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Walk Around
A-1 Skyraider

By Ed Barthelmes and Rich Dann

Color by Don Greer & Rich Dann

 

 

Squadron/Signal Publications

S u m m a r y
Catalogue Number: Walk Around Number 27
ISBN: 0-89747-429-6
Media: Soft cover, landscape format, 80 pages plus covers (incl. 46 pages in full colour).
Price: US$12.46 from Squadron.com
Review Type: First Read
Advantages:

A well presented mix of full colour and B&W photos interspersed with line drawings and colour artwork covering restored and in service aircraft. I found this title provides a good balance of reference for modellers of the A-1 series as it provides great detail and in flight photos of most of the major variants of this Douglas workhorse. Contains the now standard 12 colour profiles covering a diverse range of markings and users.
Disadvantages: None apparent
Recommendation: Highly Recommended as a one-stop reference for anyone interested in Skyraiders

 

Reviewed by Al Bowie

 

F i r s t   L o o k

 

As with others in the series these books are a well balanced and offer good value reference well suited to the modeller or enthusiast on a budget.  

The “Skyraider Walkaround “ is no exception and continues to improve on a well-established format. As with the others in the “Walkaround” series, it is presented in the familiar Squadron landscape format. This title has 46 pages of colour, comprised of Photos, colour artwork profiles and scrap views. 

The book begins with a short introduction, which gives a very brief (considering the long service) history of this versatile Douglas design.  This is followed by a never ending series of  Photos of the prototypes and some service shots of Navy aircraft. The book then immerses the reader/viewer in a succession of detail colour and B&W photos covering the AD1/2; AD 6 (A1H); AD 5(A1E);XAD 1W AEW (AEW.1) and the rare AD 4N Night attack variant. These aircraft are covered in a series of detail photos covering almost every aspect of the aircraft including Engine, Cockpit , wing fold , weapons stations, undercarriage, speed brakes etc. These are supported by detail artwork where appropriate or necessary. The book even covers one of the more amusing weapon loads carried by any aircraft, that being the toilet carried by VA-25 A-1H aboard USS Midway in 1965. 

I found the captions to be informative and exceptionally descriptive providing an excellent description of the photos. The colour profiles are a follows: 

  • AD 4N VMC 1 midnight blue aircraft based at K-16 Seoul during the Korean war
  • AD-6 VA-35 USS Tarawa midnight blue CAG aircraft 1954
  • AD-5 NAS Los Alamitos Naval Air Reserve Training Unit (midnight blue)
  • AD-6 VA-65 Midnight blue with Green and white trim
  • AD-5N ATU-301 NAS Corpus Christi in International orange and Light Gull Grey
  • AD-7 VA-95 USS Oriskany 1958 in Light Gull Grey
  • AEW.1 849 Sqn Royal Navy HMS Eagle in 1958
  • AD-6 1st Fighter Sqn VNAF (Commanders aircraft)1963 in Light Gull Grey with colourful fuselage bands
  • A-1E 602nd Air Commando Sqn USAF SVN 1966 Grey Scheme
  • A1-E 1st Spec Ops Sqn Thailand 1970 in SEAC scheme
  • A1-H 22nd SOS SVN Shark mouthed SEAC scheme
  • A1-H VNAF 23rd Tactical Wing in SEAC scheme with Grey rudder and checked fuselage band
  • Cover Profile: A-1H 602nd SOS SEAC scheme
  • Rear Cover: A-1H of VA-115 USS Hancock mid sixties in Grey scheme with fuselage “footprints”.

 

 

Conclusion

 

This book will be an essential aid to the modeller planning to build the Tamiya, Monogram, Revell/Matchbox or ESCI 1/48 scale, or the Hasegawa or Airfix kits in 1/72.

Highly Recommended.

Thanks to Squadron for the review sample.


A-1 Skyraider Walk Around is available online from Squadron.com

Review Copyright © 2001 by Al Bowie
This Page Created on 29 August, 2001
Last updated 22 July, 2003

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