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From: v059l49z@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu (Paul C Stacy)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Persian Gulf Combat Aircraft--The A-4 Skyhawk
Message-ID: <1990Oct16.010713.10592@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 16 Oct 90 01:07:13 GMT
References: <1990Oct8.030359.11680@cbnews.att.com> <1990Oct8.220810.7180@cbnews.att.com> <1990Oct10.000352.29743@cbnews.att.com> <1990Oct15.033730.12655@cbnews.att.com>
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From: v059l49z@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu (Paul C Stacy)

In article <1990Oct15.033730.12655@cbnews.att.com>, pmorriso@gara.une.oz.au (Perry Morrison MATH) writes...
>This could be legend only, but I dimly recall the A-4 as one of the
>few (perhaps last?) aircraft design projects to equal or surpass the
>design/mission specs without going over budget. It was bang on the money
>and I believe the designers were accused of lying when they claimed they
>could deliver such performance at the stated price.


The A-4 was built at about HALF the maximum weight specified by the Navy.
Because of it's small size, a wing-folding system was omitted from the design
because it wasn't felt that it was needed.  The weight was kept down by not
installing things like radar and other electronic equipment.  In later models, 
such equipment went into the "hump" visible behind the cockpit.  During the
Bay of Pigs operation, A-4's (among other planes) flew over Cuba to monitor
what was happening.  The only maps they had on board were ESSO (Exxon) road
maps!

Kind of hard to imagine today a plane for the military that DIDN'T have problems
with its weight!




				Paul