Page 6 - Aerotech News and Review, May 18 2018
P. 6
High Desert Hangar Stories
A Shark in the desert
by Bob Alvis
special to Aerotech News
inventory.
The Douglas A2D Skyshark was an
impressive looking aircraft. Its large It’s pretty common around our des- size with those two giant counter-ro- ert home to see people come to a stop, tating props made it look like a crea- bend their necks and look skyward as ture from a modern-day Transformer the sounds of aircraft herald their ap- movie and just as scary! What really proach overhead. made it unique was that it was the first
They usually stand still and share thoughts with other bystanders about the spectacle filling the sky and the sound of an engine that gave them the first clue that something pretty cool was about to fly over.
“Bird watching” in the Antelope Valley is pretty unlike bird watching anywhere else in the United States! Over the years, it’s given spectators some pretty cool and interesting sub- ject matter to partake in and share.
Case in point was a Douglas aircraft that was built to fill a Navy require- ment for a turbo-prop attack aircraft to be flown off of aircraft carriers.
In the late 1940s/early 1950s, the sound of jet engines were becoming commonplace at Edwards Air Force Base — but the sound now being introduced to the base was that of a power plant which would have a mass of teething problems, but would later go on to power thousands of aircraft in the United States military aircraft
aircraft to incorporate a new engine design: the Allison XT40-A-2 turbo prop. It didn’t take long for the ob- server to see those two giant exhaust stacks on the rear fuselage to know that this baby meant business and was going to be loud!
The Skyshark required two engines that would produce an estimated 5,100 military and take-off horsepower, with 830 pounds of residual thrust at 13,620 rpm. The two engines were coupled together via a massive gear- box that would spin the giant propel- lers. The son of SPAD (the nickname of predecessor aircraft AD-1 Skyraid- er) was truly going to be one of a kind.
After many delays, the Skyshark finally arrived at Edwards for flight testing in the early months of 1950. When the Shark would fire up, ground personnel and everybody around the base knew it was running as the air-
See SKYSHARK, Page 7
Courtesy photograph
The Douglas A2D Skyshark flies a test mission over Southern California’s Mojave Desert.
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May 18, 2018
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