New project for 2019 - TA-4J Skyhawk

[Dino Cattaneo]

I've been away from this forum for some weeks...and today I've been posting way too much! Sorry for that.

This is just a first glimpse of the feasibility study for one of my new projects for 2019... The idea is to deliver a "as close to NATOPS as reasonable" rendition of the TA-4J - this is a payware project although from the commercial point of view it does not make much sense, as we have seen a lot of scooters in the virtual skies, but technically it may be a very sound project: the aircraft is well known and very well documented, it is relatively simple in terms of system modeling, it is fun, it provides a good challenge as an "old-school" carrier trainer, it is a famous "aggressor" and then it had dozens of really cool liveries...

...and YES, it may generate a single seat variant if future (hard to tell which version exactly...A-4E most likely) or other twin seater variants (e.g. OA-4M), but the "primary target" is to nail the TA-4J. This is being designed for both FSX and P3D and it is my first project designed with portability to XP11 (and AFS-2 and potentially DCS) from the beginning (although I have no idea if I'll have have the time to do that!).

[Josh Patterson]

I've been away from this forum for some weeks...and today I've been posting way too much! Sorry for that.

This is just a first glimpse of the feasibility study for one of my new projects for 2019... The idea is to deliver a "as close to NATOPS as reasonable" rendition of the TA-4J - this is a payware project although from the commercial point of view it does not make much sense, as we have seen a lot of scooters in the virtual skies, but technically it may be a very sound project: the aircraft is well known and very well documented, it is relatively simple in terms of system modeling, it is fun, it provides a good challenge as an "old-school" carrier trainer, it is a famous "aggressor" and then it had dozens of really cool liveries...

...and YES, it may generate a single seat variant if future (hard to tell which version exactly...A-4E most likely) or other twin seater variants (e.g. OA-4M), but the "primary target" is to nail the TA-4J. This is being designed for both FSX and P3D and it is my first project designed with portability to XP11 (and AFS-2 and potentially DCS) from the beginning (although I have no idea if I'll have have the time to do that!).

I don't think there's an over abundance of Scooters in the skies. Virtavia's is really nice, but they failed to include any two seaters. You're now fixing that situation and I think it should sell well. (I would think sales would be at least to anyone who has a single seater anyway.) Count me as one!

[Priller]

Senator McCain's plane? yep, I would buy that! And a real A-4M would be the icing on the cake!!

Priller

[delta_lima]

Outstanding news, Dino!!!

Yes, the 2-hole J hasn't been seen in FSX, and while I enjoyed my FS9 Razbam models, those are long gone now on my DX10 FSX system. Will heartily enjoy a J, any day!

dl

[fallenphoenix1986]

Will be keeping an eye on this one, quite fond of the A-4.

Should you at some stage go down a single set path then i'd hope theres plenty of variants sufficiently different from the E/F/G modeled by Virtavia to not step on anyones toes. Say the older smaller A/B/C models or the Kahu, M, AF-1 or A-4AR... admittedly the Kahu, AF-1 and AR differ largely in avionics, at a glance being E/F/G/M models externally.

[Dino Cattaneo]

Reason why I am pointing towards the A-4E/F is just that they are the closest to the TA-4J / TA-4F - also in terms of cockpit design - and they are a good baseline for a virtual model.
Then there are literally dozens of variants...

[simulloyd]

Excellent news! Thanks Dino! I've always loved the Skyhawks.

[Mike71]

Will be keeping an eye on this one, quite fond of the A-4.

Should you at some stage go down a single set path then i'd hope theres plenty of variants sufficiently different from the E/F/G modeled by Virtavia to not step on anyones toes. Say the older smaller A/B/C models or the Kahu, M, AF-1 or A-4AR... admittedly the Kahu, AF-1 and AR differ largely in avionics, at a glance being E/F/G/M models externally.

