Sorry, but the real backbone of USN aviation was the A-4 Skyhawk. Check the real history of its development, initial purpose, and cost, as well as reliability and love by its crews, both maintenance and flight.
In the navy I had some friends who were in an A-7 squadron, and I spent a lot of time inside the mouths of those things, taking photos of F.O.D. damage. And of all the pilots on my ship the A-7 guys were the funniest. Those guys had a great sense of humor.
You had to have a Gallows Humor to work around Deck Sharks. Those things ate about 3 Sailors a year! My first two days in my command (VA-174 Hell Razors seen at the start with the black bar with 4 golden diamonds horizontal) had two A-7Es over the bombing daisy in Pine Castle and both on day one and day two hit Turkey Buzzards about 9am.... blasting thru the starboard eyebrow window between the plexi and frame and smacking the pilot in the face. One lost vision in one eye, the other lost both, both 'dirty-ed up' dropping gear, putting the throttle at idle, and set flaps for landing and turned on the ACLS (automatic carrier landing system) to come in to take an OK Trap on the Field Gear.... both were passed out and even at idle the aircraft engine's suction would rip you off the boarding ladder easily.... unless you had the fattest Chief in the Fleet who was an ADC climb up that ladder and shut the engine down.... it was so weird to have the same accident with the same bird at the same time two days running! And I also remember the Safety film showing one Deck Shark eating 3 Sailors with ease, engine didn't even burp.
I was TACP for 2 enlistments in the AF. I'd rather have 1 SLUF on station than 10 Harriers. Especially if the A7s were flown by ANG pilots like the Red Eye guys out of Buckley or Taco guys from NM. Love those guys.
@@tacticalmattfoley I always thought that the A-7 looked like what would happen if an F-86 and an F-100 had a baby. And for what it's worth, I think the A-7 is gorgeous.
@@purplemonkey649 it will sound as if it's Old Snake but "I wouldn't rely on the system if i were you" I do see the usefullness, but i feel there surely a tradeoff on the long run.
As a B-52H guy, I love these guys. Kinda like that little brother who is always getting in trouble, but holds their own. Kinda like a Corgi herding cattle. They are small, but can dodge your counters while ruining your day. And they look so cute doing it. 😂
Proud to have served this aircraft from 1991 to 2000 , as an armament technician , in the 345 SQN of Greek AF at Suda airport on Crete island of Greece
Awesome! I was stationed on the American side 92-93. I loved watching the A7s and other older aircraft flying around back in the day. I really miss Crete. The Island, food and people are wonderful. I hope to go back with my wife and children in the near future.
The A7 was in the sky above all four of my duty-stations: NAS Cubic Point, (72-73), NAS Lemoore (74-77), NAS Whidbey Island (79-80), and NAF El Centro (88-90). As an ET, I was in Ground Electronics and never heard complaints about the Corsair ll. The Skyhawks were a different story!
Even with it's nickname (not quite "fella"), I've always loved the A-7 and it's grass cutting drivers. They were always in the mix, always there, and never seemed to give a damn about what got thrown at them. Magnificent aircraft and pilots.
Was wading a tributary of the Black River in central Wisconsin in mid to late eighties with a friend fishing. We both heard a rumble coming and looked up in time to see two A-7’s smoking at what seemed tree top level come right overhead. One of the top ten coolest things I’ve ever seen in my 62 years.
In the Summer of 1985 I was in my home's terrace by the sea side in Portugal when I heard the unmistakable roar of a fast approaching combat aircraft. I raised my head just in time to see an A-7P followed by another one three seconds behind, followed by a Mirage 5 from the Belgium Air Force, followed by another Mirage! 😍😍😍 The whole lot was flying at not more than 600 feet AGL and certainly in excess of 400 knots! It was absolutely exhilarating. Nowadays, if any Combat pilot dared doing so he would be grounded and demoted, the Squadron Leader would make a public apology, and all Newspapers, citizens and TV channels would whine about the recklessness of our Air Force... 🙁 Thankfully, back then treats like this were common.
I had a similar experience in central Pennsylvania in the 80s. It was AV8B Harriers from the Willow Grove NAS. A pair roared low down the river valley we were trekking along.
how u know this or can u say this?? this is for me very interesting because it can turn very sharp in the *War thunder Game* but I want to Know this is same in Real World??? pls explain
@@rezanorouzi9738 I spent two tours (1969 to 1972) in the Tonkin Gulf maintaining air traffic control communications onboard a DLG. Every month or two we would stop for a few days in Subic Bay, Philippines, for repairs and regular maintenance. The planes on the carriers left the ships on the way in and landed for a few days at Qubi Point, across the Bay. Running into each other on base was common. They were flying F4 Phantoms mostly at that time but the A7 Corsair was well represented as well and it was very much respected by anyone who had contact with the air arm of the Navy. They weren't as fast as an F4 but they carried one hell of a load of munitions and were very capable.
@@rezanorouzi9738yes it can. It’s slow and its roots are in the F-8. Takes less real estate to turn when your slow, smaller, and have great handling characteristics. I knew A7 drivers that also had Tomcat time. They came back to the A7 by choice. At sea when the Tomcats were grounded for various reasons the A7 picked up the slack for MigCap duty. The A7 was the opening act when Desert Shield became Storm. Despite its age and dated targeting systems it worked every bit as well as its F18 replacement. There were zero A7 combat losses during DS unlike its F18 counter part.
I was an AO on the Kitty Hawk 82 to 85. Later in life I got to know one of Boeings test pilots. He was retired AF and was checked out on over 80 aircraft. I asked him which was his favorite. He said, without a doubt, it was the A-7! He called it the most pilot and ground crew friendly aircraft he’d flown. had a chance meeting with a retired Navy aviator that had nothing but great things to say about the A-7. I loved watching launch and recovery’s from vultures row. Great memories for sure!
It might not be as awe inspiring as a F14, beautiful as a F15 or sleek as a F16. But you cannot deny the A-7's qualities and infuences on future designs.
One of my favorite aircraft. Comes across as being plain and simplistic, but was actually very technically advanced and an incredible light attack platform
The A-7 is not ugly! It is one of the best proportioned aircraft out there, and it has the same elemental grace as many other "work horse" machines. It is beautiful.
As a young Indy Center controller in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, we had access to the Atterbury Range. Heading up to the FCO’s fire towers to watch the A10s, F4s and others practice their art was otherworldly. Then came the lowly A7s out of Fort Wayne, I believe. We thought we were done one day, when the range officer said “stick around for these dudes, they are Sheit Hot”. Came in low and hot, set up a perfect wagon wheel and proceded to destroy the targets with “shack” after “shack” precision before calmly rejoining and heading back to base. Never judge a book by its cover.
I once had the pleasure of hearing a Navy Pilot talk a bit about his service, from the 60s to the 80s. He said the Crusader and the Corsair were his favorites to fly, the Corsair in particular being described as the most pleasant to fly.
I love the Corsair II! Never thought is was ugly. And the F4u Corsair of WW2 was the best fighter of that war. This was the feeling of allied and enemy pilots.
I was in VA-146 on the USS Constellation in the 70's with the A-7E Corsair II. After 50 years in aviation the A-7 still stands out as the one of the finest planes I've operated and worked on. We never considered it ugly, just a rugged aircraft that would bring the pilot home in one piece after a combat mission.
I worked on the A7 during my time in the Air Guard. It was ugly as Hell, but you got used to it. It was easy to work on, when you took the panels off you could stick your whole head and neck in it. The Alison engine was reliable and that huge intake was a joy to crawl into. We eventually switched to F16's. I was sorry to see the A7 go
I was in a USMC F4 Phantom II squadron in the 1980's. There was a knock on the A7. It was a man-eater. We were warned quite often to stay away from the nose of a running A7 on the tarmac. Any jet will eat you if you are stupid, but the A7 had a reputation.
