laststandonzombieisland

Ed Heinemann’s “Tinker Toy Bomber”, the go-cart-like Douglas A-4 Skyhawk was a child of the 1950s and so good at what it did almost 3,000 of them were made. Although the U.S. military put these little scooters in the boneyard for good in 2003, the largest export customer for Skyhawks was Israel, who picked up more than 300 of the attack plane starting in 1967– dubbed Ayit (Hebrew: עיט‎, for Eagle).

Put to good use in Yom Kippur War in 1973 where Skyhawk aircrews took off to about 1000 operational sorties in the southern front– saving the day there by most accounts– and over Syria and Lebanon in the 80s and 90s, the type has slowly been replaced in service as a combat aircraft with the F-16 by 2008 and now, by the Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master in a training role.

The last Israeli A-4s were retired this month.

“Ayit pilots marked great historical events in the history of aerial combat,” Air Force Commander Amir Eshel said, “Many of the force’s achievements are the outcome of the combination between the small plane and the greatness of its pilots.”

This leaves Brazil, who operates a dozen highly modified ex-Kuwaiti A-4s for use off thier 1960s-era Clemenceau-class aircraft carrier NAe São Paulo (A12), as the last Scooter drivers in service. They are expected to remain operational until 2025.