This outstanding performer carried the firepower of a destroyer, and served for more than 20 years. Conceived in 1944, it made its first flight on March 18, 1945. ATTACK Squadron (VA 55) introduced the ADs to Korean combat on July 3, 1950; with its versatility, weight-lifting capacity (5,000 pounds on a carrier mission) and dive-bombing precision, the ADs became the 37-months-war’s most successful airplane. In Vietnam, Squadron VA 25 brought fame to the Skyraider when two ADs knocked down an attacking MIG 17.