Overview

Designed and built as a carrier-based attack aircraft in 1944, the A-1 reached frontline units too late to see combat in World War 2. With the advent of jets in the late 1940s, the Skyraider was seen as a dated throwback to the golden age of piston-engined naval aviation. Despite its days being seemingly numbered, the A-1 proved to be a huge success in the Korean War thanks to it being able to carry virtually any weapon in the naval arsenal from its external wing hardpoints. Remaining in production through to 1957, some 3180 Skyraiders had been built by the time the last one left the Douglas plant. Nicknamed the 'flying dump truck', the A-1 remained a key component in naval air wings into the 1960s, thus 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 to 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. Although there have been several A-1 books published in the past (including one by Osprey in 1989), this is the first volume that focuses exclusively on the aircraft's service in Vietnam. And with one of the co-authors being a two-tour Vietnam War combat veteran in the A-1, the title is guaranteed to be an action-packed read.

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9781282938021

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