operation Instructions

Nicknamed "The Whale" due to its enormous size and weight, the Navy's A-3 Skywarrior was one of the longest serving, carrier-based jet aircraft. Designed by famed Douglas engineer Ed Heinemann, the A-3 featured a 36Á swept wing, semi-monocoque fuselage, and two J57 turbojets in underwing nacelles. It typically carried a crew of three in a frame canopy with the pilot and bombardier/navigator sitting side by side.

The A-3 was an outgrowth of a development program that dated to 1948 and was intended to serve as a strategic bomber. The prototype XA3D-1 first flew in 1952. Production problems pushed back introduction of the first A3D-1 aircraft to 1956, and 282 left the assembly line by the time production ceased in 1961. By that time the aircraft's role as a nuclear delivery platform had been handed off to the A3J Vigilante.
Skywarriors served in Vietnam as conventional bombers and in other capacities including as an electronic warfare platform (designated EA-3B), as tactical reconnaissance and photography platform (RA-3B), and as a refueling aircraft (KA-3B). The EA-3B also performed critical functions for the fleet as electronic intelligence gathering platforms, and could carry a crew of up to seven. EA-3Bs participated in the Gulf War in 1991 before being retired by the Navy.

Originally created in 1968 and revised in 1970, this Skywarrior instruction manual was standard issue for Navy pilots and crews, and features the A-3A / A-3B aircraft. In its pages you will find a description of the aircraft, performance data, and normal and emergency operations procedures.
Originally "restricted", this manual was declassified years ago and is here reprinted in book form, in its entirety.

A-3 Skywarrior Units of the Vietnam War (Osprey)

The Douglas A-3 Skywarrior, though something of a cult favourite, remains a largely unremarked classic of Naval Aviation. Built for nuclear weapon delivery, the A-3 made its name in Vietnam as a conventional bomber, tanker and Electronic Warfare platform. It was the largest aircraft ever regularly operated from the decks of aircraft carriers, earning it the fleet-wide nickname 'Whale'. It excelled in every mission area assigned to it and operated in the US Navy for more than four decades, from 1956 through to 1991.
Fully illustrated to depict the incredible array of paint schemes and its awesome size, this volume focuses on the type's Vietnam service, which saw the aircraft briefly used as a bomber over both North and South Vietnam from March 1965, before the Skywarrior proved far more valuable as a multi-role tanker (KA-3B) and tanker/tactical jammer (EKA-3B). The title includes details on all of these operations as well as more clandestine reconnaissance missions, and provides information about the men that flew them.

Contents: Jet Bombers At Sea: 1956-1964 - Heavy Attack in action - Bombs and Tanking 1964-1967 - Electronic Warrior - 1967-73 - Who Are Those Guys? VAP and VQ - Appendices: Aircraft Losses, Cruise and deployment List.

Douglas A-4 M/N/AR Skyhawk: Flying with air forces around the world (Duke Hawkins)

Ce livre Duke Hawkins présente aves des magnifiques photos le Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, en service avec le Corps des Marines des États-Unis et les forces aériennes d'Israël, de l'Argentine et du Brésil.
Cet album contient non seulement des images d'action, mais également de nombreuses images "de visite" montrant les détails de l'avion sous différents angles. Chapitres sur le cockpit, le fuselage, l'armement et les travaux de maintenance.

La série "Aircraft in Detail" est née de la collaboration entre pilotes, techniciens aéronautiques et modélistes. Ce tome (n° 14) sur le Douglas A-4 M/N/AR/AF-1 Skyhawk est illustré d'un grand nombre de photographies en couleurs de très haute qualité, pour la plupart inédites.

A-4 Skyhawk - Pilot's Flight Operation Instructions

Designed by Douglas Aircraft Co.'s brilliant engineer Ed Heinemann, the turbojet powered, delta-wing A-4 Skyhawk played a key role in conflicts from Vietnam to the Falklands and Yom Kippur Wars.
The Skyhawk was intended to replace the venerable Skyraider as a carrier-based, ground attack aircraft, yet Heinemann's design looked nothing like its predecessor. Its small, lightweight airframe was so compact that its wings did not even have to be folded for carrier stowage, and it surpassed the Navy's design specification for weight by nearly 100%. No wonder the nimble jet was dubbed "Heinemann's Hot Rod".

The A-4 entered service in 1956, and first saw combat during the early days of the Vietnam War where it flew as a light attack aircraft. Its service in S.E. Asia was prolific, as it flew literally thousands of strike and escort missions and even scored an air-to-air victory over a North Vietnamese MiG. A Marine A-4 is believed to be the last American aircraft to drop bombs on Vietnam. During the conflict 362 Skyhawks were lost.

The Navy retired the Skyhawk in 1975, although it continued flying as a trainer and adversary aircraft as late as 2003. Nearly 3,000 Skyhawks were built before production ceased in 1979, including a two-seat trainer model TA-4. The Skyhawk was widely exported and saw combat with the air forces of Kuwait, Israel and Argentina.

This pilot's manual was originally classified "restricted" but has now been declassified and is here reprinted in book form.

Israeli A-4 Skyhawk Units in Combat (Osprey)

The light and agile A-4 Skyhawk was the first modern American jet to be offered to the Israeli Air Force, marking the point where the US took over from France as Israel's chief military supplier. Deliveries began too late for the A-4 to fight in the Six-Day War, but it soon formed the backbone of the IAF's ground-attack force.
From 1969 to 1970 it flew endless sorties against Egyptian forces in the War of Attrition. Then, during the Yom Kippur War, five squadrons of A-4s saw combat and 50 planes were lost as they battled against the Arab armored onslaught.
Using previously unpublished first-hand accounts and rare photography from the IAF archives and pilots' private collections, Shlomo Aloni tells the definitive history of the IAF's A-4 squadrons, including the story of Ezra "BABAN" Dotan who became an ace with an unique double-kill of MiG17s.

Contents
1) Ahit Origins
2) Attrition War
3) Between Wars
4) Yom Kippur War Day 1 to Day 3
5) Yom Kippur War Day 4 to Day 8
6) Yom Kippur War Day 9 to Day 19
7) Syria and Lebanon Again
Appendices