@ Santa Maria, CA
March 2023
The Santa Maria Museum of Flight has this tired Skyhawk on display. A Guard pilot once told me that it’s hard to pull off that cool military pilot image when your airplane has windshield wipers! The A-4L was an upgraded version of the A-4C, with A-4F avionics hump, and assigned to the U.S. Naval Reserve units. Fleet Composite Squadron Thirteen (VC-13 ‘Saints’) operated this type, circa 1974, while based at Naval Air Station New Orleans. First flown in 1954, close to 3,000 were produced and some are still in active duty service with Argentina, Brazil and Singapore.