Douglas A2D Skyshark

Douglas · United States · first flew 1950 · bomber

The Douglas A2D Skyshark was a single-seat carrier attack aircraft that tried to combine a turboprop engine with the airframe of the piston-engined Skyraider.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	Low-mounted, tapered
E — Engines	1 × turboprop, nose-mounted
F — Fuselage	Skyraider-derived low wing and tail on a deeper, reshaped fuselage
T — Tail	Conventional

WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.

Spot it by:

Long slender nose ahead of contra-rotating propellers
Skyraider-derived low wing and tail on a deeper, reshaped fuselage
Raised cockpit position to see over the turboprop's reduction gearbox

The thin, sharply tapered wing carried over from the Skyraider, combined with contra-rotating propellers and a raised cockpit, distinguish it from any piston-engined Skyraider.

Specifications

The Douglas A2D Skyshark has a length of 12.55 m (41 ft).
It has a wingspan of 15.24 m (50 ft).
Its maximum speed is 792 km/h (492 mph).
Typical crew: 1.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

Douglas kept only the Skyraider's wing and tail, building a new fuselage around an Allison XT40 turboprop of over 5,000 shaft horsepower driving contra-rotating propellers, and first flew the result in 1950. Persistent problems with the troublesome XT40 engine and gearbox plagued the programme throughout testing.

Variants

Only 12 Skysharks were built before the US Navy cancelled the programme in 1954, judging pure jet attack aircraft the better investment.

Where you'll see it

No Skyshark ever reached an operational squadron; exactly one survives: BuNo 125485, at the San Diego Air & Space Museum's Gillespie Field Annex.

Related aircraft

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