Such was the case a couple of weeks ago. A series of e-mails that started out being fairly speculative in nature quickly led to me standing outside of a nondescript hanger at the Marana Regional Airport north of Tucson, Arizona. On the other side was a lovely sight:
Three guys working on a showroom-polished McDonnell Douglas TA-4J Skyhawk. And when I say showroom I'm not kidding. As panels were opened for inspections you could see crisp clean wiring assemblies running through pristine compartments and intricately shaped hydraulic lines carefully winding through their assigned openings. She was, as we would say in the South, purdy. Mike "Maj" McDougall and his crew were working methodically to get her ready to fly. Yes, this polished and painted beauty was going to take to the skies. Volunteering at the Pima Air & Space Museum allows me to see a bevy of beautiful aircraft but they are for display only. This one, equally stunning as any display aircraft I've ever seen, was going up where she belonged!
As you can tell this isn't the Skyhawk from the days of the Vietnam War. The front fuselage is from a TA-4 with the rear section being an A-4L. For propulsion she is fitted with a robust Pratt & Whitney J52-P8B axial-flow turbojet instead of the more commonly found Wright J65. Both front and rear cockpits feature modern-day glass instrumentation, GPS, radar altimeter, the works. The canopy can be operated without the need for hydraulic power and you can start it using just a "huffer" as electrical power can be supplied by a re-designed battery system. Very well thought out. She was towed out for additional checks and before too long the huffer was started and things began to get exciting. Don Keating would be taking her up with Maj. in the back for a test flight of the oxygen and pressurization system.
And what a glorious noise that little Scooter made rocketing past us on take off and, a few minutes later, on a low-pass past our position near the windsock. The Skyhawk has a odd-shaped "ovalish" fuselage that is unlike the modern fighters usually seen through my viewfinder. It took a little getting used to but I enjoyed the challenge of trying to find this lil' guy in the pattern. It was easy to see why the Navy chose them as adversary aircraft at Top Gun: fast, nimble and hard to see! A quick crew change and she was ready for flight number two with the sun diving for the horizon.
Off again into the Golden Hour skies of Arizona, the chill in the air momentarily driven back by the exhaust of N518TA as she streaked by and lept into the air to do what she does best: slipping the surly bonds of Earth to touch the face of God. What a glorious sight and one I was truly honored to be part of, even if just as a spectator peeking into a world that started out 5 long years ago as an idea and a dream. Many thanks to the crew of Fighting Classics for having me out, especially the graciousness of Maj and Don. Without even being aware you and your crew allowed me to have a memorable day with my feet planted firmly on the ground.
For more technical information on Douglas TA-4J Skyhawk N518TA (or perhaps to start the acquisition process) visit the listing page at Courtesy Aircraft.
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