Skyhawks Volume 2 Released

Ronald Zambrano Mieles (RAZBAM) has released his Volume 2 of Skyhawks for CFS2 and FS2004. Ronald has added 8 new aircraft to his earlier released Volume 1. To get an idea of the variants and liveries contained in the package simMarket has provided an extensive screenshot page for the product. The package costs Euro 15,99 and consists of a 73 Mb download.

The package includes more variants of the Douglas Aircraft (later merged with McDonnell to form McDonnell Douglas) A-4 Skyhawk. For those unfamiliar with the Skyhawk (or the “Scooter,” as it was nicknamed) it was designed by Douglas designer Ed Heinemann, in response to a U.S. Navy request for a jet-powered attack aircraft to replace the piston-engined A-1 Skyraider.

Heinemann came up with a design that eschewed the conventions of bulky and complicated military aircraft. The end result, which took its first flight in 1954, was a nimble flying machine that lived up to its alternate nickname, “Heinemann’s Hot-Rod.” The Skyhawk went on to provide service to a large variety of armed forces; in addition to the U.S. Navy (and Marines), the A-4 has been flown by Australia, Indonesia, Kuwait, Malaysia, and New Zealand. In fact this long-lived champion bantamweight is still in service (albeit sometimes in a training role) 30-odd years after production ceased, with Argentina, Brazil, Israel, and Singapore.

The range of versions and operators is reflected in the Volume 2 release of The Skyhawks (as with the previous release).

The variants for CFS included are:

• U.S. Navy A-4E
• Royal Australian Navy A-4G
• Israel Air Force A-4H
• Royal New Zealand Air Force Project KAHU Upgrade A-4K
• Republic of Singapore Air Force A-4SU

For FS2004 — the above variants, plus;

• U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School (“Top Gun”) Aggressor Unit A-4E
• U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School (“Top Gun”) Aggressor Unit A-4F
• U.S. Navy “Blue Angels” Demonstration Team A-4F
• Republic of Singapore Air Force “Black Knights” Demonstration Team A-4SU

Included in the features of The Skyhawks Volume 2 is a working canopy and tail hook; a catapult launch for carrier take-offs (as you can launch from the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne in both CFS2 and FS2004 versions, and from the Argentinean aircraft carrier ARA Veinticinco de Mayo in the CFS2 version); and custom gauges.