DOUGLAS AD SKYRAIDER

$9.95

Titles: Douglas AD Skyraider No’s 1 to 4

The Douglas AD (later A-1) Skyraider was a single-seat attack bomber of the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s. A propeller-driven anachronism in the jet age, the AD had a surprisingly long and successful career well into the space age, and inspired a straight-winged, slow-flying, jet-powered successor, the A-10 Warthog.

The AD was designed by famed Douglas engineer Ed Heinemann initially to meet a WW2 requirement for a long-range carrier-based torpedo bomber and first flew in 1945. Initially crewed by a single pilot, it was at the time the largest production single-seater.

Nicknamed “Sandy” or “The Spad” or “Able Dog”, over 3,000 were built over a 12 year period, and they remained in service for another 20 years.

We offer four titles on this very large and powerful aircraft covering the flight manuals for most variants plus one maintenance manual. The flight manuals have been scanned from the original flight manuals and retain any colour pages. Each title is US$9.95.

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Description

Title 1 contains:

  • US Navy Pilot’s Handbook for the AD-1, AN 01-40AQ-1 dated 15-6-46, with approx 58 pages. (The AD-1 was the first Skyraider, and this is probably one of the very first manuals for the aircraft. Some of the pages are annotated “Information to be supplied when available”.)
  • US Navy Preliminary Pilot’s Handbook for the AD-4, AN 01-40ALC-1 dated 1-7-49, with approx 57 pages. (The AD-4 was a single-seat version fitted with the more powerful 2,700 hp R-3350-26WA engine.)
  • US Navy Flight Handbook for the AD-6, AN 01-40ALF-1 dated 1-4-54, revised to 1-9-54, with approx 170 pages. This manual was originally classified Confidential. Military practice at that time was to separate all classified material into a separate classified manual, and the basic manual was unclassified. This manual has all information in the one manual. (The AD-6 was a single-seat version developed from the AD-4 optimised for accurate low-level bombing.)

Title 2 contains:

  • US Navy Pilot’s Handbook for the AD-2 -2Q, AD-3, -3Q AN 01-40ALA-1 dated 1-1-49, with approx 68 pages. (The AD-2 and AD-3 were incrementally improved versions of the AD-1. The -Q designation indicates an electronic countermeasures role.)
  • US Navy Flight Handbook for the AD-3N, -4N, -4N(A), -4NL, AN 01-40ALD-1 dated 15-2-54, revised to 1-4-55 with approx 129 pages. (These were three-seat night attack variants.)
  • US Navy Flight Handbook for the AD-5W, AN 01-40ALEB-1 dated 15-10-54 revised to 15-5-57, with approx 124 pages. (These were three seat airborne early warning variants.)

Title 3 contains:

  • US Navy Flight Handbook for the AD-3W,  AD-4W AN 01-40ALB-1 dated 1-7-53, revised to 1-5-54, with approx 111 pages. (These were three seat airborne early warning variants.)
  • US Navy NATOPS Flight Manual for the A-1H and A-1J, NAVWEPS 01-40ALF-1 dated 15-3-65 with approx 384 pages. (These were the last production variants optimised for ground attack. The AH-1J had structural improvements to increase wing fatigue life.)
  • US Navy Flight Handbook for the AD-5, AN 01-40ALE-1 dated 1-1-55, with approx 102 pages. (The AD-5 incorporated a re-designed fuselage which incorporated a widened crew compartment permitting side- by-side seating, and a utility role which varied from casevac medical evacuation to troop transport and VIP transport.)

Title 4 contains:

  • US Navy Flight Handbook for the AD-5N, AN 01-40ALEA-1 dated 1-11-56 revised to 15-4-59, with approx 134 pages. (These were three-seat night attack variants.)
  • US Navy Erection & Maintenance Manual for the AD-5N, AN 01-40ALEA-2 dated 1-12-54 revised to 15-2-56, with approx 644 pages.