Many offshoots from the TA-4F/J and the A-4E/F/G could be hard. The A/B/C versions had flush intakes and a J-65 vice J-52 engine. The A/B had a really archaic cockpit compared to the C and later, especially the AJB-3 All attitude Indicator LABS system. Starting with the E, bleed air for rain removal vice a wiper. The Marine inspired A-4M had a "blown" canopy profile for more room, as well as it Foreign Military Sales (FMS)offshoots. I have lots of time in all of them except the A-4A. The nuances involved in the changes throughout the Skyhawk's life are almost more than the mind can bear. best of luck to our modeler - start looks real nice!

[Dino Cattaneo]

...let's start with the TA-4J and we'll see how the project will evolve!

[WarHorse47]

Looking forward to it, Dino. Thanks.

[Sundog]

Wow, that's more awesome news. If you do decide to make any of the single engine variants, I hope you model one of the early short nose variants; I'll be happy with whatever you offer anyway. I just always thought the stubby nosed early versions looked particularly sporty. I'll definitely be happy with the TA-4J, since it's another plane that people will be able to apply multitudes of great paint schemes.

[strykerpsg]

Fantastic news indeed Dino and you should never apologize for posting lots of stuff in the forum. Your news is always great news and positively stimulates the community for the good. Looking forward to the TA-4 and your later iterations, especially because you mention developing additional models as well. Also, did not see it mentioned, but will it be TacPacked too? Also, excited to see you possibly dwelling into DCS. Great update indeed.

[PhantomTweak]

Fantastic! I can't wait to watch this develop!

It was because of the TA-4J that I met my lovely wife, believe it or not. MCAS Yuma had had a squadron based there, VMAT-102, but they had finally transitioned out of them. They cocooned them all up, and sent them off to the boneyard. hen, shortly after, they decided they wanted to put one of them up on the front gate as a static display. So they brought one back, and assigned the A&P class from a local college to de-cocoon it. My wife's father was running the class, and she was sort of taking it under the table Anywho, one day, she was scraping the cocooning off the plane's nose, just in front of the windscreen, and she had climbed on and straddled the nose to do it. I was working at VMFAT-401 at the time, flying Israeli Kfirs. I took the O2 cart with a tug to the LOX farm for a refill. When I went past the A-4, with a beautiful girl straddling the nose, I was shocked at how good her tushi looked like that. I must have thought up excuses to drive the tug past that plane a dozen times that day.
I didn't find out it was my wife until a couple years after were married, several years after the incident. She thought it was hilarious, as she had seen me driving past, but I had never once seen her face. We met in a totally different way, riding motorcycles in a Memorial Day parade in Yuma together.
Amazing how fate works!

Anywho, looking forward to this project! I must have worked on every A-4 in '102 at one tie or another. Do you think a paint for 102 can be included by any chance? It'd be a great thing for me to see. My wife too!


Have fun all!
Pat☺

[Odie]

Looking forward to this one, Dino! In 2016 at Oceana NAS airshow, there was a civilian A-4 that did a demo. In my youth I saw the Blue Angels when they were flying A-4's but outside of their demo at the time, that was it. At Oceana, I can only describe the A-4 demo as: graceful. It was a delight to see the pilot put the a/c through its paces and see how it responded to the controls. I had a newfound respect for the A-4 after watching that demo.

[nagpaw]

Fantastic news, Dino! I'm always up for a Navy two-seater, and the Skyhawk is one of my favorites. Looking forward to parking it next to Rob's two-seat Cougar!

[jmbiii]

Back in the sixties we had two attached as an 'fighter cover' on the USS Intrepid (CVS-11) on one deployment. I remember watching in wonderment as the pilots 'put the plane on' instead of getting in the cockpit. They were fairly good sized and looked like they just barely fit in the things.

[Mike71]

Back in the sixties we had two attached as an 'fighter cover' on the USS Intrepid (CVS-11) on one deployment. I remember watching in wonderment as the pilots 'put the plane on' instead of getting in the cockpit. They were fairly good sized and looked like they just barely fit in the things.

