My dad served in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam war. He was a crew chief on F4 Phantom IIs, but working the line saw a lot of different aircraft come through. I think the Skyraiders were some of his favorites. He said they were very cool firing up, as you could see an individual puff of smoke from each cylinder as they picked up RPMs.
Dad was exposed to a lot of cool aircraft, because his dad (see my avatar) was career USAAF/USAF. Grandpa and family were stationed at Tachikawa AFB in the mid-1950s and he saw some of the last F-51s and F4U Corsairs in service, and got to ride in a glass-nosed B-25.
After Japan, grandpa went to Forbes AFB near Topeka, Kansas, where Dad was exposed to B-58 Hustlers, another fascinating aircraft. But I digress...
-Dave
COOL! It's great to hear stories from fellow "knuckle busters" I worked RF-4's and F-111's.
Scott