The 1969 film SAGA OF THE SKYRAIDER, produced by the McDonnell Douglas Corporation, recaps the history of the versatile Douglas A-1 Skyraider and the final flight of the versatile attack plane from Naval Air Station Lemoore, California, in April 1968. The film opens with the commemoration of the last Skyraider (01:17), aka the Pedigree Pulverizer, as it is retired from Navy service. The Skyraider’s story begins in 1944. At the time, the Douglas Dauntless SBD (01:55) was the Navy’s premier attack bomber aircraft. However, the Navy needed a new plane, prompting the birth of the Skyraider. Douglas engineers sketch the new attack bomber dubbed Skyraider (02:48), winning the bid. In March 1945, Douglas test flies the Skyraider prototype (03:13). The Skyraider is a great dive bomber attack plane (03:46) and, for the next 12 years, Douglas produces seven versions and 28 subversions of the plane (03:46). In January 1948, the USS Coral Sea (04:12) sets out on its maiden voyage, and the Skyraider (04:30) is the first launch and recovery of the ship’s deck. The film shows Skyraiders flying in formation (04:56). On 3 July 1950, Skyraiders attack Korea from the USS Valley Forge (05:18). Skyraider squadrons are stationed on 15 U.S. attack carriers—the film provides footage of Skyraiders taking off from various carriers (05:50). The Skyraider’s longevity is better than most attack planes, and it proves extremely versatile. Some Skyraiders can adapt to be 4-passenger aircraft, ambulance planes, cargo planes, or anti-submarine search craft (06:53). Their firepower can consist of torpedoes, rockets, canons, and bombs. The Skyraider is the first plane to demonstrate the ability to carry armament weight greater than its own structural weight (07:30). The Skyraider’s last combat mission is in Vietnam. After the war, it comes home in style—aboard the USS Coral Sea passing the Golden Gate Bridge (08:00), more than 20 years after leaving on the maiden voyage of the Coral Sea. The film concludes with the final flight of Skyraider (09:28), to the Naval Aviation museum in Pensacola, Florida. The plane was also affectionately known as the Spad and the Flying Dumptruck.
The Douglas A-1 Skyraider (formerly AD) is an American single-seat attack aircraft that saw service between the late 1940s and early 1980s. The Skyraider had a remarkably long and successful career; it became a piston-powered, propeller-driven anachronism in the jet age, and was nicknamed “Spad”, after the French World War I fighter.
It was operated by the United States Navy (USN), the United States Marine Corps (USMC), and the United States Air Force (USAF), and also saw service with the British Royal Navy, the French Air Force, the Republic of Vietnam Air Force (VNAF), and others. It remained in U.S. service until the early 1970s, and was replaced in the U.S. by the Fairchild-Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II.
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