{"id":9331,"date":"2023-10-26T12:00:51","date_gmt":"2023-10-26T11:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/?p=9331"},"modified":"2023-10-17T12:29:26","modified_gmt":"2023-10-17T11:29:26","slug":"skyhawk-illustrated-14414-a-miramar-top-gun-pays-honors-in-leones-argentina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/skyhawk-illustrated-14414-a-miramar-top-gun-pays-honors-in-leones-argentina\/","title":{"rendered":"Skyhawk Illustrated #14414<\/b>: A Miramar top gun pays honors in Leones, Argentina"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our protagonist A-4M was manufactured in 1975 at the McDonnell Douglas plant in Long Beach, Los Angeles (California), and was allocated Bureau of Aeronautics Number 159473<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Delivered to United States Marine Corps<\/strong> (USMC) squadron VMA-223 on 07\/31\/1975, the aircraft had a varied career in the USA.<\/p>\n

American service<\/strong><\/h3>\n

After starting operations with VMA-223 to perform routine training flights, on 04\/28\/1976 it was reassigned to VMA-311 at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) El Toro (California).<\/p>\n

\"Tomcat\"<\/a>
Flying as VMA-311’s “WL-11” at Nellis AFB in 09\/1980, with four GPU-2\/A pods with 20mm M197 rotary Gatling-type cannons, each pod storing 300 rounds of ammunition with a rate of fire of between 750 and 1500 shots per minute (photo: Lt. Col. Keith \u201cSven\u201d Svendsen, USAF, Retired).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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On 08\/23\/1976, still at the same base, it was assigned to VMA-211, then returned to VMA-311 on 06\/09\/1977 and on 11\/10\/1983 moved to VMA-211, which relocated it to Naval Air Station (NAS) Iwakuni in Japan.<\/p>\n

On 12\/21\/1984, it was reassigned to VMAT-102 MCAS Yuma (Arizona), whose primary function was to train new pilots in the close air support role.<\/p>\n

On 09\/12\/1987, it relocated to Marine Air Group 49 (MAG-49) at NAS Willow Grove (Pennsylvania), performing training missions and remaining available for emergencies.<\/p>\n

\"Arizona\"<\/a>
Operating as VMAT-102’s “SC-01” on approach to MCAS El Toro (photo: Dan Stijovich, 11\/22\/1986).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Then on 07\/24\/1992, it passed through the Naval Fighter Weapons School (NFWS), the famous “Top Gun”<\/strong> at NAS Miramar (California), where it was employed in the aggressor role.<\/p>\n

Two years later, on 05\/24\/1994, it was retired from active duty and stored at the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center (AMARC), wearing inventory number 3A777<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

On 10\/03\/1995 it was sold to the Argentine Air Force<\/strong> (Fuerza A\u00e9rea Argentina, FAA)<\/em> in a batch of A-4M Skyhawk II surplus airframes that would never fly in country and served to source spare parts for 36 similar aircraft that were converted to the O\/A-4AR Fighting Hawk configuration.<\/p>\n

\"Fake<\/a>
The “fake C-939” in its current condition and (lower right) the bust of class 1963 conscript, Jos\u00e9 Luis Allende<\/strong>, a native of Leones killed in action during the Battle for Darwin on 05\/28\/1982 (photo: Guillermo Canosa, 09\/09\/2023).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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In 2010, FAA’s Rio Cuarto Material Area (\u00c1rea de Material R\u00edo Cuarto, ARMACUAR)<\/em>, donated it to the city of Leones to be placed as a monument in memory of conscript soldier Jos\u00e9 Luis Allende<\/strong>, a Leones native who was killed in action on 05\/28\/1982 while fighting with Section R of Infantry Regiment 25 (Regimiento de Infanter\u00eda 25, R I 25) during the Malvinas War’ Battle for Darwin<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Honoring a Leones KIA conscript<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A large number of residents gathered during the snap<\/em> hours of Tuesday, 11\/30\/2010, to see ARMACUAR technicians raising the Skyhawk to its final pedestal with the help of a Reale and Serri’s crane.<\/p>\n

The monument was located in the northwest corner of the railway property about 300 meters from the Leones train station and occupies about 340 square meters surface.<\/p>\n

\"Monument<\/a>
Front section of 159473 ready to be assembled with the rear section (video screenshot from: \u201cIn the sky of\u00a0 ’82\u201d, Muhli \u00a0Museum).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Working to place this 4.5 tonne A-4 at a height of four and a half meters were senior non-commissioned officers N\u00e9stor Miloch and V\u00edctor Rol\u00f3n and civilian officials an supervisors Jorge Bernardes, Sergio Hirsuta and Hugo Gorostidi.<\/p>\n

The Leones city hall provided invaluable help, with engineer Rosso, architect Eduardo Hart\u00f3n,materials warehouse head, Gustavo Emiliani, and assorted technical personnel from both the municipality and private company RyS Construcciones.<\/p>\n

Variants<\/strong><\/h3>\n