What squadron? Why the secrecy now? BTW-“Tarmac” is a word used by the media and other non-aviation sources to refer to the surface of an airport. The word “Tarmac” is not used in professional circles.
The comparison of the light attack platform to air superiority platforms is a squirrelly premise. Its not ugly at all. Its like a softened F-8, which was a cool platform that had a certain swagger all its own. Seems to me that the A-4, A-6, and A-7 all had useful applications, especially in the Vietnam era.
The A4 was also popular with a few other countries, still serving into this century. Argentina was building their own for years, a very well loved little plane that seemed unbreakable. The A7 could still be built, outfitted with even better engines and tech it honestly could serve very well for more years if someone decided to put it back in production. Even the A 10 which was considered to be retired years ago has chugged along and still serves well. It's funny to think the emphasis on supersonic fighters and standoff weapon platforms went through a lot of aircraft, but it was the tough subsonic ground attack and fighters that ended up finding so many uses when they were usually starting out as inexpensive stop gap solutions to future designs.
My dad was a carrier pilot for more than 30 years. He always told us NORMAL PEOPLE DO NOT FLY ATTACK AIRCRAFT, AND SLUFF DRIVERS ARE LESS NORMAL THAN MOST.
Unfortunately, "fast mover" drivers seem to always get the high promotions. Thus the top brass never liked the "low&slow" planes. But the ground troops love these guys, knowing they are their guardians. 😎👍🇺🇸
I have always like the A-7. I went on a tour of the Midway Magic in the Philippines and got to see the A-7 take off and land. That it was my honor to see everyone work on such a small area.
In my time i stay near A7 guarding in BA4 portuguese air base in Azores!!...Im a former K9 handler in Police air Forces in Portugal!!!...Beautifull plane!
Worked on A-7s my whole active duty time, first as a Plane Captain with VX-5 then as an Avionics Technician with VA-174 DET El Centro. I never considered them as ugly. I always hated having to change the Projected Map Display System (PMDS) films, when the jets came out from Cecil Field without the correct maps installed. The week after I got off Active Duty the AME was removing the seat inside the old WWII hanger, and while standing on the seat accidentally fired the seat. Because he was standing on the seat he survived because he fell off the seat before it went through the wood roof.
@@MrGaryGG48 I don't think he ever worked on one again. What one of my shipmates who lived near me and informed me about the accident and he told me pieces of his femur bone up to four inches long was on the hangar deck. By what I was told they heloevac to Balboa and spent over a year in there.and was able to walk out of the hospital. Never heard about him again.
I never thought the A-7's looked ugly, not at all. They looked tough, stout, aggressive! The F-117, that plane looked ugly to me. And it wasn't even a fighter, it was an attack, which is okay, I just think it was a false indentification.
Naw.....they were just 3 sheets to the wind when they decided to put an official Designation 0n'er......They hit send and were like "DAM"!!!!!!!!!!!!....."Awe screw it.....let's go bowl Dude"🎳......😂😂😂😆😂😅
The common story is that they needed skilled pilots to fly it, because it was a brick, but most pilots wouldn't want to fly an attacker, so they dubbed it a fighter instead.
A very good presentation. The Corsair II was unusual, but it had to be, and that turned out to be a good thing. I wish we could build aircraft this reliable and consistent today.
I never thought they were ugly. I was on the USS Enterprise in the 80’s and we had these onboard. I always thought they looked tough. Like a menacing mako shark or something. Cool plane.
Kirtland Air Force base in Albuquerque shares runways with the airport. Anyway, I was on a Southwest plane in Albuquerque and we were about to take off when the pilot powered down. Right at that moment, a quartet of Corsairs appeared, went around our plane, then took off. A few minutes later, we also took off.
I was in VA-122 in 1966 and my first duty station in the Navy. It was the last AD1 squadron in the Navy. We received the 1st A7-A, and I thought it was awesome.
Former Corsair II maintainer Sep '79-Oct '81. Great aircraft, impeccable, maneuverable, PRECISION Close Air-support Bomber. Accurate as hell with a heavy bomb load, and a 20mm cannon to boot! Fighters make movies, Attack bombers make History! NO SLACK in LIGHT ATTACK!!
In the early 1970's I was on the USS Ranger off Vietnam and we had a squadron of A-7's on board. The flightdeck people hated them because they had a reputation of sucking people into the intake.
I heard that also when I was over there. The guys on the flight deck crew said they had detailed guide lines but when things got heated, mistakes were made occasionally...
Great video.Worked on those as an aviation ordnanceman in the navy back in the eighties. Did one west-pac and a bunch of work up cruises with VA-97 warhawks based out of lemoore california.Ship was the USS Carl Vinson.Great memories. IYAOYAS 🧙♂️
My father and I were fishing on a lake in rural east-central Alabama early one Spring AM in 1992. Just as we put the boat in at the ramp, one of these flew over very low and slow......so low and slow we waived at the pilot and he waived back......I could see him waiving. At one point, he was BELOW the tree tops.
The war was almost over in Vietnam when I arrived there in 1973 at Korat Air Force Base.... I was an ECM guy... lots of cool planes there... A7's, F4's, F105 Wild Weasels. EC123 Airborne command post just to name a few... those were the days.
Worked on this airplane in Thailand in 1975 during our Southeast Asian drawdown. A-7's did a sterling service of ground fire suppression alongside my beloved F-111's during the Myaguez Rescue. Easiest airplane to work on, avionics were pretty much all ground level, with fold down access panels that doubled as work platforms. The addition of the TF-41 in the D and E models, made this jet nimble as well as tough. This jet's features heavily influenced its successor, the A-10 Warthogs development. Loved her.!!!
Probably the best video of these fascinating aircraft. I saw the last of these parked at Araxos Greek Air Force base in Patras in 2013 when landing there on a Ryanair flight. Not sure what I was looking at I found out about them on my return to the UK.
My uncle flew A-7's in Vietnam. He loved this jet. He used to talk about the pioneering HUD and he got to drop some of the first "smart" bombs on some super hush hush missions. He retired as a Commander and had over 1,000 traps in his career. He was in the "spare" A7 (VA-146) for an ORI on Enterprise when a huffer placed its exhaust directly on the warheads of a 5" rocket on an F4. Not only did he survive, but wounded himself, he carried a blown up sailor over his shoulder to safety. His stories and camera combat footage in Vietnam are a things of legends.
