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This page: US Navy Douglas F-4D Skyray over San Diego, California. US Navy Douglas F-4 Skyray. US Navy Douglas F-4D Skyray lands on USS Bon Homme Richard in 1957. US Navy Opposite page: Top left: Douglas Skyray, 3-view drawing. US Navy Top right: An early design for a ducted fan flying saucer produced by Edmond Doak. via Bill Rose Bottom: The experimental Doak Model 16 VTOL te: aircraft. Doak Aviation 700 miles (1,126km), depending on the mi: sion profile. A total of 421 Skyrays were bui between 1954 and 1958 and the last aircraft i Opposite page: 700 miles (1,126km), depending on the mis- sion profile. A total of 421 Skyrays were built between 1954 and 1958 and the last aircraft in Navy service were replaced by F-4B Phan- toms during 1964. The Skyray, which became known as ‘The Ford’, never saw combat but it was deployed to several trouble spots includ- ing Taiwan in 1958 and Guantanamo in 1962. The Skyray was eventually followed by a compact naval attack aircraft called the A-4 Skyhawk, which entered production in 1954 and continued to be built until 1979. Some 2,980 copies were sold to the US Navy, Marine Corps and a number of overseas customers making it one of the company’s most suc- cessful products. It might be argued that the Skyray does not belong in a book that predominantly deals with exotic circular-winged designs. How- ever, its low aspect ratio manta ray-shape was strikingly unusual and the favoured _ _ bright external finish was undoubtedly responsible for generating numerous reports of unidentified flying objects during the air- craft’s time in service. _ bright external finish was undoubtedly responsible for generating numerous reports of unidentified flying objects during the air- craft’s time in service. Doak’s VTOL Ambitions Edmond Rufus Doak (1898-1986) was born in Texas. His family relocated to California in December 1910 and two years later he joined the Glenn Martin Aviation Company in Los Angeles as a trainee. He then worked for North American Aviation and moved on to Douglas, becoming the General Manager and Vice President of Douglas-E] Segundo. In 1939 Doak left Douglas to start his own business at Hermosa Beach, California, called the Doak Aircraft Co. As sub-contractors, the company built fuselages for Vultee and North Ameri- can, along with numerous smaller compo- nents for most of the major Californian aviation companies. By 1945 Doak employed more than three thousand women on war production although the company down- 88 US Navy Douglas F-4D Skyray over San Diego, California. US Navy Douglas F-4 Skyray. US Navy Top left: Douglas Skyray, 3-view drawing. US Navy Top right: An early design for a ducted fan flying saucer produced by Edmond Doak. via Bill Rose Bottom: The experimental Doak Model 16 VTOL test aircraft. Doak Aviation Secret Projects: Flying Saucer Aircraft