Murph Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 Anybody have any ideas on how many AIM-9s the Skyray could carry? A few sources say it could carry 4, while most say 2; although, the latter could just be the internet echo chamber repeating each other wrongly. I found one picture of a China Lake F4D with 4 AIM-9s, but that is a test center, so it may not have been an operational load. Regards, Murph Quote Link to post Share on other sites
madmanrick Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 Per Tommy Thompson's excellent Tailhook Topics site, the F4D could carry: "Sidewinder capability was added early on and up to four could be carried (on the inboard and outboard wing stations), although the usual load-out was two." http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/search?q=douglas+f4d Rick Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 I went thru all my reference books on the F4D and found several photos of them carrying Sidewinders. Note the following comments are observations, not hard and fast rules. I found photos of Sidewinders on inboard pylons and on outboard pylons, but never at the same time. I found no photos of four AIM-9s loaded. If the Skyray could actually carry four, I found no photos. Also I found photos of two different inboard pylons carrying AIM-9s. One case was a rail launcher hung off the common pylon with the vertical leading edge, as depicted in the Tamiya 72nd kit. The other was a shorter pylon with a raked leading edge and no visible gap between the pylon and rail. The latter may have been an Aero 3A but the reference I found was in Japanese so I can't be sure. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Finn Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 Here is a Ford getting some Sidewinders: http://www.navysite.de/cruisebooks/cv14-60/270.htm Jari Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 Here is a photo the second pylon/launcher Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Murph Posted June 15, 2017 Author Share Posted June 15, 2017 9 hours ago, madmanrick said: Per Tommy Thompson's excellent Tailhook Topics site, the F4D could carry: "Sidewinder capability was added early on and up to four could be carried (on the inboard and outboard wing stations), although the usual load-out was two." http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/search?q=douglas+f4d Rick Rick, Thanks, Tommy's site was one of the first things I checked, but I missed that. 7 hours ago, habu2 said: I went thru all my reference books on the F4D and found several photos of them carrying Sidewinders. Note the following comments are observations, not hard and fast rules. I found photos of Sidewinders on inboard pylons and on outboard pylons, but never at the same time. I found no photos of four AIM-9s loaded. If the Skyray could actually carry four, I found no photos. habu2, The only photo I could find with four AIM-9s was that one I mentioned above at the China Lake website. Regards, Murph Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grey Ghost 531 Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 The last page of the Ginter book has what looks like a page of the NATOPS manual titled "performance summary" and it has a column listing 4 sidewinders and 2 300 gallon tanks. I do not see any pictures in the book with four, or even two visible on the same wing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tailspin Turtle Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 I updated my blog post to show the F4D Sidewinder pylon alternatives: http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2010/10/bat-out-of-hell.html Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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