[kb466]

I have just received my first A-4 Skyhawk. I like it so much better than I thought--- this thing is really nice. One word that would describe it is "cute". It nicely complements my USN aircraft from Century Wings. I bought the USN VA-106 "Gladiators" Skyhawk off the USS Essex.

One error on the box and the description of this A-4 is that it is from the "late 60's". This is not so. I did a little research and found that this unit only deployed on the Essex with Skyhawks around 1959-60. By the late 1960's, the Essex was out of service. Also, the pilot of this A-4, Cdr. Baldwin was listed among the pilots in VA-106 on this earlier deployment. So, this A-4 is an early Skyhawk as deployed with the fleet around 1960, which is fine with me. I have configured my new Skyhawk with just the fuel tanks as I doubt that it would have had much opportunity to be carrying a lot of live ordinance on a 1959-60 cruise to the Med.