Small. Modest. Affordable. Heinemann's Hot Rod.

Once upon a time, in the fledgling era of early jets and many failed designs, there was one particular aircraft which stood as an outlier. The Kouglas A-4 Skyhawk dared to make its appearance in the time of large, expensive, heavy, and sluggish jet fighters. The Skyhawk was the polar opposite of this, being as easy to purchase, maintain, and fly as possible while retaining a respectable bomb load.

This aircraft is a dedicated ground attack aircraft. It is known affectionately by its crews as, among other things, the Tinker Toy Bomber for its small size. This is a very simple, honest aircraft. It honestly couldn't get any easier to fly (just like Beggar's Canyon back home). It's not fast. Not advanced. Its not a strategic bomber. But when you need to keep planes flying and you need A LOT of them, the A-4 is perhaps the finest ground attack aircraft that ever flew. Also the easiest.

The Breakdown:

Length: 9.5 metres (Compare to 12 metres for the real life version)

Width: 7.6 metres (Compare to 8.4 metres for the real life version)

Height: 4.1 metres (Compare to 4.5 metres for the real life version)

Empty Weight: 4.8 tonnes (Compare to 4.7 tonnes for the real life version)

Loaded Weight: 6.3 tonnes (Compare to 8.3 tonnes for the real life version)

Top Speed at 1000 metres: 940 kilometres per hour with 200 units of fuel (The real life version had a top speed of 970 KPH)

Top Speed at 10 kilometres: 720 kilometres per hour with 200 units of fuel

Climb Rate: Max. 100 meters per second at a 45-degree angle (compared to 40 meters per second with the real version)

Turn Performance: 30 degrees per second sustained at 4 G

Cost: 17.621 Kerbal Currency at full fuel

Part Count: 28

Fuel Capacity: 300 units

Time Over Target: 40 minutes worst case scenario, at full fuel

Thrust to weight ratio: 3.55-1 at bingo fuel, 2.7 at full fuel

Service Ceiling: 12 kilometres (when the aircraft loses vertical speed, the real life version has an official service ceiling of 12 KM as well)

A-4 Skyhawk Replica (STOCK)