A-1H Skyraider – USAF – Lieutenant America – War Thunder skin

I’ve never been a big Vietnam era fan, but after bingewatching the ‘The Vietnam War by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick‘ TWICE, I just had to make something, and here is the end result. Enjoy this elaborate skin package, included are the usual 4K & 2K dds and TGA files, as well as adjusted files for the hard points and the propeller swirl texture. The skin should be usable for all Skyraider models in the game (both the US ones and the French AD-4).

The aircraft
The aircraft presented here was constructed at El Segundo, CA by Douglas Aircraft as an AD-6 in 1956. It was then delivered to the US Navy as BU. 139665. In 1962 the aircraft was redesignated as an A-1H and in 1965 the aircraft was transferred to the South Vietnamese air force on the 25th of August, 1967. During the final days of the South Vietnamese state and the fall of Saigon, the aircraft was flown and abandoned by a SVNAF pilot at the U Taphao air base in Thailand, sometime before the 29th April 1975. It was one of only four SVNAF A-1 Skyraiders to ‘escape’ the country. After this the aircraft was moved to the Takhli air base and put into storage to become forgotten.

Sometime in the late 80’s, the aircraft was recovered from Thailand and put into storage at the Military Aircraft Restoration Corp in Chino, CA in the USA, receiving the new registration N39149. During the restoration process, several layers of paint were removed, revealing its old USAF markings. The nose cowl exposed two different versions of nose art for the aircraft. “Sharon’s Satyr” and “Lieutenant America” from around 1972. The tail revealed both USAF markings from the 1st SOS (which it wore until November of 1972) and VNAF markings from the 518th FS (which it wore until 1975). “Lieutenant America” was operated from the Royal Thai Air Base Nakhon Phanom and flown by a First Lieutenant ‘Randy’ Scott.

Originally constituted as the 1st Air Commando Squadron, the 1st SOS (Special Operations Squadron) was tasked with supporting allied soldiers down on the ground and rescue missions for less fortunate colleagues. Activated on 17 June 1963 under Pacific Air Forces, the squadron was organized at Bien Hoa Air Base, SV on the 8th of July, 1963 and assigned to the 34th Tactical Group. It was only later when the squadron was moved to the Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Navy Base that it became the 1st SOS squadron. Flying a variaty of aircraft, including A-26’s, T-28 and the very first AC-47 gunships like ‘Spooky’ and ‘Puff, the Magic Dragon’. The squadron remained involved in the Vietnam war until the very end, after which the squadron was based at the Kadena Air Base in Japan.

Over several years the aircraft was returned to airworthy status in the ‘Lieutenant America’ markings, performing its first flight in 2009. Nowadays it is operated by the Tennessee Museum of Aviation in Sevierville, TN.

The A-1H Skyraider with the USAF and Vietnam War
The A-1 is an American Aviation Icon. Missing the action in World War II by just a few months the piston-powered, propeller-driven single-seat attack plane saw service smack in the middle of the jet age. It was one of the few aircraft that saw service during both the lukewarm episodes of the Cold War conflict, the Korean and Vietnam war. When the latter war began, the A-1 Skyraider was still used as a main assest within many carrier air wings. During the war two North Vietnamese MiG-17 were shot down by US Navy A-1’s. The second kill, performed on the 9 October 1966 by LTJG William T. Patton of VA-176, was the first gun kill of the Vietnam War.

As the Skyraiders were released from U.S. Navy service, the aircraft were introduced into the Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) and U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command for search and rescue air cover. While proving it’s ruggedness throughout the war, the USAF lost 201 aircraft to all causes, with Navy suffering 65 lost. Of these, five were shot down by SAM’s and three in air-to-air combat (two scored by MiG-17’s). After November 1972, all remaining Skyraiders in U.S. service within Southeast Asia were transferred to the RVNAF.