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Initially dubbed the "Dauntless II," the XBT2D-1 had the overwhelming reputation of the wartime Douglas dive-bomber to live up to. That the aircraft went on to break all records for frontline longevity for a piston-engined attack type, and served with distinction in both the Korean and Vietnamese conflicts, proves that the renamed Skyraider's reputation was equal to its initial "Dauntless" sobriquet. Reputedly designed in 24 hours in the Statler Hotel, Washington DC, in June 1944, the success of the Skyraider was due as much to its Wright R-3350 radial engine as to its rugged aerodynamics. That very same engine delayed the Skyraider's entry in service long enough for the aircraft to miss World War II. Indeed, for a number of years it seemed that the new Douglas attack aircraft was destined to remain unproved in action with the US Navy, just like Grumman's Bearcat of the same period. However, the Skyraider refused to become obsolete, and fought throughout the Korean War. As the 1950s progressed, the frontline prospects of the unglamorous A-1 seemed limited. However, the advent of war in Vietnam gave the Skyraider a new lease of life, so much so that both the USAF and South Vietnamese Air Force used ex-Navy A-1s (taken out of storage) from 1964 until the fall of Saigon in 1975. The US Navy, meanwhile, finally retired its Skyraiders in April 1968, following four hard years of combat over Vietnam. |
