Vought A-7 Corsair II

Worked the Air Force version, the A-7D, back in late 1977 at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ. We were converting from the A-7 to the new A-10A's. It was my very first operational aircraft to work on. Ours were old war horses from the Vietnam War and had lots of wear and tear on them. We ended up transferring them to the Air National Guard units of Arizona, Ohio, and Oklahoma.

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You missed a lot. First aircraft with a HUD and /or a moving map. Also the LANA (Low Altitude Night Attack) version for the ANG. If we still depended on precision dumb bombs, tha ancient A-7 might still be in service.

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Xmas day'69 whild attached to VA-56 on USS Ranger. 2nd mission of the day going back into Cambodia. Quickly consumed a "slider" and some hot coffee prior to briefing. A-7B BUNO 154517 was my steed and was loaded with fuel and ordinance. Max cat shot off #4 waist cat. Engine runup all checked fine and saluted. Cat fired, MATR CAUT lite illuminated as

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I was with VA-113 "Stingers" in 1970-71 out of NAS Lemoore and a WESPAC on the USS Ranger CVA-61. I was a ground support tech, but on the cruise I was transferred to the Ordnance department as all ground support was handled by shipboard personnel. The A7Es carried their own weight in ordnance, and working the flightdeck sure kept me in shape. We figured out that if every man on our crew lifted an equal amount of total ordnance, our individual daily load was 16 tons. We often had Tennessee Earnie Ford singing on the tape player down in the shop. Loaded lots of bombs, shrieks, sidewinders and 20mm HEI in the M61.

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I was an ATR-2 with VA-122 at Lemoore NAS '68 to '69 then transferred to VA-153 '69 to '70. Both squadrons had A-7A's at that time. I deployed with VA-153 on CVA-34, USS Oriskany on Apr '70 to Dec '70 on a WestPac cruise. I was TAD to ships company, AIMD-IM3 ECM Shop. Worked on AN /ALQ-100. What a great experience with a great aircraft.

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Enlisted in 1970 and completed AMS "A" school in Millington, TN. First duty station was NAS Pax River, Service Test. What was so great was that all of our pilots were test pilots and many ended up at NASA. I became an A-7 plane captain and loved the experience and the A-7. Got to watch the first F-14 crash just off the runway while practicing for an airshow. Sad accident. RIP.

We had an exchange British test pilot who was getting checked out in my A-7. He was at 40K feet at 40 miles out and he lost his engine. He popped his RAT and was talking to the PAX tower. Tried restart three times but no joy. He was told to eject because there was no way he could make the runway. He refused and brought the aircraft back and caught the wire. Never found out what caused the engine failure however.

My next duty was going to be sea duty and I was convinced that I was on my way to a carrier. Orders for VP-44, Broomstick, ME on P-3A's. Loved that aircraft as well. NO TAIL HOOK!

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Assigned to VA-122 Lemoore immediately out of the Training Command in July, 1968. On very first nite carrier landing in A7-B at zero dark thirty on 10 June 1969 during carquals aboard USS Constellation CVA-64, aircraft trapped and then departed flight deck. I ejected underwater and somehow managed to survive...LONG story. Later transitioned to A7-E and made two combat deployments with VA-195 Dambusters aboard USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63) from 1970 -72. Later did a Department Head tour with the Sidewinders of VA-86 @ Cecil Field including two Med Deployments in USS Nimitz (CVN-68), followed by tour as IP with HellRazors of VA-174...Screened for command...Assigned to Gunslingers of VA-105 as XO and CO... Accumulated just short of 3000 hours in A-7's, most in Echo. 885 Traps; 293 combat missions in Vietnam. Loved the A7-E all the way and still do. It's avionics and computer equipment blazed the trail for today's aircraft. Would do it all again if had the opportunity... Russ Pearson

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I flew the B model and then the E model from Cecil field, on the Kennedy and Ike, VA-46. Superior aircraft. The old girl never failed to bring me back home or back to the boat, no matter how badly she was hurting.

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I worked on the A7E and the TA7 from 76-82. Stationed with VA-174 and VA-87. Great aircraft. My first experience was the Line Divison on a wash crew washing jets all day in the Florida sun. Worked with S-3's for two tours and was statined with VFA 136 when I retired at Cecil Field in 1999. I truly miss the sound of freedom. There is no slack in Light Attack.

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I worked the swing shift check crew at VA-122 (1969 - 1970) on the A's & B's then finally the E's. I found the A /B's to be a flying hydraulic leak and the newer E's much easier on the red stuff. / / The change from twin 20mm cannon to the Vulcan M61-A1 made all the difference in firepower from the reports the pilots made after the transition. / / Shootin' and cleanin' the tube was so much fun too.

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worked as a sheetmetal mech on the A7 at Lemoore NAS from 73 to 77 great forgiving Aircraft

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Flew the A-7A,B,C&E from 1968-1980 & have over 200 hours & 700 landings in the Corsair2. It always got me home & was a pleasure to fly. Power response was slow & made carrier landings a bit difficult at times. Great legs, armament & avionics. Only drawback was TF-41 engine. Constant problems & when CO VA-105 in 1977-78 they were replaced at 125 hour intervals. Led to many bare firewalls. Never regretted flying the "SLUF" for 12 years.

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This is good s**t

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Flew the A-7E for about 1200 hours in VA-174, VA-66, and VA-94 and found it a real pleasure to fly. The avionics in the A-7E were top notch and state-of-the-art for the time. The only shortcoming in my mind was that it was underpowered - especially, if launching from a carrier with twelve Mk-82 500 pound bombs - a max launch weight of 42,000 pounds.

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I was an aircraft hydraulics mechanic and final checker with VA-46 from 73 to 77. We were flying A7B's when most other squadrons were switching to A7E's. Great plane. You could hardly keep it from flying. Made the 1st cruise with F14's on the Kennedy CV-67. Yes boys! It was a fighter too! Our pilots were flying CAP everytime the Tomcats went down with engine trouble.

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Great plane. I flew this bird in the Portuguese Air Force and made my training in "departures" with Jim Read.It was in Monte Real Air Base from 82 to 87. Hello Jim ,best regards José.

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I WAS ATTACHED ATTACHED TO VF-122 WHEN THEY RECIEVED THE A7A'S AND THEN A7B'S. TRANSFERED TO VA146 AND TOOK THE FIRST A7E'S INTO VIETNAM. IT WAS ONE OF THE BEST AIRCRAFT I EVER WORKED ON.

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Kudos to the Naval Aviators who flew this A /C in VN. As a Jade and later Nail FAC I could always depend on you guys to deliver the goods. Many times I asked specifically for A-7s when there were troops in contact or when delivery had to be extremely accurate. Great airplane. Also, enjoyed my week on the carrier and flights in the F-4 and A-6.

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In your specifications section, you mention 4 cannon. In fact the A and B models had only 2 20mm cannon, one on each side of the nose air intake.

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My friend and I are working on a radio control 1 /6th scale turbine powered flying scale model of this plane. We are looking for any authentic Vought 3 view drawings we can find of the two seater C or K model. This is for personal use to make a high quality composite model for a team scale contest grade aircraft. We have contacted Navair and one other outfit and we are still looking for more info. Any help to locate Vought drawings would be really appreciated and we will document and credit any person or organization that lends a hand. Again this is a personal endeavor to create a super scale flying model to compete at the world scale master level. A one of a kind jet model. My friend is in the AF as a tanker maintainer and we both share a passion for aviation. We would really appreciate your help!

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