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 US Navy McDonnell Douglas A-4E Skyhawk attack aircraft that was attached to VA-43 "Challengers" during 1975. Pre-order! Ship Date: Early March 2026.

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

Release Date: ?

Historical Account: "Challengers" - VF-43 was a fighter squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was originally established as Fighter Squadron 74A (VF-74A) on May 1st, 1945, it was re-designated Fighter Squadron 74 (VF-74) on August 1st, 1945, re-designated VF-1B on November 15th, 1946, re-designated VF-21 on September 1st, 1948, re-designated as Attack Squadron 43 (VA-43) Challengers on July 1st, 1959, and Fighter Squadron 43 (VF-43) on June 1st, 1973. It was disestablished on July 1st, 1994.

In June 1973, the squadron was re-designated as Fighter Squadron FORTY-THREE (VF-43) and was assigned as an Atlantic Fleet adversary squadron at NAS Oceana, Virginia in support of training Atlantic Fleet fighter squadrons collocated at NAS Oceana. In this role, the squadron would fly the A-4F/J and TA-4F/J Skyhawk II, the T-38A Talon, the F-16N Fighting Falcon, and the F-21A Kfir, the latter being an Israeli-built modification of the Dassault Mirage 5. The squadron also conducted instrument proficiency training and spin training in the T-2C Buckeye. Following the end of the Cold War and subsequent reductions in the U.S. defense budget, VF-43 was identified for disestablishment. Following VF-43's inactivation in July 1994, its mission was assumed by strike fighter and fighter composite squadrons in the Naval Air Reserve. At NAS Oceana, this mission is primarily accomplished by Fighter Composite Squadron 12 (VFC-12).

The squadron was home ported from NAS Oceana throughout its existence.