Douglas F5D Skylancer

The Douglas F5D Skylancer was a development of the F4D Skyray jet fighter for the United States Navy. It began as the F4D-2N, an all-weather Skyray, but the design soon became too different to count as a variation: almost every part of the airframe was modified, the fuselage was 8 feet longer and area ruled to reduce transonic drag, and the wing became much thinner. The four 20 mm cannon in the wing roots were kept, but the primary armament was to be missiles or rockets. The first flight was made by the first F5D-1 on 21 April 1956 and was supersonic. Nine test airframes were ordered with a 51-aircraft production order to follow, and four aircraft were constructed, continuing to fly in various military test programs.