The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, also known as the "Scooter" was a single seat carrier borne light attack aircraft designed for the US Navy and Marine Corps. It first flew on June 22, 1954. The Skyhawk was a relatively small aircraft with a delta wing configuration. The delta wing was compact enough that it did not require to be foldable.  It was subsonic, able to attain a top speed of about 600 kts without external stores. It was also one of the very first Navy aircraft to have inflight refueling capability. It was extremely nimble, capable of a 720º per second roll rate. It had aerodynamically actuated slats, which improved maneuverability at slower speeds. It was originally equipped with a P&W J-52 P6 turbojet that produced 8,400 pounds of thrust. Later versions, beginning with the A-4M were equipped with the J-52 P-408 which produced 11,200 pounds of thrust.

The Skyhawk first saw combat in Vietnam. It was armed with (2) 20mm cannons in the wing roots and could carry a wide variety of external stores and weapons. The kit provides the avionics "hump" so with a few more minor changes, I will build this one as an A-4F. 

I have a special affection for the "Scooter" as it was the last aircraft (actually the 2 seat TA-4J) I flew in the training command before getting my Naval Aviator wings. It was a hot rod compared to all the other aircraft I flew in flight school, especially the T-2C "Rockwell Safety Jet" and was a fantastic "slow flight" dog fighter. 

The Kit

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I would say that this kit is pretty much a Trumpeter "middle of the pack" kit. It is not amongst their best nor amongst their worse. The shape is correct and it does offer the option of a separate empennage and cart if you choose to display it that way. I do not, though what I plan to do is to replace the engine in the fuselage with a piece of PVC pipe and display a highly detailed engine on the cart next to the finished model. The engine is pretty basic but has a lot of potential. I have enough resource material to do it justice. 

The cockpit is pretty basic, as is the seat, so it is going to take a lot of work. Reskit does make an outstanding resin replacement, including the seat but I am not sure if I am going that route. The wheel wells are also pretty basic but have a lot of potential. One nice feature about this kit is it does come with a nice set of metal landing gear. This one is going to require a lot of weight to keep it from being a "tail sitter" and the nose mount on the Skyhawk is kind of spindly. 

As we have come to expect from Trumpeter, the kit offers a wide array of armament. I plan to "load out" this Scooter with a 300 gal fuel tank on the station 3 (centerline), a MER of Mk82 "Snakeyes" on stations 2 and 4 and a Zuni Rocket Pod on stations 1 and 5. 

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The paint scheme will be the standard gloss gull gray for topsides and gloss white for the undersides. Not sure on what squadron markings I will use, the kit does offer two choices.