{"id":3753,"date":"2018-10-15T21:07:48","date_gmt":"2018-10-16T02:07:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/?p=3753"},"modified":"2020-07-30T19:05:12","modified_gmt":"2020-07-31T00:05:12","slug":"a-4-sets-speed-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/a-4-sets-speed-record\/","title":{"rendered":"A-4 Sets Speed Record"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sixty three year ago today a Navy A-4 set a speed record.\u00a0 Navy Lieutenant Gordon Gray Jr. flew the naval bird at an average speed of 695 mph.\u00a0 Here\u2019s how it happened.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

It was a period of aircraft production that was flabbergasting for its prodigious accomplishments.\u00a0 The Air Force was working on the Century series (F-100 (above left), F-101 (above right), etc.) while the Navy was designing a new attack jet that could operate from aircraft carriers.<\/p>\n

The Douglas Company (later merging with McDonnell) was working on the new lightweight jet.\u00a0 It was designated the YA4D-1.\u00a0 The \u201cY\u201d designates an experimental pre-production aircraft.\u00a0 It was to be a light attack bomber.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

On October 15, 1955, Navy Lieutenant Gordon (Gordo) Gray climbed aboard the aircraft.\u00a0 It was powered by a single Curtiss-Wright turbojet engine.\u00a0 The goal was to fly a 500 kilometer course as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n

Gordo flew the jet around the closed course averaging over 1,100 kilometers per hour.\u00a0 The jet nimbly navigated the 310 mile course with voracious velocity.\u00a0 The average speed of 695.128 miles per hour was good for a new world record.\u00a0 For some great photos see: https:\/\/www.thisdayinaviation.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

The plane went on to enter production as the A-4 Skyhawk.\u00a0 \u00a0Production began in 1956 and continued for the next 23 years It proved to be a long lasting bird.\u00a0 The final plane was retired from the US Navy in 2003.<\/p>\n

Newfound Fame<\/h3>\n

The A-4 recently gained fame with the earthly passing of Senator John McCain<\/a> .\u00a0 McCain piloted the jet during the Vietnam War.\u00a0 A wonderful firsthand account of that flight and McCain\u2019s naval aviation career can be found at McCain Skyhawk<\/a><\/p>\n

But it all began 63 years ago with Gordo Gray and the A-4 that set the speed record.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sixty three year ago today a Navy A-4 set a speed record.\u00a0 Navy Lieutenant Gordon Gray Jr. flew the naval bird at an average speed of 695 mph.\u00a0 Here\u2019s how it happened. It was a period of aircraft production that was flabbergasting for its prodigious accomplishments.\u00a0 The Air Force was working on the Century series […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":338,"featured_media":3748,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[39],"tags":[850,886,885,884,181,883],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA-4 Sets Speed Record - Doctor Aviation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sixty three year ago today a Navy A-4 set a speed record.\u00a0 Gordon Gray Jr. flew the naval bird at an average speed of 695 mph.\u00a0 Here\u2019s how it happened.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/a-4-sets-speed-record\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A-4 Sets Speed Record - Doctor Aviation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sixty three year ago today a Navy A-4 set a speed record.\u00a0 Gordon Gray Jr. flew the naval bird at an average speed of 695 mph.\u00a0 Here\u2019s how it happened.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/a-4-sets-speed-record\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doctor Aviation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-10-16T02:07:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-31T00:05:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/A-4-deck-color-e1539654945483.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"266\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"doctoraviation\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"doctoraviation\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/a-4-sets-speed-record\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/a-4-sets-speed-record\/\",\"name\":\"A-4 Sets Speed Record - Doctor Aviation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/a-4-sets-speed-record\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/a-4-sets-speed-record\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/A-4-deck-color-e1539654945483.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-10-16T02:07:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-31T00:05:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/#\/schema\/person\/922befdb90ced11f66a9cbf3595ed589\"},\"description\":\"Sixty three year ago today a Navy A-4 set a speed record.\u00a0 Gordon Gray Jr. flew the naval bird at an average speed of 695 mph.\u00a0 Here\u2019s how it happened.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/a-4-sets-speed-record\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/a-4-sets-speed-record\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/a-4-sets-speed-record\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/A-4-deck-color-e1539654945483.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/A-4-deck-color-e1539654945483.jpeg\",\"width\":400,\"height\":266,\"caption\":\"Attack Squadron 55 (VA-55) A-4F Skyhawk aircraft of Attack Carrier Wing 21 are parked on the flight deck of the attack aircraft carrier USS HANCOCK (CVA 19).\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/a-4-sets-speed-record\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A-4 Sets Speed Record\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/\",\"name\":\"Doctor Aviation\",\"description\":\"Online Aviation Course By Former Air Force Academy Instructor\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/#\/schema\/person\/922befdb90ced11f66a9cbf3595ed589\",\"name\":\"doctoraviation\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Doctor-Aviation-Logo-96x84.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Doctor-Aviation-Logo-96x84.png\",\"caption\":\"doctoraviation\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/doctoraviation\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A-4 Sets Speed Record - Doctor Aviation","description":"Sixty three year ago today a Navy A-4 set a speed record.\u00a0 Gordon Gray Jr. flew the naval bird at an average speed of 695 mph.\u00a0 Here\u2019s how it happened.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/a-4-sets-speed-record\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A-4 Sets Speed Record - Doctor Aviation","og_description":"Sixty three year ago today a Navy A-4 set a speed record.\u00a0 Gordon Gray Jr. flew the naval bird at an average speed of 695 mph.\u00a0 Here\u2019s how it happened.","og_url":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/a-4-sets-speed-record\/","og_site_name":"Doctor Aviation","article_published_time":"2018-10-16T02:07:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-07-31T00:05:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":400,"height":266,"url":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/A-4-deck-color-e1539654945483.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"doctoraviation","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"doctoraviation","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/a-4-sets-speed-record\/","url":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/a-4-sets-speed-record\/","name":"A-4 Sets Speed Record - Doctor Aviation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/a-4-sets-speed-record\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/a-4-sets-speed-record\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/A-4-deck-color-e1539654945483.jpeg","datePublished":"2018-10-16T02:07:48+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-31T00:05:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/#\/schema\/person\/922befdb90ced11f66a9cbf3595ed589"},"description":"Sixty three year ago today a Navy A-4 set a speed record.\u00a0 Gordon Gray Jr. flew the naval bird at an average speed of 695 mph.\u00a0 Here\u2019s how it happened.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/a-4-sets-speed-record\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/a-4-sets-speed-record\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/a-4-sets-speed-record\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/A-4-deck-color-e1539654945483.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/A-4-deck-color-e1539654945483.jpeg","width":400,"height":266,"caption":"Attack Squadron 55 (VA-55) A-4F Skyhawk aircraft of Attack Carrier Wing 21 are parked on the flight deck of the attack aircraft carrier USS HANCOCK (CVA 19)."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/a-4-sets-speed-record\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A-4 Sets Speed Record"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/","name":"Doctor Aviation","description":"Online Aviation Course By Former Air Force Academy Instructor","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/#\/schema\/person\/922befdb90ced11f66a9cbf3595ed589","name":"doctoraviation","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Doctor-Aviation-Logo-96x84.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Doctor-Aviation-Logo-96x84.png","caption":"doctoraviation"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/doctoraviation"]}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/A-4-deck-color-e1539654945483.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paCzTi-Yx","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3753"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/338"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3753\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}