Hobby Master Archive

805 Squadron Motto - Over Sea and Sand, Call Sign “Checkmates” Battle Honors - Crete 1941, Libya 1941-42, Korea 1951-52 After being disbanded for 5 years 805 Squadron reformed for the third time on 10 January 1968. This time they would fly the McDonnell Douglas A-4G Skyhawk lightweight strike fighter. Originally the aircraft wore a red and white checkerboard tail but in 1970 this was replaced by a figure of a chess piece black knight. For 14 years 805 Squadron was based at NAS Nowra and operated from the carrier HMAS Melbourne for operational missions. In 1982 RAN’s sole carrier was decommissioned so once again the 805 Squadron was disbanded.

In November 1967 the RAN received the first 8 A-4Gs with 882 being one. They were A-4Fs without the avionics hump and upgraded to perform an air defense role as well as retaining a ground-strike capability. In the 1970s 882 spent time as part of 805 Squadron’s (Checkmates) aerobatic team. In 1983 the aircraft was put in storage and sold to the RNZAF in 1984 and used in the Kiwi Red Aerobatic Team. Damaged in a mid air incident during a practice in 1989 and returned to service with 2 Squadron in 2001. In January 2001 the plane crashed killing the pilot.