Booty003 Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 I have a bit of a thing for the Scooter at the moment and was wondering if anyone knows why the Star and Bar moved from the front of the aircraft to the rear fuselage? Cheers all, Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 I found some discussion about this on the A-4 Skyhawk association website. According to one source, the A-4"s with the J-65 had the star and bar forward, as their was an oil vent on the RH rear fuselage that threw a lot of oil in normal use, obscuring the insignia. According to the same source, J-52 powered Scooters did not have this vent, and their national insignias were moved to the aft fuselage. Maybe somebody else can confirm? Mike http://a4skyhawk.info/article/squadron-common Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 Tommy Thomason frequents these pages as @Tailspin Turtle, and he literally wrote the book on the Scooter. I suspect he may know the reason. Cheers, Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tailspin Turtle Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 6 hours ago, 72modeler said: I found some discussion about this on the A-4 Skyhawk association website. According to one source, the A-4"s with the J-65 had the star and bar forward, as their was an oil vent on the RH rear fuselage that threw a lot of oil in normal use, obscuring the insignia. According to the same source, J-52 powered Scooters did not have this vent, and their national insignias were moved to the aft fuselage. Maybe somebody else can confirm? Mike http://a4skyhawk.info/article/squadron-common Sounds reasonable but I don't know for sure. All I can say is some people didn't get the word. Click on this link and scroll down to the picture of the A-4Es parked side-by-side: http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2012/07/douglas-low-drag-external-fuel-tanks.html 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 41 minutes ago, Tailspin Turtle said: Sounds reasonable but I don't know for sure. All I can say is some people didn't get the word. Click on this link and scroll down to the picture of the A-4Es parked side-by-side: http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2012/07/douglas-low-drag-external-fuel-tanks.html I was hoping you would be able to cast more light on this subject, Tommy! Thanks! When it comes to all things U.S. naval, you are da man! Mike Leave it to you to have a photo that showed both locations at the same time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumbles Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 9 hours ago, 72modeler said: I found some discussion about this on the A-4 Skyhawk association website. According to one source, the A-4"s with the J-65 had the star and bar forward, as their was an oil vent on the RH rear fuselage that threw a lot of oil in normal use, obscuring the insignia. According to the same source, J-52 powered Scooters did not have this vent, and their national insignias were moved to the aft fuselage. Maybe somebody else can confirm? Mike http://a4skyhawk.info/article/squadron-common J-52 powered A-4's also have an oil breather pipe venting on the starboard side. It and the resultant staining are visible forward of the roundel in both of these images: I think the J-65 vent in question may have been on the other side:http://tailspintopics.blogspot.co.nz/2012_07_01_archive.html 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAVY870 Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 6 hours ago, mumbles said: J-52 powered A-4's also have an oil breather pipe venting on the starboard side. It and the resultant staining are visible forward of the roundel in both of these images: I think the J-65 vent in question may have been on the other side:http://tailspintopics.blogspot.co.nz/2012_07_01_archive.html Wiped up that stain once or twice. The aircraft in the lower shot used to be an RAN A-4G 877, When I was a mere boy on 724 Squadron I was banished over to 805 Squadron for a day to assist with an engine change. Unfortunately 877 had been on the flight deck of HMAS Melbourne whilst she traversed the Great Australian Bight and had encountered a spot of "roughers" 77 got a rather heavy salt water bath and muggins here got the lovely job of removing very corroded jet pipe heat shield bolts from the rear fuselage. I'd do it again in a heart beat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71chally Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 Could it be to do with the introduction of the refueling probe in numbers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booty003 Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 Thanks for the input guys, very much appreciated. Love the picture of the two E models showing the different locations next to each other!! Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tailspin Turtle Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 (edited) The J65-powered Skyhawks had vents on both sides but not in the same location. The one on the left side was located much higher than the one on the right. Both vents are shown here: http://tailspintopics.blogspot.co.nz/2012/07/new-airfix-172-4b4p-modeling-notes.html The pictures in the post and elsewhere suggest that the right side vent didn't spew as much oil as the left one. Edited January 31, 2017 by Tailspin Turtle Correct right side vent location and add information. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now