@@davidgoodnow269 I'm going to copy/paste an email he sent me - just so it's out there and never forgotten. That is a memory from the past. (VA-146 & A7B) It was a prep for Viet Nam (ORI) on a beautiful January morning of the Hawaiian Islands. The loads were war ready. I had scheduled my junior officers to fly the strikes for practice. I wasn't even scheduled to fly that day. Was on my way to the dirty shirt wardroom in flight gear for breakfast. A runner stopped me and said the duty officer would like me to man the "spare" just in case. The skipper had a cold he said. On live ordinance hops no one ever went down, they were fun to fly, so I picked up ONLY my torso harness (no"g"suit), hard hat and went up to the flight deck. I hadn't even briefed for the mission, just had channel 10 the strike frequency. In other words I was going to come back down and have breakfast after the launch went at 8:40. The spare A7 I manned (70 feet from the initial explosion) was parked aft of the island on the port side about 1/2 way to the stern of the ship. The stern was packed with attack aircraft around the edges (launch second) and fighters (F-4) in the middle of the aft deck with missiles and MK-82 (500 pounders). The A7's had MK-82(500), MK-83(1000) and MK-84 (2000) bomb loads. The fighters had external fuel tanks and ZUNI (5" expanding warhead frag rockets) in packs of five just outboard of their external wing tanks. The time line as I recall it went something like this. At 8:18 the Big E turned into the wind and we cranked up the engines. After I got light off my oxygen hose connection was not plugged in right. I closed the canopy to keep the heat from the exhausts of aircraft in front of me off and leaned over below the canopy rails and was working on getting the hose plugged in (O2 and communication). At 8:19 a huffer, jet starting unit placed it's exhaust directly on the warheads of a 5" rocket pack, of a F-4 that was about 70 feet off my left shoulder and slightly aft. A few seconds there after all I heard was a BIG WHUMP! I had my head down in the cockpit and when I looked up I had no canopy on the aircraft and over the big sound system on the "E" I heard ""General quarters. General quarters. This is not a drill. This is not a drill."" What had happened was a BIG MISTAKE. The "huffers exhaust" thousands of degrees hot cooked off the Zuni rockets (expanding rod warheads). The warheads blew the full fuel tanks on the F-4 and then cooked off the MK-82 bombs for desert. The worst part was a fully loaded A3D tanker with thousands of gallons of jet fuel blew up and the JP-4 rand aft on the flight deck and went through a large hole in the flight deck and below. MK-82 bombs rolled into the same hole and the combination of JP, Bombs and FIRE blew the port side of Enterprise out and I mean a big hole. At 8:22, 8:26, 8:30 and 8:35 there were two series of four explosions that followed. These are the best I can recall but close to the time line. All hell had broken out and the aft flight deck was nothing but explosions and brilliant flames. Tell you the truth I panicked to say the least. At about 8:25 as close as I remember I tried to get out of the seat of the A-7 to jump over the starboard side. I couldn't get out. I realized finally that I had not taken off any of my seat belts!! Talk about cool huh! I un strapped (don't think to this day I shut the engine down) and if you can believe this, let the canopy rails all that was left go to the up position. I stood up in the seat and was about to crawl out the starboard side and jump to the deck when the 8:26 explosion blew me out of the cockpit, did a 360 degree flip and landed rolling forward on the flight deck forward (no fire in that area). From there on out you would have to read the TIME magazine article. I don't remember most of it but in a nut shell Wally Wright was on the flight deck with two broken legs. Why and how I'm not quite clear on, we will just have to take his story, I picked him up over my shoulder and carried him down six decks (used and elevator for two of them) to the sick bay. Deposited him there and then went out and sat in the passageway. My next real recollection was someone giving me a small bottle of brandy to drink, telling me my ass was bleeding and hearing massive explosions above (and thinking, damn, that stuff is ABOVE ME!) I'll bring the pictures and TV from the PLAT up to Seattle for you to look at. I have never seen the TV documentary you watched and really don't want too. I don't think they can and will show on TV the really bad stuff and collateral damage after. There were hero's galore that day and the destroyer (can't remember the name) that came along side and put water into the large hole on the starboard side should have got the medal of honor. We almost LOST the Enterprise that day. We then completed a stay and repair on Oahu in a record time. Went back to Viet Name for 1/2 of a tour giving all of us 2 1/2 tours in the war zone. Side light: The day we departed for Viet Nam the air group was airborne for a 85 plane fly over of the Enterprise as she left Pearl Harbor. THEY RAN THE SHIP AGROUND and we were there for an additional week. :-)
There was nothing ugly with the A-7 and you can take my word, I'm Portuguese and saw them passing overhead between 1981 and 1999. It was a tremendous, fearsome aircraft. Actually more impressive to a viewer than the F-16. Large, dark, smokey and noisy, with that large intake willing to swallow you. I saw them on Airshows several times and they were extremely fast and nimble at low level, with great roll rate. They were intimidating without even opening fire. Only the Crusader was more elegant. I was even able to seat on one in the 1987 Montijo AFB Tiger Meet because I knew an Air Force Captain who flew them. He loved the aircraft and always remembered fondly the time he spent in the US qualifying on the T-38. Only our most promising pilots were sent to advanced training in the US, and he said the ambiance there was terrific. 😀
The video mentions the earlier A-4 Skyhawk as the plane the Navy needed to replace, leading to the A-7, but strangely omits any mention of the Navy's OTHER attack aircraft developed in the late 1950s, the A-6 Intruder. My unanswered question was why the Navy needed the A-7 when it already had the A-6 in the pipeline. I found the answer elsewhere: The A-6 was a heavy, expensive, long-range bomber with sophisticated night and all-weather capabilities. The Navy needed a lighter, cheaper attack plane to complement it, procured in greater numbers and able to operate from smaller carriers, and that became the A-7.
You are correct sir. The Navy was so concerned about their Intruders that they wouldn't let the most advanced version, the A-6E from flying combat in Nam for fear that one would be shot down and the Soviets would get access to the high precision night attack equipment.
A few Sailors made the mistake of getting to close to the A-7's gaping maw and were turned into ground meat. Same with the F-8. Both were great war birds.
My dad said a guy he served with made that mistake and he unfortunately witnessed it. Other story he told was that guy made the mistake of standing up because he thought the plane on his side of the aircraft carrier was gone but it was the other side. He wasn't paying attention and the plane on his side clipped him.
I worked on the A-7 as a DoD AE Apprentice at NARF Jax in Florida back in 1970-1974. Other than coming out of the nose wheel bay and standing up too soon and hitting my head on the intake duct, I saw stars for a while, I enjoyed the aircraft.
I flew the A-7D for 3 years! What a plane. You could drive nails with that thing. Way better bomber than the F-16 in the 80s.,,the 16 became a better bomber later with improvements . The A-7 did not have a red line. Just push the nose strait down…. Take off the inboard pylons and gain 50kts…
Worked avionics on an F-106, then went to an A-7 in the Guard. The difference between Second Gen aircraft and Third Gen was astounding! The Six broke for avionics on EVERY flight; the SLUF almost NEVER broke for avionics. Advantage: LTV.
I also was an Avionics Instrument Tech on the F-106, as well as the F-101B/F and the T-33A trainer. The Six was a real bear to work on, everything being so integrated. I much preferred the rock-simple T-33A! 😅
I find it interesting that the A-7 was designed and built in the 1960s to replace the "inferior" A-4 Skyhawk. But the A-4 was never actually "replaced" as it was in production till 1979 and in service with the US till 1998. Whereas the A-7 left US service in 1993. Also A-4 production was far greater than A-7 (2960 A-4s vs 1545 A-7s)
I was active-duty Marine Corps on the USS Wasp during Desert Storm. I got to see the Navy/MC A-4Ms and A-6 Intruders, AND the Navy's A-7 "Maneaters" when in our Carrier Battle Groups (ie: USS Carl Vinson CVN-70 and USS Theodore Roosevelt CVN 71) - along with Marine AV8-B Harriers, Navy/MC F/A-18s, and Navy F-14s. I LOOOVE all of them as the US Navy's (A-7) and Marine Corps' (A-6) humble but very capable work horses.....
I love this aircraft. Growing up in the 80s this was my favourite. I made several model aircraft models and the A-7 was the most cherished in my collection.
I attended a church party with a friend who flew the A-7 for 7 years before he got out and now flies for American. Great personality, funny stories, and a good man. These guys are the best!
The TF41 was developed for use in the LTV A-7D Corsair II for the USAF, and the US Navy's A-7E. Between 1968 and 1983, a total of 1,440 TF41s were delivered.The TF41 was jointly developed by Allison Engine Company and Rolls-Royce from the latter's RB.168-25R Spey. Allison manufactured the TF41 under license, while Rolls-Royce supplied parts common to existing Speys.
Served my Reserve time in VA-305 at NAS Point Mugu during 81/82. I believe we were flying D models. This was shortly before the squadron transitioned to the F/A-18 Lawn Dart.
When it comes to military aircraft, it's the toughness, combat capability, and durability that counts, not the looks. While the A-10 may look "rough," the design is actually very well-suited to military purposes, as the wing and nose design allows the aircraft to maintain high performance in extremely harsh combat situations.
The Crusader’s little brother was not a fighter/interceptor. It was an attack platform. It needed range and lifting capacity, not speed. There is nothing ugly about it. It did what it was designed for and did it very well. In my book that equal beauty.
