This design is based on the A-1 Skyraider flown by the (HFM).  It is actually an  AD-4NA Skyraider (BuNo 126965) being built in the early 1950s. It served with the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Kearsarge with VA-115 off the Korean coast in 1953, conducting DMZ patrols after the cease-fire. Later, it was stationed at Alameda with FASRON 8 and then with FAETULANT in Norfolk, VA, before being placed in storage at Litchfield Park in 1957. Stricken from the Navy list in 1958, it was sent to France in 1960.

With the French l’Armee de l’Air, the Skyraider served in Algeria (1962), Djibouti (1968), Madagascar (1971), and Chad (1976) before being stored in 1979. Acquired by the Musee de l’Air in 1984, it was sold to a private owner in Belgium in 1985. The purchased it in 2004, bringing it to Bellingham from Belgium through a series of flights and transports.

Given USAF roots and the Skyraider's success with both the Navy and Air Force, the aircraft was painted in USAF colors and is referred to by its USAF designation, A-1.