spad

Classic aircraft.

U.S. Navy Douglas A-1H Skyraider BuNo 135272 of VA-165 "Boomers" in flight VA-165 was assigned to Carrier Air Wing 10 (CVW-10) aboard the CVS-11 USS Intrepid for a deployment to Vietnam from 4 April to 21 November 1966. A-1H 135272 was later transferred to the U.S. Air Force as s/n 52-135272. It served with the 6th Air Commando Squadron, 14th Air Commando Wing, and was shot down by ground fire near the Kham Duc Special Forces Camp, Quang Tin Province, South Vietnam on 12 May 1968. The pilot bailed out and was rescued by a U.S. Army helicopter.

A8796 was one of 100 Spads 7 in the A 8794/8893 batch built by the Bleriot and Spad Aircraft Works of Addlestone and wears standard RFC camouflage colors of PC10 and "Battleship Gray." It had a English-built 150 horsepower Hispano-Suiza 8Aa motor. The complete absence of louvers in A8796's flank cooling panels is noteworthy. You can barely see the pitot tube at the top of the port forward interplane strut. A8796 was subjected to performance tests at No. 1 Aircraft Depot on June 14, 1917. Its service ceiling was 18,000 feet. Its maximum speed at ground level was 120 mph, 115 mph at 5,000 feet, 102 mph at 10,000 feet, and 85 mph at 15,000 feet. Rate of climb was 5 minutes to reach 5,000 feet, 12 minutes to reach 10,000 feet, and 20 minutes, 40 seconds to reach 15,000 feet. The English Bleriot Spads had a poorer performance than their French counterparts. See Wind-Sock Datafiles 8, Spad 7.C1, p. 3 (1988). Also see AIR Enthusiast Fifteen, "The First Fighting Spads," pp. 58-77. April-July 1981.

I like his drawing with the plain white background. They used to sell his prints at the USAF museum where I went as a kid pretty often.