The A-7 had a flaw that was not detected until they came into the fleet as operational aircraft. They ingested steam from the catapult steam venting in front of the aircraft. They could launch with a full load of bombs or a full load of fuel, but not a full load of both. The solution was to launch them with a partial load of fuel and a full load of bombs. Once airborne they would immediately connect with a tanker and fill up. I found this out when I was stationed in NAS Cubi Point as Personnel Officer and it was discussing in the O Club.
I was in VA-153 from 69-72. Did check crew on 70 Westpac and flight deck white shirt, AT troubleshooter/final checker, on the 71 cruise aboard the Oriskany. We had the A-7A prior to smokeless cans. You could see them coming from miles away.
I worked at LTV, where the A-7 was made. It won the Gun Smoke competition every year. The Carter administration wouldn't let LTV sell it to foreign countries.
Carter's DOD was opposed to any sales beyond those small numbers Greece and Portugal. Jim Wright kept authorizing enough A-7 buys to keep the line operating. Supposedly, the Navy and Air Force kept crossing the A-7 out of the budget. Jim Wright kept in the budget. LTV's political action kept giving Jim Wright campaign money. Wright was the Democrat whip or speaker of the House at that time.
Loved the A-7, I was an AD with VA-147 from 77-79, Plane Captain and later work in the engine shop while on the Connie. It was easy to work on and maintain, still have very fond memories of the airplane and those that I worked beside.
I love this. One of my favorite airplanes of all time. Its awesome to see it finally getting some YT coverage! Personally, i've always loved the aesthetics of it. The big wide wing, stubby fuselage and the cockpit way out front. It just looks so rad to me. Yeah, love the A-7.
I was flying the F/A-18 in VFA-305 Pt Mugu in, I believe, 1988, when an A-7 hit the mountains near LA. It didn't totally add up at the time. Heard rumors much later that it was testing Stealth.
I worked at LTV from 1985 to 1994. In the paint shops. I've probably crawled through well over 100 aft sections and complete aircraft upwards of 300 birds. I appreciate the dulling down of the moniker, but every pilot I ever spoke with called by a slightly more colorful moniker. The acronym was the same, and only the F was different. On 3rd shift was the when they did gun sighting and spin up tests. I watched more ground, fried chicken produced during engine tests than most chicken restaurants went through on any given day. Between the A7, THE B-1B, THE B-2, and the first project I worked on, the restoration of an F-4U, those were the best years of my life. Dad was one of the original engineers on the A7 project . He retired after 47 years with LTV/VOUGHT AIRCRAFT. Between the two of us, the company had 60 years of our lives.
Flew the A-7E in VA-93 off the USS Midway, 1983-84. My rather short A-7 career ended with an ejection from a failed catshot in March 1984. Went on to fly off the USS Midway in F/A-18 Hornets, with VFA-195. Both great jets, but you had to FLY the A-7! It did not forgive mistakes, especially landing on the "Boat". I feel the A-7 was like a vintage Porsche 911, no software to save you. In the Hornet you could be at the limit pretty quick. Great video, great jet!
When people think about Vietnam they usually think about the F-4 Phantom, but in reality the aircraft that really ruled the skies were aircraft like the F-100, F-8, F-105, and A-7. If you look at the stats, it crazy how much better they performed. Sometimes 2-3 times better. Theyre really very under appreciated aircraft.
Navy 1982 to 1988 AZ2 VS-41 and VS-33 two west pacs and I liked watching them take off of the flight deck, and what a rush it was working the flight deck.
I have a nice picture of a long row of A-7s on the flight line from my days stationed at Rosie Roads PR back in the mid 80s. I got to see some really cool airplanes back then.
The A-7 wasn’t a show horse. The A-7 was a work horse
Absolutely!
it also was not the
Short
Little
Ugly
Fella
It was a piece of junk.
@@drivebyquipper A very useful piece of junk, and that is what matters in the long run.
@@Realitygetreal they're trying to keep it family friendly!
Very underrated aircraft. Served for years and years - the very backbone of the Navy and Air National Guard. Nobody has a bad word for them.
They served active in USAF as D model. Nam
Also served for a while with the French before the Rafael took over everything lol
Sorry, but the real backbone of USN aviation was the A-4 Skyhawk. Check the real history of its development, initial purpose, and cost, as well as reliability and love by its crews, both maintenance and flight.
Save it for the tourists. National Guard doesn't get the best planes-It was a good way to get killed in combat. Thus, the A10 WARTHOG.
@@sidvyas8549the French served what is was developed from, the F-8
In the navy I had some friends who were in an A-7 squadron, and I spent a lot of time inside the mouths of those things, taking photos of F.O.D. damage. And of all the pilots on my ship the A-7 guys were the funniest. Those guys had a great sense of humor.
She sure did have a BIG'OL Inlet....
You would not catch me anywhere near the Corsair’s mouth didn’t it suck 2 dudes in?
You had to have a Gallows Humor to work around Deck Sharks. Those things ate about 3 Sailors a year! My first two days in my command (VA-174 Hell Razors seen at the start with the black bar with 4 golden diamonds horizontal) had two A-7Es over the bombing daisy in Pine Castle and both on day one and day two hit Turkey Buzzards about 9am.... blasting thru the starboard eyebrow window between the plexi and frame and smacking the pilot in the face. One lost vision in one eye, the other lost both, both 'dirty-ed up' dropping gear, putting the throttle at idle, and set flaps for landing and turned on the ACLS (automatic carrier landing system) to come in to take an OK Trap on the Field Gear.... both were passed out and even at idle the aircraft engine's suction would rip you off the boarding ladder easily.... unless you had the fattest Chief in the Fleet who was an ADC climb up that ladder and shut the engine down.... it was so weird to have the same accident with the same bird at the same time two days running! And I also remember the Safety film showing one Deck Shark eating 3 Sailors with ease, engine didn't even burp.
I was TACP for 2 enlistments in the AF. I'd rather have 1 SLUF on station than 10 Harriers. Especially if the A7s were flown by ANG pilots like the Red Eye guys out of Buckley or Taco guys from NM. Love those guys.
@@Slavicplayer251there is a video of the guy that got sucked into the A-6 Intruder engine.
These jets aren't ugly. They have great personalities!
Yeah. Boeing F32 takes that title. This jet is known as a vacuum cleaner...I don't remember the ladies' name associated to this jet.
Those giant front air intakes helped give great personalities!!!
@@tacticalmattfoley I always thought that the A-7 looked like what would happen if an F-86 and an F-100 had a baby.
And for what it's worth, I think the A-7 is gorgeous.
When you turn the lights out they all look the same. I prefer great personality.
They're beautiful! Like a short, fat bull dog!
Cheap, durable, practical, effective,… we need this engineering approach again.
We do need indeed
Drones are the future.
Cheap, durable, practical, effective.
Times and technology have changed though. But if you want something durable there's your model.
@@purplemonkey649 it will sound as if it's Old Snake but "I wouldn't rely on the system if i were you"
I do see the usefullness, but i feel there surely a tradeoff on the long run.
@@LolMaNiAc93
There are always "tradeoffs" with any program/system. The F22 is a perfect example vs the YF23.
As a B-52H guy, I love these guys. Kinda like that little brother who is always getting in trouble, but holds their own.
Kinda like a Corgi herding cattle. They are small, but can dodge your counters while ruining your day.
And they look so cute doing it. 😂
The BUFF and SLUF... strategic and tactical both done right.
Why so many posers? You never flew a b-52 in your life!
A compliment from a Buff to a Sluff.
@drivebyquipper They've been flying for 70 years, he probably did..
Proud to have served this aircraft from 1991 to 2000 , as an armament technician , in the 345 SQN of Greek AF at Suda airport on Crete island of Greece
Awesome! I was stationed on the American side 92-93. I loved watching the A7s and other older aircraft flying around back in the day. I really miss Crete. The Island, food and people are wonderful. I hope to go back with my wife and children in the near future.
