A-4E/F Skyhawk

Soaring in the famous diamond formation of the Blue Angels are four A-4 Skyhawks, the type airplane flown by the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron from 1974 to 1986.  In actual practice the aircraft fly closer than the display represents with just 36 inches separating the airplanes as they roar through the sky.  In fleet service, the A-4 may have been diminutive in size—its nickname was the “Tinker Toy”—but it proved a workhorse in the Vietnam War, where it was Naval Aviation’s primary attack airplane.