Hobby Master Archive

Douglas A-4C Skyhawk 148609 c/n 12802 was delivered to VA-64 in 1961. After spending time with VA-64 and VA72 148609 was assigned to VA-76 “Spirits” in 1964 as NP-685. VA-76 was deployed to Vietnam on board the USS Bon Homme Richard when on May 1, 1967 LCDR Ted “T.R.” Swartz flying 148609 shot down a MiG-17 over North Vietnam with an unguided Zuni missile making this the only time a Skyhawk scored an air-to-air victory during the Vietnam War. 148609 was lost in June 1972 after a mid-air collision.