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10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. AD-5 Skyraider VMA-331 1950s: Wikimedia Commons· Public domain
- 2. AD Skyraider VA-195 USS Princeton: U.S. Navy· Public domain
- 3. Douglas A-1H Skyraider of VA-115 in flight over the Gulf of Tonkin, circa in 1965: U.S. Air Force· Public domain
- 4. Douglas A-1H Skyraider of the 1st SOS in flight, circa in 1972 (221110-F-IO108-040): U.S. Air Force· Public domain
- 5. Douglas A-1 Skyraider (AD-4NA, 126965) (7911148090): Clemens Vasters from Viersen, Germany· CC BY 2.0
- 6. Douglas AD-1Q Skyraider VC-35: U.S. Navy· Public domain
- 7. Douglas AD-4W Skyraider of VC-12 landing aboard USS Leyte (CVA-32), in 1952: Robert Carey, AF2, U.S. Navy· Public domain
- 8. Douglas XBT2D-1 Skyraider prototype NACA: NASA Ames Research Center· Public domain
- 9. Skyraider AEW1 778 RNAS Culdrose: U.S. Navy· Public domain
- 10. VNAF Skyraider at Da Nang 1967: Sciacchitano· CC BY-SA 3.0
what is it?
The Douglas A-1 Skyraider (formerly designated AD before the 1962 unification of Navy and Air Force designations) is a single-seat attack aircraft designed and produced by American aerospace manufacturer Douglas Aircraft Company. It had an unusually long career, remaining in frontline service well into the Jet Age (when most piston-engined attack or fighter aircraft were replaced by jet-powered aircraft), thus becoming known by some as an "anachronism". The aircraft was nicknamed "Spad", after the French World War I fighter.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 15.3 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 81 years ago, in 1945.
- Top speed is 4.0× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 15.3 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1945-03-18
- introduced
- 1946
- retired
- 1985
- status
- retired
- number built
- 3,180
- role
- attack aircraft
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- makers
- Douglas
- engines
- 1× Wright R-3350-26WA Duplex-Cyclone / R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone
- crew
- 1
- length
- 11.8 m
- wingspan
- 15.3 m
- height
- 4.8 m
- max take-off weight
- 8,213 kg
- top speed
- 518 km/h
- cruise speed
- 319 km/h
- range
- —
- ceiling
- 8,687 m
- wings
- monoplane
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q266066, Wikipedia: Douglas A-1 Skyraider (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.