A-1 Skyraider pilot on the ramp, Southeast Asia, circa November 1969. With the canopy pulled back and the sun low, a USAF pilot pauses in the cockpit of a Southeast Asia-camouflaged Skyraider, the aircraft's 20 mm cannon barrels jutting from the wing leading edges in the foreground. The A-1 was slow, tough and could stay overhead for hours, qualities that made it indispensable as a Sandy rescue escort and as close air support for MACV-SOG reconnaissance teams. Photographed by Donald L. Engebretsen, himself an A-1 pilot with the OLAA detachment at Da Nang. From his collection. Project: 218964