Ed Heinemann, the lead designer for the A-4 Skyhawk, encapsulated the Skyhawk’s ethos with Leonardo Da Vinci’s phrase, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Indeed, the Skyhawk was ...

U.S. Navy experts had been highly skeptical of the claim of Ed Heinemann, chief engineer of what was then called the Douglas El Segundo, that he could build a jet attack bomber weighing half the ...