Classic Television - Saturday Mornings

Skyhawks

Skyhawks was a 17-episode television cartoon series sponsored by Mattel. Each episode consisted of two adventures. The series originally aired from September 6, 1969 to September 4, 1971 on ABC Television. It was a Pantomime Pictures/Ken Snyder Production.

Skyhawks, Inc. was a family-run daredevil air transport rescue service based at San Marcos Field in Southern California. The leader of the Wilson family was Mike 'Cap' Wilson, a widower and leader of the team. Cap Wilson learned how to fly during World War II during which he achieved the rank of Colonel. Cap's father, famed aviator Pappy Wilson, had been a World War I flying ace. A warm and encouraging father, Cap had 17 year old twins named Steve and Carolyn. He also sponsored two foster kids: 14 year old Baron 'Red' Hughes and his 9 year old sister Cynthia, usually referred to as 'Cindy,' though she was also nicknamed 'Mugs.' Unusual for most cartoon series of the era, the family's relationship was well-detailed in the narrative of the opening theme, yet some sources still erroneously state that the Hughes kids are Pappy's foster children. The Wilson crew also included Cap's girlfriend Maggie McNally and Joe Conway was the Skyhawks' chief mechanic. During emergencies, the team saved troubled charter planes, rescued helicopter pilots, transported air freight, or ran secret government missions. San Marcos Field also was the home base of the Skyhawks' unscrupulous competitor, Buck Devlin and his gang of pilots. Nine episodes shy of the required twenty-six episodes to go into syndication and plagued by complaints from Topper Toys that this series and the companion series 'Hot Wheels' were merely thirty-mintue ads for Mattel Toys, 'Skyhawks' flew away into obscurity after its two-year run on ABC.