Category talk:Douglas Skyraider

Skyraider name and designation

The Douglas A-1 Skyraider has been made under multiple names and designations. Almost every example was built as an AD, and a great many were retired before the redesignation as A-1. The bulk of its service life was served in the USN as ADs. Of course, arguably the most covered portion of its service life was the Vietnam conflict, where it served as the A-1 for multiple operators. It even served with British as simply the Skyraider AEW.1. Cobatfor (talk · contribs) noted that it is common to use an aircraft's most common name as its category name. This is true, and I agree that A-1 is more common in today's references than AD, however, this does not hold true among contemporary sources which instead most commonly use whatever designation it was going by at the time of publication. However, I feel this a moot point, as there exists no real need to pick one or the other of the two, as the title "Douglas Skyraider" covers both impartially, without needing to arbitrarily have Commons declare which of the designations counts as 'most common'. In fact, this has particular benefit, as the categories Category:Douglas A-1 Skyraider and Category:Douglas AD Skyraider can be used as sub-categories to hold media specific to one designation or the other, both under the parent category Category:Douglas Skyraider (though they at the moment are just redirects to the parent). It is however, appropriate to use the 'most common' practice when it comes to the popular name. While it is true that during its development it was briefly given the moniker "Dauntless II", this name did not stick and the aircraft was universally called the "Skyraider" through its production, service, and since. Thus it is fair to call it simply "Skyraider" and not account for the "Dauntless II" title ("Douglas Dauntless II/Skyraider" would be pretty rediculous in my opinion). Josh (talk) 13:37, 8 October 2018 (UTC)

I would prefer the category Douglas A-1 Skyraider. The problem, in my opinion, is, that the pre-1962 U.S. Navy designation system is not always "translatable" into the post-1962 tri-service designation system. For example: The AD-5N was used by the U.S. Air Force in Vietnam and received the designation A-1G, although - in reality there was no real difference to the A-1E (AD-5), anymore. The FD Phantom became the FH. The F9F Panther and Cougar shared the same designation, although being two different aircraft. The USAF also changed its fighter aircraft designation from "P" to "F" and, although the Mustang soldiered on as the F-51 in Korea, although it is commonly known as the P-51. The P-80 however is known as the F-80. As surviving aircraft in comtemporary service were redesignated and we today know the aircraft as the "A-1", I would recommend the Douglas A-1 Skyraider category. Cheers Cobatfor (talk) 16:26, 8 October 2018 (UTC)

@Cobatfor: Why force the use of any designation at all? It is unnecessary and misleading. I get the idea that "A-1" is a bit more common today than "AD" and if forced to choose between them, "A-1" would probably be the lesser evil, but why force the choice? Josh (talk) 22:50, 9 October 2018 (UTC)

Well, U.S. military aircraft are defined by their designation. A-1: "Attack aircraft number ONE". What better name could there be for the Douglas Skyraider...!!! :-) Cobatfor (talk) 05:50, 10 October 2018 (UTC)