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The
RNZAF McDonnell Douglas A-4K Skyhawk 1970 – 1997 |
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The
Skyhawk Order And Delivery
RNZAF
Official Initially the New Zealand Defence Council had recommended
that the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom
II be ordered as a replacement for the BAe Canberra. The retirement of the This recommendation was however rejected by the Government of the day and after a re-evaluation it was in June 1968 that Prime Minister Holyoake announced the purchase of fourteen McDonnell Douglas A-4 Skyhawks. Ten single seat A-4’s at a cost of $900,000 each and four two seat trainer TA-4’s at $1,000,000 each, the cost of the package rising to $23,000,000 with the inclusion of spares, support equipment, training aids, and the training of air and ground crews. After the initial rejection a team headed by Wing
Commander Gill had travelled to the Early January 1970, Squadron Leader Scrimshaw, Commanding
Officer no 75 Squadron, lead a team of ten pilots, twenty technical personnel
and an administration to US Naval Air Station Cecil (Florida) to undergo
training on the Squadron’s new mount. These personnel remained in the January 16, the
The logistics of ferrying the fourteen aircraft back to
The USS Okinawa arrived in Auckland on May 17, 1970 with the Skyhawks cocooned in a white plastic coating being unloaded throughout the morning and in the afternoon the aircraft were towed from the wharf through the streets and motorways of Auckland to Base Whenuapai where they were to be stripped of the protective coating surrounding the aircraft and its engine. Large numbers of locals took this unusual opportunity to obtain their first look at the new strike aircraft. The first Skyhawk to be readied, NZ 6254, eventually took
off at 2:15 pm on May 21 piloted by Squadron Leader Scrimshaw. This first
flight had been planned for the previous day however bad weather forced a
postponement. Low cloud on
the morning of the 21st threatened this flight which after two low level
passes completed a number of air tests before flying south to Base Ohakea. Over the
next week the remainder of the fleet were prepared and dispatched to Ohakea
as per the attached chart. On June
10, in an official ceremony at Base Ohakea the fourteen A-4K Skyhawks were
handed over to the Royal New Zealand Air Force, launching No 75 Squadron on a
programme of pilot training and the evaluation of new tactics for the new
aircraft. A task Squadron Leader Scrimshaw announced he hoped would be
completed by the end of the year, this goal was in fact achieved and on
January 1, 1971 75 Squadron was declared operational. During
this lead up period the opportunity was taken to show the aircraft off around
the country and of note is the first visit to Other
highlights over this period were the commencement of the first First
public diplay of the Skyhawks in an airshow setting came on September 3, when
Base Ohakea held an open day and although there was no formal flying display
visitors were demonstrations and usual movements. A very impressive ground
display was also set up - NZ 6210 was presented on jacks, coupled to a power
unit enabling flashing lights, undercarriage, flaps, tail hook etc all being
diplayed operating. NZ 6203 was displayed beside this with its array of
weapons packages and armaments. NZ 6202 and NZ 620X had the buddy tanker
refuelling system laid on the ground between them. Finally access was
provided to NZ 6253 allowing the cockpit to be viewed. The first
overseas deployment for the Skyhawks came on March 1, 1971, and involved NZ
6205, 6206, 6207, and 6210 crossing the Tasman to RAAF Williamtown to work
with the Mirages of No2 OCU on navigation exercises and to assist the RAAF
with a Forward Air Controller Course. Also during the course of this visit to
Australia the opportunity was taken by NZ 6205 and one other of the Skyhawks
to travel to the Royal Australian Naval
Base at Nowra, shore base for the RAN Skyhawks. The
Tasman crossing was accompanied by a No 5 Squadron Orion that provided
communications and escort support to the aircraft that had departed Ohakea in
