#a-7

A LTV A-7 Corsair II over Edwards Air Force Base.

Date: October 4, 1986.

Four LTV A-7E Corsair II in formation flying over USS TEXAS (CGN-39) in the Pacific Ocean.

Photographed by Dan O'Sullivan on June 23, 1985.

LTV A-7 Corsair II

In 1960 the USN started it's search for a replacement of the A-4 Skyhawk. They wanted a new supersonic attack aircraft that has a greater range and payload. Over 2 years later the SBASF study group was formed to examine what requirements would be needed, the cost of this aircraft and if it could be an improvement over the famous Skyhawk. They found that making the aircraft subsonic rather than supersonic would keep costs down, development time was shorter, it'd be an easier aircraft to maintain and it's payload could be higher.

Around 6 months later, in May of 1963 VAL was formed, an official requirement for the new aircraft. To keep costs down the design had to be based on an existing design and Vought submitted a shorter version of the F-8 Crusader with a round nose.

In 1964 VAL was approved by congress and 3 days later Vought won the competition over NAA, Douglas and Northrop Grumman. The Vought design got the A-7 designation and a year later the Corsair II nickname, named after the famous F4U Corsair fighter.

The A-7 had 6 underwing hardpoints with a capacity of 15000 lbs (6800 kg). It was said by Navy officials that the A-7 could carry twice the payload over the same range compared to an A-4 or carry the same payload over twice the distance. Also because of it's more modern equipment (certainly in later variants) the munition cost/target was reduced.

Only 3 years after approval from Congress, the A-7 found it's way to Vietnam and was so succesful in what it did that the USAF ordered it's own A-7D variant with upgraded systems. Not to be outdone, the Navy cancelled an order for A-7B's and instead ordered the A-7E variant, based on the D model.

The Corsair II was a modern aircraft for it's time, featuring a datalink, an advanced radar and even the ability for a hands-off carrier landing. It also had a projected map for the pilot (a feature found in nearly every modern aircraft). Pilots were happy with the ease of flying the aircraft but did note a lack of thrust, although this issue was fixed with the introduction of more powerful engines (including a licensed built version of the Rolls-Royce Spey engine) in later variants.

But even the uprated engine variants like the D and E model were lacking thrust in the humid and hot air of SE Asia. Where they could get over a 1000 kph over the US, A-7s struggled to get past 800 kph loaded up over Vietnam. It was not unusual for pilots to stay low to the ground after take-off to get maximum use of the ground effect. These runs could be up to 16 km (10 miles) long before a safe flap-up speed was reached.

On carriers their MTOW had to be reduced by almost 2 tons (4000 pounds) to insure a safe take-off.