Skyhawk is a neat little book on the A-4 with plenty of attention to detail for rivet counters that could use a little more human interest.

The A-4 was designed for a simple, slightly insane mission: a single attack run with a large nuclear weapon. Designer Ed Heinemann looked at trends in naval aviation, with ever larger and more expensive planes, and found a single dangerous trend, the growth factor. Every pound of added equipment added between 4.3 and 10 extra pounds of airframe, engine, and fuel, leading to a death spiral of large, expensive jets. With a goal of a unit cost of less than a $1,000,000 per airframe, Heinemann and his design team looked for every possible avenue to add lightness. Delta wings without complex folding mechanisms were the boldest choice, and Heinemann's mantra to build an engine with a saddle and enough fuel to accomplish the mission proved a stunning success.

Though the A-4 was never used in the nuclear role, it soon found success as a light attack plane worldwide. A-4s flew heavy duty in Vietnam, flew with Israel during the War of Attrition and Yom Kippur War, and Argentina during the Falklands War. New Zealand and Brazil operated upgraded Skyhawks into the 90s. The A-4 was always a pilots airplane, and served with many demonstration teams. Better avionics added night and bad-weather capability. The A-4 was fairly safe for a plane of its generation, but the 50s vintage J65 engine consumes oil voraciously, and the electrical system and Colt Mk. 12 cannons were never really up to snuff.

I wish they book had a few more fighter stories, but Winchester knows his stuff. I guess I need to add an A-4 to my model to build list.