pairs at 10:30 am and 11:00 am on an outward journey, a journey that
approximately three hours. The return journey undertaken on March 5 was
completed in 2.75 hours. Marking
the first visit to While in The eight
aircraft detachment arrived back at Base Ohakea on November 18 having flown
approximately 400 hours, of which 160 were in the deployment area of
operations. In summing the exercise Wing Commander Kinvig described it as a
total success in which the aircraft performed better than even expected,
making a valuable contribution to the forces in the area and the new security
arrangement. As part
of the preparation of the RNZAF bases for Skyhawk operations, arrestor
landing apparatus was installed at Bases Ohakea and Whenuapai. The second
recorded use of the Base Ohakea facility was on February 16, 1971 when NZ
6204 performed a demonstration for the Parliamentary Select Committee on
Defence. A short
time later, on July 15, the gear was utilised for the first time in an
emergency situation. One Skyhawk, in a pair taking off sufferred a burst
tyre, sparking an emergency that required the pilot to dump fuel at sea
before returning to base. After completing two practice approaches the pilot
made a perfect touch down 45 metres infront of the wire, engaged and was
drawn to a halt in a stop in approximately 145 metres without further damage
being incurred. A routine
maintenance check on one of the Skyhawks during mid-1972 revealed cracks in a
hydraulic T-junction adjacent to the engine that resulted in the immediate
grounding of the entire fleet that was to last for three weeks. Over this
period some 5,046 fittings were removed from the aircraft, X-rayed and
refitted, with approximately 400 being replaced. In April
the next year a programme to replace the straight refuelling probes was initiated
to coincide with each aircraft routine service. These probes, and
subsequently the air - to - air refuelling ability of the aircraft had not
been utilised in the past eighteen months as a safety measure - on occasions
the locking mechanism on the probe malfunctioned allowing fuel to leak into
the starboard intake. The new probes were similar to those being fitted to
the latest version of the Skyhawk, the A-4M, in the States and features a dog
legged design. As a
result of these changes TA-4K NZ 6253 was able to accompany the seven other
Skyhawks deploying to Tengah on
October 29, 1973. This had not been previously attempted because with a fuel
capacity 1,000 lbs less than the single seat Skyhawk the two seat version did
not have the range to cross the Tasman, however on this occasion with the new
probes installed the aircraft received an additional 1,500 lbs of fuel from a
tanker Skyhawks some 120 miles off the New Zealand coast. 75
Squadrons first deployment to April 10,
eight Skyhawks departed Base Ohakea to participate in the huge RIMPAC
‘78 exercise in and around The
requirement for in-flight refuelling had quite an impact on the conduct of
this transit flight, and where such trips are usually undertaken in groups of
two, on this occasion they were conducted as two groups of four aircraft. The
outward journey was conducted in three stages, Ohakea - In 1983 the
long awaited Defence Review was tabled in Parliament and confirmed that
studies were to continue into the selection of a replacement aircraft type
but no new aircraft were suggested. Instead it was announced that the current
fleet should be added to, given upgrades in the avionics and weapons systems,
and structural refurbishment undertaken. Coincidentally
major changes in the Royal Australian Navy resulted in its ten Skyhawks
becoming surplus to the Navy’s requirements and in July 1984 the ten
aircraft, spare engines and assorted spares were purchased for NZ$40.1m. The
‘new’ aircraft were collected by RNZAF crews at Nowra and
delivered to Base Ohakea, the first flight of four (NZ 6212, 6213, 6255 and
6256) making the trip across the Tasman on July 12. The second flight, NZ
6211, 6214 and 6216, on July 20, the second attempt at a crossing after the
previous days trip was aborted after NZ 6214 suffered a generator failure.
