AD-6 Skyraider VA-85 “Black Falcons,” USN, USS Forrestal, 1959 1:72 HA2908

Hobby Master AD-6 Skyraider VA-85 “Black Falcons,” USN, USS Forrestal, 1959 1:72 Scale Air Power Item: HA2908 Die-cast metal with a minimum of plastic. Professionally painted. All markings are pad applied for superb results. Crew figure. Comes with display stand. Landing gear can be displayed up or down. Extremely sought after by collectors. The A-1 Skyraider originated as a carrier-based torpedo and dive bomber. Deliveries as the AD-1 to the Navy began in November 1946 and in 1962 was renamed A-1. It was the first single-seat torpedo/dive bomber to serve with the Navy. The primary mission of the A-1 was close air support for ground troops because of its heavy ordnance load and accuracy. The aircraft had great success in Korea and Vietnam. There were 3,180 Skyraiders built in seven major models and 28 different versions. There were 266 A-1s lost in Vietnam. Some nicknames - Able Dog, Spad, Sandy, Hobo, Firefly, Zorro and "Crazy Water Buffalo," a VNAF nickname. VA-85 has been assigned to two Navy squadrons but the first one didn’t last long. The second VA- 85 began as 859th Reserve Squadron on February 1, 1951 equipped with Grumman Avengers. On February 4, 1953 the 859th became VA-85 which existed until September 1994. It wasn’t until 1958 that they became known as the “Black Falcons”. Throughout VA-85s career they flew 2 types of aircraft, three variants of the Douglas Skyraider and the Grumman A-6 Intruder and all deployments were off the USS Forrestal.