The A-4 Skyhawk Is A Movie Star—And A Great Fighter Jet, Too
In Top Gun—undoubtedly the most culturally relevant military aviation film ever made—the A-4 pops up multiple times.
The A-4 Skyhawk seems to have fallen between the cracks and faded into relative obscurity. Granted, the A-4 has been retired for a generation—but given the ubiquitous nature of the jet—with over 3,000 produced—and its long tenure of service (from 1956 to 2003), one might think the A-4 would have a little bit more staying power. Let’s take a look back at the A-4 Skyhawk, a Cold War staple of both the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps, with a focus on the jet’s appearance in film.
The Skyhawk in Film
You can still see the A-4 Skyhawk today, in film, with peripheral roles in several prominent films. In The Right Stuff, for example, soon-to-be-astronaut Al Shephard lands his Navy A-4 on a carrier before being recruited to apply for NASA’s Mercury program.
In Top Gun—undoubtedly the most culturally relevant military aviation film ever made—the A-4 pops up multiple times. During the classroom session in the hangar—the one where Maverick tells Charlie, “I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you”—the A-4 is centered in the background, parked below the American flag. The A-4 is also in the background of Maverick’s photograph of himself and his father. And most importantly, the A-4 is featured in action, as an aggressor aircraft during training at Fighter Weapons School, a scene complete with an aileron roll from the A-4.
Top Gun isn’t the only Tom Cruise movie to feature the A-4, however;. The A-4 is also in Tropic Thunder—specifically, the botched napalm-drop-stunt.
Elsewhere, the A-4 can be found in Cuban Missile Crisis overview Thirteen Days; Tom Clancy suitcase nuke thriller The Sum of All Fears; Chuck Norris plane-hijacking schlock The Delta Force; Oliver Stone’s Nixon, starring Anthony Hopkins in the title role; legendary cult film Koyaanisqatsi; Ryan Reynolds’ 2011 flop Green Lantern; and many more.
The Skyhawk in Reality
The A-4 was built to replace the Douglas A-1 Skyraider (itself featured prominently in the Christian Bale Vietnam POW flick Rescue Dawn)—the last propeller-driven attack aircraft that the U.S. ever fielded, and the foundation for the A-10 Warthog.
The defining characteristic of the A-4 was its size. The A-4 was small, compact, and lightweight. The jet had a maximum takeoff weight of just 24,500 pounds. And the delta wings were so compact that they didn’t even need to be folded for stowage aboard an aircraft carrier. The pilot’s took notice and soon labeled the A-4 with a variety of size-related nicknames, including “Scooter,” “Bantam Bomber,” “Tinker Toy Bomber,” and “Kiddie Car.”
But the A-4 quickly earned its pilots’ respect. Despite being small, the A-4 could maneuver adeptly. And despite the relatively small maximum takeoff weight, the A-4 could heft, on five external hardpoints, a weapons payload comparable to that of the World War II B-17 Flying Fortress bomber.
The A-4’s most enduring contribution to military aviation, perhaps, was the introduction of the air-to-air “buddy” refueling system, which allowed two aircraft to refuel one another without a dedicated aerial tanker.
About the Author: Harrison Kass
Harrison Kass is a senior defense and national security writer with over 1,000 total pieces on issues involving global affairs. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.
Image: Shutterstock.