Douglas TA-4E / TA-4F / TA-4J Skyhawk
The two-seat Skyhawk that trained generations of US Navy and Marine jet pilots · First flight 1965 · In service 1966
The two-seat Skyhawk inserted a second cockpit in tandem behind the first. The prototype first flew on 30 June 1965 as the TA-4E and was quickly redesignated TA-4F; it entered service with the training squadron VA-125 in May 1966. The TA-4F kept the guns and pylons of the single-seater, and 241 were built.
The TA-4J, first flown on 17 December 1968, was a simplified advanced trainer based on the A-4F, with a down-rated engine and no combat capability; it reached the Navy's training command in 1969 and 277 were built new. TA-4Js trained Navy and Marine jet pilots until the T-45 Goshawk replaced them, and composite squadrons used them as adversaries and target tugs — VC-8 still had TA-4Js in 2003.
With export two-seaters included, 555 of the 2,960 Skyhawks built were trainers. Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Kuwait and Singapore all flew two-seat TA-4s alongside their single-seat aircraft.
