They should be lighter though without the hump and the carrier systems. Unless those were removed.
So, at about the same time as the A-4Gs were undergoing the interim G-to-K conversion (the end result of which can be seen with NZ6213 above), the A-4Ks were themselves also undergoing a transformation.
The avionics humps on the Ks weren’t empty - rather, they’d had the assorted control boxes for things like the jammer installed, but none of the other circuitry, antennae, or even control panels for such systems were fitted to the aircraft. So as a result, they were something of a dead weight.
With the G-to-K conversion going on, the decision was made to remove the humps from the Ks. The result of that far simpler process can be seen with NZ6202 here:
The bridle hooks required for carrier operations had gone from the Ks as early as 1972, per photos (by all accounts they were a bit of a safety hazard), with the Gs seeming to have had their bridle hooks removed as part of the aforementioned G-to-K conversion.
So really, by the time KAHU rolls around, you’d be looking at both sets of aircraft being more or less identical from a flight characteristics and all-up weight perspective. Obviously there would be a bit of difference, but we’re talking something that’s likely in the single-figure to low double-digit kilos range.
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So there’s 3 versions of the A-4K then. What else changed when the K’s underwent a transformation?
Sort of? Roughly speaking:
1970 A-4K has the hump.
1984 A-4G has no hump and a few avionics differences compared to the K (different radios and IFF, 4x Sidewinders)
1988 A-4K has no hump, but is otherwise identical to the 1970 one in terms of capabilities.
1988 A-4G (after interim G-to-K conversion) is practically identical to the hump-less 1988 A-4K (apart from the Sidewinders)
Then you finally get to the A-4K KAHU (technically 1988, but let’s say 1991 to avoid confusion because that’s when the last one finished conversion), where the entire fleet is now modernised A-4Ks with identical capabilities.
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So this might be a shot in the dark, but I’m wondering if there’s any good photographs showing off the throttle grip on the Kahu. I imagine it’s very different to the throttle grips on older A-4s, but is it possibly the same/similar to the one on the A-4M?
Here’s a few images I’ve found for the cockpits of both the A-4K and the A-4M that show the throttle.
A-4K
A-4M
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Nope, completely different.
Early A-4Ms still had the ‘classic’ cylindrical throttle grip as the other A-4s before it. Later, they ended up with a slightly more modern, but rather chunky, throttle as part of their assorted in-service modifcations, as can be seen below:
A-4M
Using that as a point of comparison, the A-4K used a throttle grip that, as far as my own research suggests, was possibly only ever used for KAHU. The grip in question was made by the Mason Electric Company; the same company was responsible for the factory-fitted grips on all production A-4 variants.
Fun fact about the throttle grip on the A-4K: it was easily removable, courtesy of two #8-32UNC-2B screws and a simple DB25 connector on the underside. In fact, KAHU seemed to have something of an affinity for the DB25 connector - not only was it used on the throttle, but it was also used as the primary interface between the KAHU avionics test computers and the desktop-mounted stick that attached to it.
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Aye, thank you!
Don’t worry I one time stated a German tank captured by the British should be in the German tree and got lit up. It happens
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A great premium for 5.7 (Britain)
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would have been so much better for the “workhorse” event considering it was more of a workhorse than that copy paste f16 ever will be, a shame really.