That’s because the Pentagon needed a plane that could fly low and hover for protracted periods over a battlefield—a niche that jets couldn’t fill. In other words, the A-1 was America’s original Close ...

Lingering stubbornly, an anachronism that refused to die, the Douglas A-1 Skyraider ... During the Vietnam War, U.S. forces enjoyed an abundance of jet fighters and attack aircraft.

They spent tense hours at night, seated in their aircraft and ready for catapult launch with nuke bombs, before the mission was ultimately called off… The Douglas A-1 Skyraider, also known as ...