AD-6 Skyraider – VNAF – Devil Flight – War Thunder skin

Here’s another Vietnam era Skyraider 4K DDS skin for everybody, but this time it is a little different from the previous versions. Instead of another USAF skin I present my first South Vietnam Air Force AD-6 Skyraider skin. This one can be used on the ingame AD-4 for the US tree. All optional blk files for other aircraft can be found on my website.

Some of you will notice that this skin is uploaded differently from the rest. For PBR reasons I now I will also no longer add multiple blk files for the various machines in the WT Live zip. Although some of my skins were ‘officially added to the game’ through the marketplace before, it has been explained by a mod why adding several blk’s undermines the chance to do so. Sadly some of my previous skins which were very popular seem to have missed out because of this, as I was trying to please as many people as I could by adding all blk files for aircraft that I could match. Because of this I am adjusting all my previous uploads.

From now on all the optional blk files will be available via my website through an additional download. Like this everyone can use the skin for whatever he wants and there is a higher chance of seeing skins ‘officially added to the game’.

The aircraft
Presented here is AD-6 b/n 10866, s/n 139629. First delivered as an A-1H to the United States Navy, it was later redesignated as an AD-6. In 1961 the aircraft was transferred to the South Vietnamese Air Force as part of the 25 first Skyraiders delivered to the VNAF.

First serving in the VNAF 1st Fighter Squadron, the aircraft was later again transferred to the 514th Fighter Squadron, where it replaced the squadron’s F8F Bearcats. The 1st squadron would later be officially redesignated as 514th Fighter Squadron on the 1st of January 1963.

The aircraft would not ‘live to see that day’ as it was written off in an operational accident on the 11th of May, 1962 while the squadron was stationed at the Bien Hoa air base. It is unclear however where this ‘operational accident’ has taken place. The squadron went on to operate until the end of the Vietnam conflict and ceased to exist with the fall of Saigon.

The Skyraider in the Republic of Vietnam Air Force
In 1960 the VNAF was provided with 25 AD-6 Skyraider to replace its inventory of F8F Bearcats through the Military Assistance Program. The first aircraft arrived in Saigon on the 24th of September 1960. After some bureaucratical work and flight testing, the aircraft were flown from the Tan Son Nhut AB to Bien Hoa AB, where they officially entered service with the VNAF.

By 1966 the VNAF had no less than 146 aircraft in its inventory, providing enough aircraft for several squadrons. The 514 Fighter Squadron, 516 Fighter Squadron, 518 Fighter Squadron, 520 Fighter Squadron and the 83rd Special Operations Group. Losses amongst the Squadrons were high however, and by the time of the January 1968 ‘Tet-offensive’ the VNAF was only able to put forward 69 operational Skyraiders.

In total the VNAF operated no less than 329 Skyraiders. 240 of these were delivered via the US Navy, with the remaining 89 being delivered from the USAF as MAP transfers. 242 Skyraiders are thought to be lost during the conflict, but with the fall of South Vietnam all aircraft are considered to ‘lost’ except for a handful of machines which escaped by flying to Thailand (some with 25 or more people stowed inside the fuselage).