@@usnchief1339 i was doing security duties at mouzoura gate of ur camp there , at that time...i'm sure we had seen each other many times those years
F doesn't stand for "Fella", does it?
@@Avtomat4774naaaah! 😉
The A7 was in the sky above all four of my duty-stations: NAS Cubic Point, (72-73), NAS Lemoore (74-77), NAS Whidbey Island (79-80), and NAF El Centro (88-90). As an ET, I was in Ground Electronics and never heard complaints about the Corsair ll. The Skyhawks were a different story!
Even with it's nickname (not quite "fella"), I've always loved the A-7 and it's grass cutting drivers. They were always in the mix, always there, and never seemed to give a damn about what got thrown at them. Magnificent aircraft and pilots.
Was wading a tributary of the Black River in central Wisconsin in mid to late eighties with a friend fishing. We both heard a rumble coming and looked up in time to see two A-7’s smoking at what seemed tree top level come right overhead. One of the top ten coolest things I’ve ever seen in my 62 years.
thats wicked!
In the Summer of 1985 I was in my home's terrace by the sea side in Portugal when I heard the unmistakable roar of a fast approaching combat aircraft. I raised my head just in time to see an A-7P followed by another one three seconds behind, followed by a Mirage 5 from the Belgium Air Force, followed by another Mirage! 😍😍😍
The whole lot was flying at not more than 600 feet AGL and certainly in excess of 400 knots! It was absolutely exhilarating.
Nowadays, if any Combat pilot dared doing so he would be grounded and demoted, the Squadron Leader would make a public apology, and all Newspapers, citizens and TV channels would whine about the recklessness of our Air Force... 🙁
Thankfully, back then treats like this were common.
I had a similar experience in central Pennsylvania in the 80s. It was AV8B Harriers from the Willow Grove NAS. A pair roared low down the river valley we were trekking along.
They could turn inside a Tomcat, carried sidewinders with that huge payload and insanely accurate with the Vulcan cannon, she was a beast.
how u know this or can u say this?? this is for me very interesting because it can turn very sharp in the *War thunder Game* but I want to Know this is same in Real World??? pls explain
@@rezanorouzi9738 I spent two tours (1969 to 1972) in the Tonkin Gulf maintaining air traffic control communications onboard a DLG. Every month or two we would stop for a few days in Subic Bay, Philippines, for repairs and regular maintenance. The planes on the carriers left the ships on the way in and landed for a few days at Qubi Point, across the Bay. Running into each other on base was common. They were flying F4 Phantoms mostly at that time but the A7 Corsair was well represented as well and it was very much respected by anyone who had contact with the air arm of the Navy. They weren't as fast as an F4 but they carried one hell of a load of munitions and were very capable.
@@rezanorouzi9738aircraft have G limiters witch war thunder doesn't add
@@rezanorouzi9738 bruh look at his pfp
@@rezanorouzi9738yes it can. It’s slow and its roots are in the F-8. Takes less real estate to turn when your slow, smaller, and have great handling characteristics.
I knew A7 drivers that also had Tomcat time. They came back to the A7 by choice. At sea when the Tomcats were grounded for various reasons the A7 picked up the slack for MigCap duty.
The A7 was the opening act when Desert Shield became Storm. Despite its age and dated targeting systems it worked every bit as well as its F18 replacement. There were zero A7 combat losses during DS unlike its F18 counter part.
I did several Med cruises with these birds on board. I worked in SH-3 squadrons. Always impressed by the A-7. My best analogy is a ‘street brawler’.
Stephen King dubbed one of his characters as "Old-time tough" that statement of his own work won me over. To think of her, the A7 ... Old-time tough 👍
I was an AO on the Kitty Hawk 82 to 85. Later in life I got to know one of Boeings test pilots. He was retired AF and was checked out on over 80 aircraft. I asked him which was his favorite. He said, without a doubt, it was the A-7! He called it the most pilot and ground crew friendly aircraft he’d flown. had a chance meeting with a retired Navy aviator that had nothing but great things to say about the A-7. I loved watching launch and recovery’s from vultures row. Great memories for sure!
My late uncle was on the USS Kittyhawk, during the apollo mission.
80 Aircraft? is this a codswallop convention, or what?
I worked on both F-4s and SLUFs. The A-7 did not break as much and also had easier access for a lot of the maintenance.
It might not be as awe inspiring as a F14, beautiful as a F15 or sleek as a F16. But you cannot deny the A-7's qualities and infuences on future designs.
It didn't have the attractiveness of its older sibling the F-8.
They did more with less.
As a kid I was offered my first model kit to build. I chose the A-7 - of course!
It was a bitch to land. The Air Force lost pilots who were transitioning to the A-10 because it was responsive-didn't drop like a pot metal turd.
@@delten-eleven1910 It didn't have anything that the F-8 had.
One of my favorite aircraft. Comes across as being plain and simplistic, but was actually very technically advanced and an incredible light attack platform
no show, all go
The A-7 is not ugly! It is one of the best proportioned aircraft out there, and it has the same elemental grace as many other "work horse" machines. It is beautiful.
*As a kid in the 1960's I would seek out these models to build. I loved the A-7!*
I built about 3 of them!!
As a young Indy Center controller in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, we had access to the Atterbury Range. Heading up to the FCO’s fire towers to watch the A10s, F4s and others practice their art was otherworldly. Then came the lowly A7s out of Fort Wayne, I believe. We thought we were done one day, when the range officer said “stick around for these dudes, they are Sheit Hot”. Came in low and hot, set up a perfect wagon wheel and proceded to destroy the targets with “shack” after “shack” precision before calmly rejoining and heading back to base. Never judge a book by its cover.
We never had A7s in ft wayne. The that period of time it would have been F4s. The a7s maybe came out of the naval base in Chicago?
I once had the pleasure of hearing a Navy Pilot talk a bit about his service, from the 60s to the 80s. He said the Crusader and the Corsair were his favorites to fly, the Corsair in particular being described as the most pleasant to fly.
My brother flew the A7 with the Royal Maces squadron in the '70s and '80s. He liked the plane.
I love the Corsair II! Never thought is was ugly. And the F4u Corsair of WW2 was the best fighter of that war. This was the feeling of allied and enemy pilots.
can't wait for corsair III to come out
A badass does not brag, he just gets stuff done. That is the Corsair II.
I was in VA-146 on the USS Constellation in the 70's with the A-7E Corsair II. After 50 years in aviation the A-7 still stands out as the one of the finest planes I've operated and worked on. We never considered it ugly, just a rugged aircraft that would bring the pilot home in one piece after a combat mission.
I worked on the A7 during my time in the Air Guard. It was ugly as Hell, but you got used to it. It was easy to work on, when you took the panels off you could stick your whole head and neck in it. The Alison engine was reliable and that huge intake was a joy to crawl into. We eventually switched to F16's. I was sorry to see the A7 go
My Father in-law was a Navy fighter pilot in Vietnam. He became the captain of the Kitty Hawk. He flew the A-7's.
I was in a USMC F4 Phantom II squadron in the 1980's. There was a knock on the A7. It was a man-eater. We were warned quite often to stay away from the nose of a running A7 on the tarmac. Any jet will eat you if you are stupid, but the A7 had a reputation.
Thats the Nic I remember we had Squadron on the Kennedy while i was on her
What squadron? Why the secrecy now? BTW-“Tarmac” is a word used by the media and other non-aviation sources to refer to the surface of an airport. The word “Tarmac” is not used in professional circles.
Save it for your favorite bar.
@@Thultarn The Kennedy didn't have a "Tarmac" you two are meant fo each other.
