The A-4 Skyhawk Control Stick Grip, for obvious reasons, evolved quickly as new functions were required.
To make this discussion even more interesting, see this image of the stick grip used on the Blue Angel A-4Fs. Denny Sapp wrote:
"I am sending a picture of the control stick we had in the Blue's jets. The troops presented them to us when we left the team. The coolie hat is the stabilizer trim button and the slide button that replaced the bomb release is to mechanically increase the feel of the stabilizer by increasing stick pressure to around 18-20 pounds. The call for this was to "roll in the feel" prior to formation flight so we always had positive stick pressure. I think the gun/rocket trigger switch then controlled the nose gear steering as all the bomb racks and guns were removed from the aircraft. We retained a centerline station for the external drop tank used for cross-country flights and it could be pickled off using the jettison handle."
Bob Hickerson
