US Navy sought for a new and high-performance carrier-based aircraft. History is made during the night!

Before the US Navy had both SB/Scout Bomber and TB/Torpedo Bomber and assigned them separate airplanes, but in 1943, with the idea of having one pilot carry out all missions, a requirements specification for a single-seat carrier-based attack aircraft (BT/Bomber Torpedo) was presented to the manufacturers. In response to the request, Ed Heinemann from Douglas was convinced that the new aircraft would be able to perform the missions required by the Navy. He asked for permission to halt the production of an aircraft, which was under development, and asked for a permission to allocate the budget to a new bomber. Finally, Heinemann and his two men drew up the conceptual design drawings overnight, obtained parliamentary approval and successfully completed the first aircraft by the deadline. This special package includes VA-165 and VA-176 in gull grey/white paint as well as VA-104 and VA-155 markings for AD-6 in sea blue paint.

This is the carrier-based aircraft!

Enjoy a wide variety of armaments, the US Aircraft Weapons included in the kit!

The Skyraider’s wings did not require laminar flow wings due to the nature of its role as a carrier-based attack aircraft and were designed to be foldable because of the limited space on the deck. Also, the purpose was to make a carrier-based single-seat attack aircraft that could perform both dive bomber and torpedo bomber missions, so it was designed to carry a greater variety of armaments outboard. It had as many as15 pylons, one under the fuselage and seven under each of the main wing, giving it the largest payload of any single-engine, reciprocating attack aircraft. Based on the SWS concept of reproducing the realistic aircrafts with plastic, the magic material, this kit faithfully reproduces the cross-sectional shape of the wings and the movable folding mechanism, just like the real aircraft. This is the carrier-based aircraft! Please enjoy the plenty of power to the fullest.

Note the internal structures that embodies his philosophy of strict weight saving!

The rounded upper surface of the fuselage leading from the nose and the angular cross-sectional shape that narrows slightly from behind the main wings are an astonishing internal structure that can be understood while assembling the aircraft. The internal bulkheads of the fuselage and the ribbed expression of the inner walls of the outer panels are also unique to the SWS. In addition, the weight of Skyraider was reduced by fitting all 365 gal (1,382 liters) of in-flight fuel into a single fuel tank behind the cockpit. The SWS kit faithfully reproduces the internal structures of the aircraft, which demonstrates Heinemann’s design philosophy of keeping the weight as light as possible. As you would expect, the kit has the radio and other auxiliary equipment. The dive brake, which is one of the Skyraider’s unique features, has been beautifully recreated as movable parts! (Floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee!)

The dive brake, which is one of the Skyraider’s unique features, has been beautifully recreated as movable parts!

(Floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee!)

The three dive brakes (air brakes) on the sides and underside of the fuselage behind the wings are movable. These are mainly used for deceleration during dive bombing. Normally, on propeller-driven aircraft, they were mounted on the underside of the wings, but at the speed of the Skyraider, the wing brakes did not have enough braking power, and there were concerns about buffeting (vibration of the aircraft in flight) and poor manoeuvrability, so another was added on the underside of the fuselage.The changes to trim and manoeuvrability caused by this were kept to a minimum. Though being a reciprocating attack aircraft, with its high mobility, small size, and light weight, It could shoot down MiG-17 jet fighters even in an era of jet aircrafts. It was the most sophisticated reciprocating attack aircraft and remained in the service of many pilots and maintainers for many years.