Pilot in the cockpit of a privately owned Douglas A-1 Skyraider, warbird event, 3-4 May 2019. The Skyraider was designed at the end of the Second World War as a carrier-based attack aircraft and went on to serve through Korea and Vietnam, prized for its enormous ordnance load and its ability to loiter for hours over a target. U.S. Air Force Skyraiders flew close air support and, as 'Sandy', led combat search and rescue missions for downed airmen. Visible here are the armored windscreen, optical gunsight and rear armor plate that protected pilots flying low over hostile ground. Fewer than a handful remain airworthy today. Donald L. Engebretsen, whose collection preserves this photograph, flew A-1s in Southeast Asia with the Da Nang detachment of the 56th Special Operations Wing. Project: 219252