Douglas A-1 Skyraider

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The Douglas A-1 Skyraider (formerly designated AD before the 1962 unification of Navy and Air Force designations) is a single-seat attack aircraft designed and produced by American aerospace manufacturer Douglas Aircraft Company. It had an unusually long career, remaining in frontline service well into the Jet Age (when most piston-engined attack or fighter aircraft were replaced by jet-powered aircraft), thus becoming known by some as an "anachronism". The aircraft was nicknamed "Spad", after the French World War I fighter. Development of the Skyraider commenced during World War II as a carrier-compatible, single-seat dive/torpedo bomber that was capable of long endurance missions and possessing relatively high performance for the era. Ordered by the United States Navy (USN) in July 1944, the XBT2D-1 prototype performed its maiden flight on 18 March 1945. Various modifications were made to lighten the airframe to bolster its performance ahead of the Skyraider's entry to service in 1946...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Clemens Vasters from Viersen, Germany, CC BY 2.0