| A-4 Skyhawk "First and Last" Events" | |||
| SKYHAWK - "FIRST & LAST" MILESTONES | |||
| updated 05 JUL 2010 | |||
| FIRST | LAST | Event | Remarks |
| 21 JUN 52 | Contract awarded for XA4D-1 | Douglas Aircraft | |
| 26 JUL 52 | Preliminary design begins | Douglas Aircraft | |
| 13 OCT 52 | Authority to Proceed | Douglas Aircraft | |
| 01 FEB 54 | XA4D-1 Rollout | El Segundo Plant | |
| 22 JUN 54 | First Flight - Bob Rahn | XA4D-1 at Edwards | |
| 14 AUG 54 | First production A4D-1 flight | (A-4A) | |
| OCT 54 | Authority to Proceed , A4D-2 | (A-4B) | |
| 12 SEP 55 | First Carrier Trials | U.S.S. Ticonderoga | |
| 15 OCT 55 | Speed Record - 500Kilometer | LT Gordon Gray 695.163 MPH at Edwards | |
| 26 MAR 56 | First A4D-2 (A-4B) flight | Test Pilot Dru Wood | |
| 27 SEP 56 | First fleet delivery of A4D-1 | VA-72 Quonset Point RI | |
| 29 SEP 56 | First Delivery A4D-1 to the Marine Corps | VMA-224 - BuNo139920 | |
| 26 OCT 56 | BuNo.139935 first A-4 declared fleet ready | VA-72 Quonset Point RI | |
| 01 SEP 57 | Fleet Delivery of A4D-2 | (A-4B) | |
| 00 OCT 57 | First WestPac Deployment of A-4 | VA-93 | |
| 00 JAN 58 | First "E"s earned by A-4s | VA-34 | |
| 00 APR 58 | First Jet Landing on Ranger | VA-12 with A4Ds | |
| 21 AUG 58 | First Flight A4D-2N | (A-4C) | |
| 00 OCT 58 | First Deployment 300 Gallon Drop Tanks | A4D-2 & VA12 aboard USS Forrestal | |
| 00 OCT 58 | First Night Quals in Night Air/Air Refueling | A4D-2 & VA12 aboard USS Forrestal | |
| 00 OCT 58 | First Buddystore & Standby Tanker | A4D-2 & VA12 aboard USS Forrestal | |
| 00 JAN 59 | U.S.S. Intrepid Landing Record | A4D-2 of VA-106 | |
| 00 JUL 59 | First Skyhawk Trans-Atlantic with BuddyStore | Marine Air Wing 2 - A4D-2s | |
| 00 SEP 59 | First Operational Bullpup firing by a Skyhawk | VA-34 in the Atlantic Fleet | |
| 01 FEB 60 | Fleet Deliver of A4D-2N | VMA-225 | |
| 00 MAR 60 | First delivery A4D-2 to Marine Corps | VMA-225 | |
| 00 APR 61 | First Bullpup firing in Fleet Air Jacksonville Area | VA-46 | |
| 00 JUL 61 | 1000th Skyhawk rolls off the production line | Douglas Aircraft | |
| 12 JUL 61 | First Flight A4D-5 | (A-4E) | |
| 00 DEC 62 | Last Delivery A-4C | ||
| 01 JAN 63 | Deliver of A4D-5 | (A-4E) | |
| 26 DEC 62 | First unit to receive A-4E | VA-23 Black Knights with A-4E | |
| 08 FEB 64 | First Driver to get 100 landings in A-4E | Dale Evans | |
| 04 AUG 64 | First Skyhawk Raids into North Vietnam | ||
| 05 AUG 64 | First Skyhawk lost to combat - Vietnam | VA-144 BuNo149578 | |
| 25 APR 65 | Shrike Missile into combat via a Skyhawk | VA-23 Black Knights with A-4E | |
| 01 JUN 65 | First Skyhawk lands at Chu Lai, Vietnam | BuNo147779, VMA-225, Col. J. Noble | |
| 30 JUN 65 | First Flight TA-4E | Quickly redesignated TA-4F | |
| 01 APR 66 | Production ended on A-4E | ||
| 01 MAY 66 | First Fleet Deployment TA-4F | VA-125 NAS Lemoore CA | |
| 31 AUG 66 | First A-4F Flight | converted "E" | |
| 01 NOV 67 | First Skyhawk Unit equipped with Walleye | VA-212 a/c modified for Walleye | |
| 11 MAR 67 | First Walleye fired in combat | VA-212 CO CDR H. Smith - SE Asia | |
| 01 MAY 67 | 01 MAY 67 | MIG-17 Shootdown by a Skyhawk | VA-76 LCDR Ted R. Swartz |
| 00 JUN 67 | Fleet Delivery A-4F | ||
| 19 JUL 67 | First A-4G Flight | Test Pilot Jim Stegman | |
| 21 JUL 67 | First TA-4G Flight | Test Pilot Jim Stegman | |
| 26-Jul-1967 | First Delivery A4-G & TA-4G | Produced for Australia | |
| 27 OCT 1967 | First Flight of A-4H for Israel | Test Pilot John Lane | |
| 17 DEC 68 | First Flight TA-4J | ||
| 00 xxx 69 | First Deployment TA-4J | VT-17 NAS Kingsville TX | |
| 10 APR 70 | First A-4M Flight | Test Pilot Walt Harper | |
| 00 OCT 70 | First "Production" A-4M BuNo.158148 | VMA-324 MCAS Beaufort, SC | |
| 26 FEB 71 | Fleet Delivery A-4M | VMA-324 MCAS Yuma AZ | |
| 16 APR 71 | Fleet Delivery A-4M | VMA-324 MCAS Yuma AZ | |
| 06 SEP 72 | Last Skyhawk lost to combat - Vietnam | VA-212 BuNo155021 | |
| 27 JAN 73 | Last Skyhawk Bomb Dropped - Vietnam | Col. John Caldas, CO VMA-311 | |
| 00 SEP 73 | Skyhawk selected for Blue Angel Duty | ||
| 00 xxx 74 | 00 xxx 86 | Skyhawks fly with Blue Angels | |
| 00 DEC 75 | Last USN A-4 Line Squadron disestablished | ||
| 27 FEB 79 | Last Production A-4 Delivered - BuNo160264 | #2,960, a "Skyhawk II" A-4M to VMA-331 | |
| 27 FEB 90 | Last A-4M Active Duty xferred to Reserve Unit | VMA-211 xfers a/c to MAG-42 | |
| 22 JUN 94 | A-4 retired from the USMC Reserves | VMA-131 | |
| 09 SEP 95 | Skyhawk Association formed | Tailhook at Reno | |
| 00 SEP 99 | TA-4 retired from VT-7 | ||
| 03 MAY 03 | Last USN Active Duty Skyhawk Flight | VC-8 TA-4J to Palm Springs Airport | |
| 23 AUG 03 | Formal Retirement of the Skyhawk - USN | VC-8 Red Tails Deactivation NAS Oceana | |