@@drivebyquipper and sorry but yes ALL carriers have and are the Tarmac but guess ya wouldnt know that so save it for your favorite bar
The comparison of the light attack platform to air superiority platforms is a squirrelly premise. Its not ugly at all. Its like a softened F-8, which was a cool platform that had a certain swagger all its own. Seems to me that the A-4, A-6, and A-7 all had useful applications, especially in the Vietnam era.
The A4 was also popular with a few other countries, still serving into this century. Argentina was building their own for years, a very well loved little plane that seemed unbreakable. The A7 could still be built, outfitted with even better engines and tech it honestly could serve very well for more years if someone decided to put it back in production. Even the A 10 which was considered to be retired years ago has chugged along and still serves well. It's funny to think the emphasis on supersonic fighters and standoff weapon platforms went through a lot of aircraft, but it was the tough subsonic ground attack and fighters that ended up finding so many uses when they were usually starting out as inexpensive stop gap solutions to future designs.
My dad was a carrier pilot for more than 30 years. He always told us NORMAL PEOPLE DO NOT FLY ATTACK AIRCRAFT, AND SLUFF DRIVERS ARE LESS NORMAL THAN MOST.
Unfortunately, "fast mover" drivers seem to always get the high promotions. Thus the top brass never liked the "low&slow" planes. But the ground troops love these guys, knowing they are their guardians. 😎👍🇺🇸
F4s and A7s screaming across the sky so close to the ground you can see the pilots! Unforgettable experience from HAF( GREEK AIR FORCE) pilots🛩️🇬🇷
I have always like the A-7. I went on a tour of the Midway Magic in the Philippines and got to see the A-7 take off and land. That it was my honor to see everyone work on such a small area.
This guy cannot be replaced by AI narration. He's the best.
His videos are literally scripted by AI. His video about the F-18 claims the F-35 was a twin engine plane.
@@ScottXC91 I'm starting to think he seeds in obvious errors to get supernerds like us to engage with his content.
The channel also constantly shows video clips of the wrong aircraft too
In my time i stay near A7 guarding in BA4 portuguese air base in Azores!!...Im a former K9 handler in Police air Forces in Portugal!!!...Beautifull plane!
Worked on A-7s my whole active duty time, first as a Plane Captain with VX-5 then as an Avionics Technician with VA-174 DET El Centro. I never considered them as ugly. I always hated having to change the Projected Map Display System (PMDS) films, when the jets came out from Cecil Field without the correct maps installed. The week after I got off Active Duty the AME was removing the seat inside the old WWII hanger, and while standing on the seat accidentally fired the seat. Because he was standing on the seat he survived because he fell off the seat before it went through the wood roof.
That must have been EXCITING! He was very fortunate to survive. I wonder what he did to disable the power next time he worked on one?
@@MrGaryGG48 I don't think he ever worked on one again. What one of my shipmates who lived near me and informed me about the accident and he told me pieces of his femur bone up to four inches long was on the hangar deck. By what I was told they heloevac to Balboa and spent over a year in there.and was able to walk out of the hospital. Never heard about him again.
Fighter pilots make movies while bomber pilots make history!
Spent thirteen years in A-7’s. They were built to fly. When they sat on deck any period of time, we got problems.
I had a model of the A7 hanging from the ceiling in my bedroom ...way back...a tough looking aircraft...genius engineering
Always loved Vought's planes
It’s sad they are still not in business.
Agreed ! Good stuff -
Vought , American , Convair they were ahead of their time , sadly all gone now.
I never thought the A-7's looked ugly, not at all. They looked tough, stout, aggressive! The F-117, that plane looked ugly to me. And it wasn't even a fighter, it was an attack, which is okay, I just think it was a false indentification.
Naw.....they were just 3 sheets to the wind when they decided to put an official Designation 0n'er......They hit send and were like "DAM"!!!!!!!!!!!!....."Awe screw it.....let's go bowl Dude"🎳......😂😂😂😆😂😅
@@eriklee1794 🤣
The common story is that they needed skilled pilots to fly it, because it was a brick, but most pilots wouldn't want to fly an attacker, so they dubbed it a fighter instead.
@@barrag3463 Ahh, thank you
it looks ok from the side and top, but from the front it looks funky
A very good presentation. The Corsair II was unusual, but it had to be, and that turned out to be a good thing. I wish we could build aircraft this reliable and consistent today.
I never thought they were ugly. I was on the USS Enterprise in the 80’s and we had these onboard. I always thought they looked tough. Like a menacing mako shark or something. Cool plane.
"Unmistakable bent-winged silhouette" shows video of the distinctively straight-winged Curtiss SB2C Helldiver Oh Dark Skies. Never change.
Nope, that's a fixed-wheel version of the OS2U-1 or OS2U-2 Kingfisher.
Kirtland Air Force base in Albuquerque shares runways with the airport. Anyway, I was on a Southwest plane in Albuquerque and we were about to take off when the pilot powered down. Right at that moment, a quartet of Corsairs appeared, went around our plane, then took off. A few minutes later, we also took off.
I was in VA-122 in 1966 and my first duty station in the Navy. It was the last AD1 squadron in the Navy. We received the 1st A7-A, and I thought it was awesome.
Thank you sir !
Thank you sir.
Former Corsair II maintainer Sep '79-Oct '81. Great aircraft, impeccable, maneuverable, PRECISION Close Air-support Bomber. Accurate as hell with a heavy bomb load, and a 20mm cannon to boot! Fighters make movies, Attack bombers make History! NO SLACK in LIGHT ATTACK!!
In the early 1970's I was on the USS Ranger off Vietnam and we had a squadron of A-7's on board. The flightdeck people hated them because they had a reputation of sucking people into the intake.
I heard that also when I was over there. The guys on the flight deck crew said they had detailed guide lines but when things got heated, mistakes were made occasionally...
They weren't called "deck sharks" for nothing! 😅
Great video.Worked on those as an aviation ordnanceman in the navy back in the eighties. Did one west-pac and a bunch of work up cruises with VA-97 warhawks based out of lemoore california.Ship was the USS Carl Vinson.Great memories. IYAOYAS 🧙♂️
My father and I were fishing on a lake in rural east-central Alabama early one Spring AM in 1992. Just as we put the boat in at the ramp, one of these flew over very low and slow......so low and slow we waived at the pilot and he waived back......I could see him waiving. At one point, he was BELOW the tree tops.
The war was almost over in Vietnam when I arrived there in 1973 at Korat Air Force Base.... I was an ECM guy... lots of cool planes there... A7's, F4's, F105 Wild Weasels. EC123 Airborne command post just to name a few... those were the days.
Worked on this airplane in Thailand in 1975 during our Southeast Asian drawdown. A-7's did a sterling service of ground fire suppression alongside my beloved F-111's during the Myaguez Rescue. Easiest airplane to work on, avionics were pretty much all ground level, with fold down access panels that doubled as work platforms. The addition of the TF-41 in the D and E models, made this jet nimble as well as tough. This jet's features heavily influenced its successor, the A-10 Warthogs development. Loved her.!!!
Probably the best video of these fascinating aircraft. I saw the last of these parked at Araxos Greek Air Force base in Patras in 2013 when landing there on a Ryanair flight. Not sure what I was looking at I found out about them on my return to the UK.
My uncle flew A-7's in Vietnam. He loved this jet. He used to talk about the pioneering HUD and he got to drop some of the first "smart" bombs on some super hush hush missions. He retired as a Commander and had over 1,000 traps in his career. He was in the "spare" A7 (VA-146) for an ORI on Enterprise when a huffer placed its exhaust directly on the warheads of a 5" rocket on an F4. Not only did he survive, but wounded himself, he carried a blown up sailor over his shoulder to safety. His stories and camera combat footage in Vietnam are a things of legends.
I know another man who was on that deck at that moment, who also survived. Talking about it is one of the few times I have seen him shake.
@@davidgoodnow269 I'm going to copy/paste an email he sent me - just so it's out there and never forgotten.