Absolutely! The plane was a reasonable size by the standards of the day, but the cockpit was a tight fit. I was 6'3" at the time and the ejection seat had to be bottomed out for me to close the canopy. The worst part though? No relief tube --.I always carried a couple of "MAF" bags on long flights, and using one for "relief" was no simple task. (A MAF bag was kind of like one of these modern zip lock freezer bags you use these days. They were used by Navy / Marine / other? maintenance managers to hold certain documents and could hold liquid without leaking).

[PhantomTweak]

They were used by Navy / Marine / other? maintenance managers to hold certain documents and could hold liquid without leaking).

Yeah, the first time you unzipped them, they held liquid. MAYBE the second. The corners or the zipper were weak, and would crack easily. I worked AIMD Avionics, MCAS Yuma, and we must have had a few thousand MAF bags floating around. I can't recall any bags, other than a new one from supply, that were "water" tight.
Of course, most of the ones we got were from I Level, used to hold the VIDS/MAFs, and the guys on the line were, umm, none to gentle, shall we say. Of course, one use was all you needed, I suppose. I wonder how the guys that emptied the garbage cans in flight equipment felt about your little gifts, though

On a positive note, they held small bits and parts for a treat, and the plastic was very strong. A cracked corner here or there was ok with us, as long as the parts or paperwork didn't fall out. Those things got reused and passed around like nothing else...

The plane was a reasonable size by the standards of the day, but the cockpit was a tight fit. I was 6'3" at the time and the ejection seat had to be bottomed out for me to close the canopy.

Was it just me, or did it seem like they assigned the largest guys to the smallest cockpit planes?

Have fun all!
Pat☺

[DennyA]

I'd preorder this to support it, I'm so psyched! Looking forward to getting it flying in Blue Angels colors.

The OA-4M would be cool! Gotta love all the stuff the Marines packed onto the plane.

Not asking for this, but just including it in case folks haven't seen it... Singapore had the weirdest of the trainer Skyhawks:

[Mike71]

Yeah, the first time you unzipped them, they held liquid. MAYBE the second. The corners or the zipper were weak, and would crack easily. I worked AIMD Avionics, MCAS Yuma, and we must have had a few thousand MAF bags floating around. I can't recall any bags, other than a new one from supply, that were "water" tight.
Of course, most of the ones we got were from I Level, used to hold the VIDS/MAFs, and the guys on the line were, umm, none to gentle, shall we say. Of course, one use was all you needed, I suppose. I wonder how the guys that emptied the garbage cans in flight equipment felt about your little gifts, though

On a positive note, they held small bits and parts for a treat, and the plastic was very strong. A cracked corner here or there was ok with us, as long as the parts or paperwork didn't fall out. Those things got reused and passed around like nothing else...


Was it just me, or did it seem like they assigned the largest guys to the smallest cockpit planes?

Have fun all!
Pat☺

Phantom - true, only one use. However, I was "thoughtful" enough to throw it over the side or empty it in the head. Followed by washing my hands, of course! Thank the Lord for my trusty A-6; big, roomy cockpit, relief tube readily available.

[Sundog]

Also, the Singapore A-4SU Super Skyhawk used a non-afterburning F-404-GE-100D, which had about 29% more thrust than the J65 of the standard Skyhawk.

[Victory103]

Outstanding again Dino! Always liked this model of the Scooter, even prior to my early USN days in Pensacola and watching them in the pattern. Please enlist the help of guys that flew her like "Mike71" in order to have the best "J" Scooter for FSX/P3D!

[YoYo]

Dino, are You machine ?
Beauty!

[Dino Cattaneo]

Some small steps forward... likely to be ready for late spring 2019.

[delta_lima]

Looks great Dino, sign me up for one!

Love it - would likely fly it even more than the single-seat Virtavia A-4s, which already get good stick time.

The chance to have some aggressor Foxtrots would be delightful beyond words.








dl