F4D-1

F4D-1

800px

F4D-1

USA

VI Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
9.3	9.0	9.3

Class:

Fighter

Jet fighter

Naval aircraft

Purchase:Bundle or Gift

Show in game

Description

The F4D-1 Skyray , later known as the F-6A under the 1962 Tri-Service aircraft designation system, is a gift rank VI American jet fighter with a battle rating of 9.3 (AB/SB) and 9.0 (RB). It was introduced during Update "Danger Zone" as a reward for the 2022 Summer Quest event.

The last subsonic carrier-based jet fighter adapted into USN service by Douglas, the Skyray offers sufficient speed at its rank with a large wing, boosting its overall climb rate and allowing it to fly in transonic speeds without any fatal structural damage. However, players do have to beware of its outdated design of wing-mounted guns, whereas most jets of the era put them on the centreline instead, as well as severe bleeding of speed in manoeuvres due to the large wing.

General info

Flight performance

Arrestor gear

Accelerates braking by grabbing the brake cable on the deck of the aircraft carrier

Air brakes

Allows you to dramatically reduce the flight speed by releasing special flaps

Max speed

at 0 m1 145 km/h

Turn time22 s

Max altitude12 500 m

EnginePratt & Whitney J57P8

TypeJet

Cooling systemAir

Take-off weight11 t

At first glance, players will notice its enormous delta wings, while this helps with its climbing speed and overall structural integrity, as well as holding more fuel for longer fights; this also means that with the help of slats and flaps, it can be a fearsome dogfighter thanks to its powerful Pratt & Whitney J57-P-8 engine with an afterburner at very high transonic speeds - even supersonic at higher altitudes or in a dive. But players of the A-4 series (from Douglas as well) will soon find themselves at home in the way that this delta wing also causes severe energy bleeding in manoeuvres, the overall large size also means that it will become an easy target for enemy jets with higher energy. So be aware not to dogfight for too long, else the F4D will not be able to gain back enough acceleration to escape from the turmoil and leads straight back to the hanger very quickly.

Characteristics	Max speed (km/h at 0 m - sea level)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	1,138	1,134	12500	22.8	23.5	100.6	92.6	900
Upgraded	___	___		__._	__._	__._	__._

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear	Drogue chute
✓	X	✓	✓	✓	X

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
1,283	407	1,283	N/A	1,283	~__	~__

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< ___	< ___	< ___	N/A

Engine performance

Engine			Aircraft mass
Engine name		Number	Basic mass		Wing loading (full fuel)
Pratt & Whitney J57P8		1	7,245 kg		190 kg/m2
Engine characteristics			Mass with fuel (no weapons load)			Max Gross Weight
Weight (each)	Type		7m fuel	20m fuel	25m fuel
2,122 kg	Afterburning axial-flow turbojet		7,811 kg	8,733 kg	9,133 kg	_,___ kg
Maximum engine thrust @ 0 m (RB/SB)			Thrust to weight ratio @ 0 m (WEP)
Condition	100%	WEP	7m fuel	20m fuel	25m fuel	MGW
Stationary	4,249 kgf	7,269 kgf	0.93	0.83	0.80	_.__
Optimal	4,475 kgf (1,000 km/h)	8,104 kgf (1,200 km/h)	1.04	0.93	0.89	_.__

Survivability and armour

Crew1 person

Speed of destruction

Structural0 km/h

Gear407 km/h

The only protection on this aircraft is a 8 mm steel plate right in front of the pilot; although it is practically useless against autocannons, it may sometimes save you from head-on .50 cal strafes. Another bad news is that the tanks are not self-sealing, so there is very high chance that players will not survive if set afire, unless at very low fuel - in which case they will no longer have enough fuel for an escape.

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB3 195 → 4 316

RB9 366 → 12 653

SB10 077 → 13 614

Total cost of modifications170 000

263 000

Talisman cost2 600

Crew training150 000

Experts520 000

Aces2 400

Research Aces950 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

130 / 380 / 600 %

220 / 220 / 220 %

Modifications

Flight performance	Survivability	Weaponry
Fuselage repair Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 350 Compressor Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 350 New boosters Research: 13 000 Cost: 20 000 410 Wings repair Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 350 Engine Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 350 G-suit Research: 18 000 Cost: 28 000 570	Airframe Research: 13 000 Cost: 20 000 410 Cover Research: 18 000 Cost: 28 000 570	mk_12_mod3_belt_pack Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 350 AERO-6 Research: 13 000 Cost: 20 000 410 mk_12_mod3_new_gun Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 350 AIM-9B Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 350 AERO-7 Research: 18 000 Cost: 28 000 570

Armaments

Ballistic Computer
CCIP (Guns)	CCIP (Rockets)	CCIP (Bombs)	CCRP (Bombs)

Offensive armament

The F4D-1 is armed with:

• 4 x 20 mm Browning-Colt Mk12 Mod 0 cannons, wing-mounted (65 rpg = 260 total)

Suspended armament

The F4D-1 can be outfitted with the following ordnance presets:

• Without load
• 2 x AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles
• 4 x AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles
• 42 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets
• 114 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets

Custom loadout options

	1	2	3	4	5	6
FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets	7, 19	7, 19	7, 19	7, 19	7, 19	7, 19
AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles	1		1	1		1

Usage in battles

Players who fly the A-4 series will soon find themselves at home, since Douglas adopted a similar design of delta wing and autocannon on the F4D-1. Some traits are very similar as well, particularly the manoeuvrability and ballistics: while it has 2 pairs of guns on its wings, a concentrated burst on an enemy will certainly be their demise, its overall high manoeuvrability and AOA also helps to gain a slightly longer window to take out enemy aircraft. However, do beware of being stalled by manoeuvres; although the F4D can gain its speed back relatively quickly, this can leave enough window for enemies to lay their guns on the F4D. So either be quick with taking down your target or evacuate from the battlefield for another attack run.

If ground pounding is your cup of tea, chances are players will find the FFARs useless against ground targets in ground RB and even in air RB due to its explosive content; the task is made slightly easier with the ballistic computer, but do not expect a solid kill aside from light vehicles.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• High speed and acceleration for a transonic jet
• High AOA thanks to its delta wing, can dogfight if needed
• Access to a relatively long-range radar
• Access to four AIM-9B
• Four devastating 20 mm autocannons

Cons:

• Relatively low velocity and low ammo count for the cannon
• Large target
• Bleeds speed severely after manoeuvres
• Only rockets as alternative ground-attacking weapon

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the F4D-1 from live.warthunder.com.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

• [Devblog] F4D-1 Skyray