That is a memory from the past. (VA-146 & A7B) It was a prep for Viet Nam (ORI) on a beautiful January morning of the Hawaiian Islands. The loads were war ready. I had scheduled my junior officers to fly the strikes for practice. I wasn't even scheduled to fly that day. Was on my way to the dirty shirt wardroom in flight gear for breakfast. A runner stopped me and said the duty officer would like me to man the "spare" just in case. The skipper had a cold he said. On live ordinance hops no one ever went down, they were fun to fly, so I picked up ONLY my torso harness (no"g"suit), hard hat and went up to the flight deck. I hadn't even briefed for the mission, just had channel 10 the strike frequency. In other words I was going to come back down and have breakfast after the launch went at 8:40.
The spare A7 I manned (70 feet from the initial explosion) was parked aft of the island on the port side about 1/2 way to the stern of the ship. The stern was packed with attack aircraft around the edges (launch second) and fighters (F-4) in the middle of the aft deck with missiles and MK-82 (500 pounders). The A7's had MK-82(500), MK-83(1000) and MK-84 (2000) bomb loads. The fighters had external fuel tanks and ZUNI (5" expanding warhead frag rockets) in packs of five just outboard of their external wing tanks.
The time line as I recall it went something like this. At 8:18 the Big E turned into the wind and we cranked up the engines. After I got light off my oxygen hose connection was not plugged in right. I closed the canopy to keep the heat from the exhausts of aircraft in front of me off and leaned over below the canopy rails and was working on getting the hose plugged in (O2 and communication).
At 8:19 a huffer, jet starting unit placed it's exhaust directly on the warheads of a 5" rocket pack, of a F-4 that was about 70 feet off my left shoulder and slightly aft. A few seconds there after all I heard was a BIG WHUMP! I had my head down in the cockpit and when I looked up I had no canopy on the aircraft and over the big sound system on the "E" I heard ""General quarters. General quarters. This is not a drill. This is not a drill.""
What had happened was a BIG MISTAKE. The "huffers exhaust" thousands of degrees hot cooked off the Zuni rockets (expanding rod warheads). The warheads blew the full fuel tanks on the F-4 and then cooked off the MK-82 bombs for desert. The worst part was a fully loaded A3D tanker with thousands of gallons of jet fuel blew up and the JP-4 rand aft on the flight deck and went through a large hole in the flight deck and below. MK-82 bombs rolled into the same hole and the combination of JP, Bombs and FIRE blew the port side of Enterprise out and I mean a big hole.
At 8:22, 8:26, 8:30 and 8:35 there were two series of four explosions that followed. These are the best I can recall but close to the time line. All hell had broken out and the aft flight deck was nothing but explosions and brilliant flames.
Tell you the truth I panicked to say the least. At about 8:25 as close as I remember I tried to get out of the seat of the A-7 to jump over the starboard side. I couldn't get out. I realized finally that I had not taken off any of my seat belts!! Talk about cool huh! I un strapped (don't think to this day I shut the engine down) and if you can believe this, let the canopy rails all that was left go to the up position. I stood up in the seat and was about to crawl out the starboard side and jump to the deck when the 8:26 explosion blew me out of the cockpit, did a 360 degree flip and landed rolling forward on the flight deck forward (no fire in that area).
From there on out you would have to read the TIME magazine article. I don't remember most of it but in a nut shell Wally Wright was on the flight deck with two broken legs. Why and how I'm not quite clear on, we will just have to take his story, I picked him up over my shoulder and carried him down six decks (used and elevator for two of them) to the sick bay. Deposited him there and then went out and sat in the passageway. My next real recollection was someone giving me a small bottle of brandy to drink, telling me my ass was bleeding and hearing massive explosions above (and thinking, damn, that stuff is ABOVE ME!)
I'll bring the pictures and TV from the PLAT up to Seattle for you to look at. I have never seen the TV documentary you watched and really don't want too. I don't think they can and will show on TV the really bad stuff and collateral damage after. There were hero's galore that day and the destroyer (can't remember the name) that came along side and put water into the large hole on the starboard side should have got the medal of honor. We almost LOST the Enterprise that day.
We then completed a stay and repair on Oahu in a record time. Went back to Viet Name for 1/2 of a tour giving all of us 2 1/2 tours in the war zone.
Side light: The day we departed for Viet Nam the air group was airborne for a 85 plane fly over of the Enterprise as she left Pearl Harbor. THEY RAN THE SHIP AGROUND and we were there for an additional week. :-)
I served on the Coral Sea during Operation El Dorado Canyon & we only had A-6s. The Saratoga had the A-7s for that operation.
There was nothing ugly with the A-7 and you can take my word, I'm Portuguese and saw them passing overhead between 1981 and 1999. It was a tremendous, fearsome aircraft. Actually more impressive to a viewer than the F-16. Large, dark, smokey and noisy, with that large intake willing to swallow you. I saw them on Airshows several times and they were extremely fast and nimble at low level, with great roll rate. They were intimidating without even opening fire. Only the Crusader was more elegant.
I was even able to seat on one in the 1987 Montijo AFB Tiger Meet because I knew an Air Force Captain who flew them. He loved the aircraft and always remembered fondly the time he spent in the US qualifying on the T-38. Only our most promising pilots were sent to advanced training in the US, and he said the ambiance there was terrific. 😀
The video mentions the earlier A-4 Skyhawk as the plane the Navy needed to replace, leading to the A-7, but strangely omits any mention of the Navy's OTHER attack aircraft developed in the late 1950s, the A-6 Intruder. My unanswered question was why the Navy needed the A-7 when it already had the A-6 in the pipeline. I found the answer elsewhere: The A-6 was a heavy, expensive, long-range bomber with sophisticated night and all-weather capabilities. The Navy needed a lighter, cheaper attack plane to complement it, procured in greater numbers and able to operate from smaller carriers, and that became the A-7.
You are correct sir. The Navy was so concerned about their Intruders that they wouldn't let the most advanced version, the A-6E from flying combat in Nam for fear that one would be shot down and the Soviets would get access to the high precision night attack equipment.
Except it actually failed to replace the A-4. Which continued being useful. And retired after the A-7 did.
A few Sailors made the mistake of getting to close to the A-7's gaping maw and were turned into ground meat. Same with the F-8. Both were great war birds.
Oof never knew that fact. Sounds like a terrible way to go
Well, both aircraft have a V shaped strip in either side of the nose displaying _DANGER AIR INTAKE._
Plain common sense is welcomed too. 😶
Yes they do. But Carrier decks are loud, busy, and dangerous for new bees, a old salt told me keep you're head on a swivel and you might keep it.
My dad said a guy he served with made that mistake and he unfortunately witnessed it.
Other story he told was that guy made the mistake of standing up because he thought the plane on his side of the aircraft carrier was gone but it was the other side. He wasn't paying attention and the plane on his side clipped him.
I worked on the A-7 as a DoD AE Apprentice at NARF Jax in Florida back in 1970-1974. Other than coming out of the nose wheel bay and standing up too soon and hitting my head on the intake duct, I saw stars for a while, I enjoyed the aircraft.
I flew the A-7D for 3 years! What a plane. You could drive nails with that thing. Way better bomber than the F-16 in the 80s.,,the 16 became a better bomber later with improvements . The A-7 did not have a red line. Just push the nose strait down…. Take off the inboard pylons and gain 50kts…
Worked avionics on an F-106, then went to an A-7 in the Guard. The difference between Second Gen aircraft and Third Gen was astounding! The Six broke for avionics on EVERY flight; the SLUF almost NEVER broke for avionics. Advantage: LTV.
I also was an Avionics Instrument Tech on the F-106, as well as the F-101B/F and the T-33A trainer. The Six was a real bear to work on, everything being so integrated. I much preferred the rock-simple T-33A! 😅
Served with A-7 squadrons VA-122 and VA-146 from '70 to '74 as an AM. Was on the last Carrier at Yankee Station in '73.
