1. Brazil bought 20 single-seat and 3 two-seat Skyhawks from Kuwait.
2. The main constraint for the TA-4G on Melbourne was that the extra weight in the forward fuselage meant that it couldn’t “pick up the nose” fast enough to make a safe bolter if the hook failed to grab an arresting wire.
At first glance, it would seem that São Paulo’s greater size would change this, but appearances can be deceiving.
HMAS Melbourne had an overall length of 701.5′, and a 482’ total angle deck length.
Clemenceau/Foch (São Paulo) has an overall length of 869′, and a 567′ angle deck length.
However, the determining dimension is the distance from the last arresting wire to the end of the angle deck.
Melbourne had a “last wire to end of angle deck” length of 315′.
Clemenceau/Foch (São Paulo) has a “last wire to end of angle deck” length of 320′.
So, it appears that the same constraint may well hold for São Paulo… except that the max speed of Melbourne was 24.5 knots, while São Paulo has a max speed on ~32 knots… meaning that there is a 7 knot or so lower aircraft-to-deck speed for aircraft landing aboard São Paulo, so there would be a little more time for the nose to lift in a bolter.
Just to throw more confusion into the mix, the USN operated A-4s, including two-seat TA-4Fs & TA-4Js, from Essex class carriers for decades… and the Essex class carriers had an angle deck length of 520′, a “last wire to end of angle deck” length of 300′, and a top speed of ~31 knots for the angle-deck modernized ships.
Final answer… I don’t know.
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