The final flight was made on July 26. Initially
these aircraft were upgraded through a conversion to ‘K’ status,
the adding the of the square tip to the fin, the braking parachute and
changes to the navigation and communications systems. With a
total of twenty two Skyhawks on strength a second squadron was formed at Base
Ohakea on December 11, 1984 with a permanent establishment of eight aircraft
and the following roles and duties :- v Operational conversion. v Operational training. v Tactical reconnaissance. v Development of tactics and
operational procedure. v Evaluation of weapons and systems. For the
record in February 1989 NZ 6206, 6208, 6209, 6210, 6251, 6252, 6254 and 6256
were recorded as making up the aircraft establishment of No 2 Squadron. In July
1990 Defence Minister Tapsall announced that No 2 Squadron would be posted to
RAN Base Nowra providing basically 800 flying hours per annum for which the
costs would be to be available ‘on call’ for the Australian
Defence Force. The deployment took firm shape on January 16, 1991 when Chief
of Air Staff Air Vice Marshall Adamson signed an interservice document
between the RNZAF and the RAN. The
advance party arrived in RAN Nowra on February 11, with the six aircraft and
remaining personnel flying in on February 26. As a cost saving measurer the
Skyhawks had been flown over by No 75 Squadron crews who had participated in
an exercise with the RAAF prior to delivering the aircraft to No 2 Squadron. The
aircraft on strength with No 2 squadron are not permanently allotted to the
squadron and are rotated back to The initial fleet of fourteen Skyhawks was painted by McDonnell Douglas at the time of manufacture, receiving the standard South East Asian of two-tone green (FS 34079 and FS 34102) and tan upper surface (FS 30219) with a light gull grey undersurface (FS 36622). Eighteen
inch roundels were carried in the standard four positions and a rectangular
finflash (24” high x 18’ long) adorned the tail. A full serial
number followed the fuselage roundels with the last two numbers of the serial
being repeated under the front cockpit. For the
early years the underwing tanks were overall white and on occasion sported
the last three digits of the aircraft serial number on the upper, outside
forward tip of the tank. In the later years of the SEA scheme the upper half
of the tank received a camouflage scheme complimentary to that of the
aircraft itself. It was also during this period that the fin flash was
changed to a swept design. Prior to
their depart on the 1971 Vanguard all the aircraft of No 75 Squadron were
modified with a No 75 Squadron badge on their intakes. Although at this time
three TA-4K’s and a single A-4K (NZ 6201) were operated by No 14
Squadron these markings were not applied to the aircraft, instead they
remained plain. The
arrival of the ‘new’ ex Australian Skyhawks and reformation of No
2 Squadron resulted in a plethora of differing if not temporary schemes.
Existing A-4K’s on charge with No 2 Squadron received No 2 Squadron
markings on the aircraft’s intake similar to that on No 75 Squadron
aircraft. The Australian Skyhawks arrived over in two colour schemes -
Aircraft Grey and Admiralty Grey camouflage overall pattern or Light Gull
Grey upper surface and white under surface as applied on the US Navy schemes
- and a number of these aircraft received RNZAF serials (although in black)
and markings. At least two aircraft NZ 6255 and NZ 6213 in the overall
camouflage scheme carried a reduced version of the No 75 Squadron badge that
deleted the white disc behind the tiki on the intakes. Another version of the
No 2 Squadron badge also started to appear during this period and consisted
of a black winged taiaha high on the tail of the aircraft with the number two
stencilled in the design to shown in the underlying colour. Also in
1984 a new camouflage scheme was trialled for the Skyhawks, with the first
aircraft to adopt the new scheme being NZ 6202, with approval then granted
for a second trail aircraft, NZ 6251. This wrap around scheme converted the
Skyhawks to a scheme designed to be more effective in the maritime
operational role and resulted in the tan of the SEA scheme being replaced by
FS 36081 Grey. Other changes associated with the new camouflage pattern
involved removal of white from all roundels and fin flashes, a decrease in
the size of all markings, all lettering painted in black and the last two
serial numbers being repeated under the forward cockpit. In addition all red
warning areas were return tho the appropriate camouflage colour. As the
aircraft moved into the new overall scheme squadron markings were also toned
down with the No 75 Squadron marking becoming a black outline of the former
red and gold marking and while most of the No 2 squadron aircraft were
painted with the new marking on the tail at least one, NZ 6251, carried a
black outline version of the former high viz making on the intakes. |
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The A-4K Skyhawk |
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Created : Saturday,
25 October 2008 |
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