I find it interesting that the A-7 was designed and built in the 1960s to replace the "inferior" A-4 Skyhawk. But the A-4 was never actually "replaced" as it was in production till 1979 and in service with the US till 1998. Whereas the A-7 left US service in 1993. Also A-4 production was far greater than A-7 (2960 A-4s vs 1545 A-7s)
I was active-duty Marine Corps on the USS Wasp during Desert Storm. I got to see the Navy/MC A-4Ms and A-6 Intruders, AND the Navy's A-7 "Maneaters" when in our Carrier Battle Groups (ie: USS Carl Vinson CVN-70 and USS Theodore Roosevelt CVN 71) - along with Marine AV8-B Harriers, Navy/MC F/A-18s, and Navy F-14s. I LOOOVE all of them as the US Navy's (A-7) and Marine Corps' (A-6) humble but very capable work horses.....
I love this aircraft. Growing up in the 80s this was my favourite. I made several model aircraft models and the A-7 was the most cherished in my collection.
Thoroughly enjoyed this production.
imo the A-7 is beautiful
I attended a church party with a friend who flew the A-7 for 7 years before he got out and now flies for American. Great personality, funny stories, and a good man. These guys are the best!
18 chain tiedown 2 wing locks & a hurricane tail anchor. Up/down ladders & passageways. Quite the workout. AIMD adj velcrow.
Top Gun aboard USS Ranger cv61.
Canopy polish special
“Fella” lol. Not how I heard it.
These are one of my absolute favorites.
Our narrator is just being polite. Those who know it know that the actual word cannot be used in public domain.
To me, two planes on the USA side stand out above all else, Tomcat and Corsair II. Love the video.
I think it has a cool design, especially from the front.
Great Plsnes just keep coming, the Corsair's live under this mantra.
The TF41 was developed for use in the LTV A-7D Corsair II for the USAF, and the US Navy's A-7E. Between 1968 and 1983, a total of 1,440 TF41s were delivered.The TF41 was jointly developed by Allison Engine Company and Rolls-Royce from the latter's RB.168-25R Spey. Allison manufactured the TF41 under license, while Rolls-Royce supplied parts common to existing Speys.
Dude your narration is impeccable. 👍👍
Served my Reserve time in VA-305 at NAS Point Mugu during 81/82. I believe we were flying D models. This was shortly before the squadron transitioned to the F/A-18 Lawn Dart.
Always liked the Corsair....I built a model of one...and loved it...
This is a beautiful piece of machinery man.
When it comes to military aircraft, it's the toughness, combat capability, and durability that counts, not the looks. While the A-10 may look "rough," the design is actually very well-suited to military purposes, as the wing and nose design allows the aircraft to maintain high performance in extremely harsh combat situations.
The Crusader’s little brother was not a fighter/interceptor. It was an attack platform. It needed range and lifting capacity, not speed. There is nothing ugly about it. It did what it was designed for and did it very well. In my book that equal beauty.
The A-7 had a flaw that was not detected until they came into the fleet as operational aircraft. They ingested steam from the catapult steam venting in front of the aircraft. They could launch with a full load of bombs or a full load of fuel, but not a full load of both. The solution was to launch them with a partial load of fuel and a full load of bombs. Once airborne they would immediately connect with a tanker and fill up.
I found this out when I was stationed in NAS Cubi Point as Personnel Officer and it was discussing in the O Club.
It's not ugly, it's a slick looking aircraft.
This was a great video. Thanks
One of my favorites. There's one on a pedestal near me (Alameda airbase), gorgeous plane.
Good little plane easy to work on. Seen engine change done in 45 minutes. I was in VA-153 at the time.
I was in VA-153 from 69-72. Did check crew on 70 Westpac and flight deck white shirt, AT troubleshooter/final checker, on the 71 cruise aboard the Oriskany. We had the A-7A prior to smokeless cans. You could see them coming from miles away.
I worked at LTV, where the A-7 was made.
It won the Gun Smoke competition every year.
The Carter administration wouldn't let LTV sell it to foreign countries.
Portugal and Greece purchased A-7 Corsairs.
More foreign countries probably didn’t buy them because they could get surplus A-4 Skyhawks much cheaper.
Carter's DOD was opposed to any sales beyond those small numbers Greece and Portugal. Jim Wright kept authorizing enough A-7 buys to keep the line operating. Supposedly, the Navy and Air Force kept crossing the A-7 out of the budget. Jim Wright kept in the budget.
LTV's political action kept giving Jim Wright campaign money. Wright was the Democrat whip or speaker of the House at that time.
I was a line troubleshooter from 1970 through 1973 in VA173 at Cecil Field. Worked on A7As through A7D.
Loved the A-7, I was an AD with VA-147 from 77-79, Plane Captain and later work in the engine shop while on the Connie. It was easy to work on and maintain, still have very fond memories of the airplane and those that I worked beside.
Vought OS2U Kingfisher at 10:57.... LOL!
A-7 Corsair II ugly? Absolutely fucking not that thing looks awesome
There are no ugly aircraft - only a lack of appreciation for industrial beauty.
I love this. One of my favorite airplanes of all time. Its awesome to see it finally getting some YT coverage! Personally, i've always loved the aesthetics of it. The big wide wing, stubby fuselage and the cockpit way out front. It just looks so rad to me. Yeah, love the A-7.
As a kid, I absolutely loved the A-7. I thought it looked tough.
The A-7 and F-8 are good looking for me :)
Being an F-4 Phantom follower as a young man, this video gave me a new appreciation for the A-7!
The A-7's base weapons system was used on the F-117 Stealth Fighter with some updates, such as laser targeting and low light television targeting.
I was flying the F/A-18 in VFA-305 Pt Mugu in, I believe, 1988, when an A-7 hit the mountains near LA. It didn't totally add up at the time. Heard rumors much later that it was testing Stealth.
I worked at LTV from 1985 to 1994. In the paint shops. I've probably crawled through well over 100 aft sections and complete aircraft upwards of 300 birds. I appreciate the dulling down of the moniker, but every pilot I ever spoke with called by a slightly more colorful moniker. The acronym was the same, and only the F was different. On 3rd shift was the when they did gun sighting and spin up tests. I watched more ground, fried chicken produced during engine tests than most chicken restaurants went through on any given day. Between the A7, THE B-1B, THE B-2, and the first project I worked on, the restoration of an F-4U, those were the best years of my life. Dad was one of the original engineers on the A7 project . He retired after 47 years with LTV/VOUGHT AIRCRAFT. Between the two of us, the company had 60 years of our lives.
Flew the A-7E in VA-93 off the USS Midway, 1983-84. My rather short A-7 career ended with an ejection from a failed catshot in March 1984. Went on to fly off the USS Midway in F/A-18 Hornets, with VFA-195. Both great jets, but you had to FLY the A-7! It did not forgive mistakes, especially landing on the "Boat". I feel the A-7 was like a vintage Porsche 911, no software to save you. In the Hornet you could be at the limit pretty quick. Great video, great jet!
When people think about Vietnam they usually think about the F-4 Phantom, but in reality the aircraft that really ruled the skies were aircraft like the F-100, F-8, F-105, and A-7. If you look at the stats, it crazy how much better they performed. Sometimes 2-3 times better. Theyre really very under appreciated aircraft.
Navy 1982 to 1988 AZ2 VS-41 and VS-33 two west pacs and I liked watching them take off of the flight deck, and what a rush it was working the flight deck.
The attention to detail in these machines is absolutely remarkable!
I love the SLUF. Highly underrated, together with the A-4....
This one you got right.. the Corsair II was epic in all fights it got involved..
In the Navy I was plane captain for the A7E Corsair and the first thing you did when they returned from flight was spread drip pans under it.😂😂
I have a nice picture of a long row of A-7s on the flight line from my days stationed at Rosie Roads PR back in the mid 80s. I got to see some really cool airplanes back then.