H.A.F. A-7 Corsair

Video Title :	H.A.F. A-7 Corsair
Description :	http://www.aviationlive.org Online Aviation Pics,Videos and Forum The Ling-Temco-Vought A-7 Corsair II is a carrier-based subsonic light attack aircraft design that was introduced to replace the A-4 Skyhawk in US Naval service and based on the successful supersonic F-8 Crusader aircraft produced by Chance Vought. The A-7 was one of the first combat aircraft to feature a head-up display (HUD), doppler-bounded inertial navigation system (INS), and a turbofan engine. It initially entered service with the United States Navy during the Vietnam conflict and was then adopted by the United States Air Force to replace their A-1 Skyraiders that were borrowed from the Navy as well as with the Air National Guard. It was exported to Greece (in the 1970s), Portugal and Thailand (in the late 1980s). In 1962, the United States Navy began preliminary work on VAX (Heavier-than-air, Attack, Experimental), a replacement for the A-4 Skyhawk with greater range and payload. A particular emphasis was placed on accurate delivery of weapons to reduce the cost per target. The requirements were finalized in 1963 and in 1964, the Navy announced the VAL (Heavier-than-air, Attack, Light) competition. Contrary to USAF philosophy, which was to employ only supersonic fighter bombers such as the F-105 Thunderchief and F-100 Super Sabre, the Navy felt that a subsonic design could carry the most payload the farthest distance. One story illustrated that a "slow fat duck" could fly nearly as fast as a supersonic one, since carrying dozens of iron bombs also restricted its entry speed, but a fast plane with small wings and an afterburner would burn up a lot more fuel. To minimize costs, all proposals had to be based on existing designs. Vought, Douglas Aircraft, Grumman, and North American Aviation responded. The Vought proposal was based on the successful F-8 Crusader fighter, having an identical configuration, but more short and stubby, with a rounded nose. It was selected as the winner on 11 February 1964, and on 19 March the company received a contract for the initial batch of aircraft, designated A-7. In 1965 the aircraft received the popular name Corsair II, after Vought's highly successful F4U Corsair of World War II. Compared to the F-8 Crusader fighter, the A-7 had a shorter, broader fuselage. The wing was made larger, and the unique variable incidence wing of the F-8 was deleted. To achieve the required range, A-7 was powered by a Pratt & Whitney TF30-P-6 turbofan producing 11,345 lbf (50.5 kN) of thrust, the same innovative combat turbofan produced for the F-111, but without the afterburner needed for supersonic speeds. Turbofans achieve greater efficiency by moving a larger mass of air at a lower velocity. The aircraft was fitted with an AN/APQ-116 radar which was integrated into the ILAAS digital navigation system. The radar also fed a digital weapons computer which made possible accurate delivery of bombs from a greater stand-off distance, greatly improving survivability compared with faster platforms such as the F-4 Phantom II. It was the first US aircraft to have a modern Heads-Up Display, now a standard instrument, which displayed information such as dive angle, airspeed, altitude, drift, and aiming reticle. The integrated navigation system allowed for another innovation -- the projected map display system (PMDS) which accurately showed aircraft position on two different map scales. The A-7 enjoyed the fastest and most trouble-free development period of any American combat aircraft since World War Two. The YA-7A made its first flight on 27 September 1965, and began to enter Navy squadron service late in 1966. The first Navy A-7 squadrons reached operation status on 1 February 1967, and began combat operations over Vietnam in December of that year. Secretary of Defence Robert McNamara prodded the Air Force to adopt not only the hugely successful F-4 Phantom II, but also the Navy's A-7 Corsair as a low cost follow-on to F-105s until the troubled F-111 came online. The Air Force ordered the A-7D with a fixed high speed refueling receptacle behind the pilot optimized for the KC-135's flying boom rather than the folding long probe of Navy aircraft. They opted for the M61 Vulcan cannon rather than the twin single-barrel 20 mm cannon, and changed to the Allison TF41-A-1 engine, which was a licenced version of the British Rolls-Royce Spey. The TF41-A-1 engine produced 14,500 lbf (64 kN) of thrust. Later Navy versions would adopt this gun and engine. The A-7 Corsair II was tagged with the nickname "SLUF" ("Short Little Ugly Feller" was the polite version) by pilots. napalm mk-82 cluster bombs airfield attack naval crete creta army
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Keywords, Tags :	greece greek hellas hellenic air force usn us navy portugal tuaf haf 345 a-7 a7 corsair vought bomber vietnam aegean do
Video Length :	8 : 13

Comments :

a yes the s.l.u.f

Very cool to see those old A-7s, the USAF phased them out of service a few years before I joined up so I never saw any on the ramps. I hear the HAF have just retired all their A-7 squadrons, is this true? I guess it's time to do so, how many flight hours could those airframes still have in 2008?! I'm surprised to read the HAF is still flying F-4s! Not bad, Greece, not bad at all!

NOPE The A-7 is still in service, and it's planned to remain until 2012. All those A-7's are also equipped with Litening pods for night strikes. You will ask "why does that old thing remain in service?". The answer is that there is no other such effective aircraft for CAS missions, besides the A-10 which the US are struggling to keep in service, and the Su-25 Frogfoot, which we'll never have. All those new fighters (F-35, EF2000, Gripen) all pretty good for A-A missions, but not for CAS.

manolisax.εγω ακουγα τα f4 απο ανδραβιδα.ΤΑ Α7 ΤΑ ΘΕΛΑΝΕ ΚΑΙ ΟΙ ΤΟΥΡΚΟΙ ΑΛΛΑ ΔΕΝ ΤΑ ΕΔΩΣΑΝ ΟΙ ΑΜΕΡΙΚΑΝΟΙ.ΠΑΡΑΔΕΧΤΗΚΑΝ ΤΟΤΕ ΟΤΙ ΕΙΤΑΝ ΜΕΓΑ ΛΑΘΟΣ ΠΟΥ ΤΑ ΠΗΡΑΜΕ ΕΜΕΙΣ ΛΟΓΟ ΟΤΙ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΜΙΑ ΙΚΑΝΗ ΠΛΑΤΦΟΡΜΑ ΒΟΜΒΑΡΔΙΣΜΟΥ

elpizo na agorasoume merika rafael na teliounoume me ta memmetia mia gia panta.

Γιατί, ποιος σου είπε ότι το Rafale, το ΕF, το Sukhoi 30, όλα αυτά τα καταφέρνουν καλύτερα από το A-7 σε αποστολές εγγύς υποστήριξης; Αντιθέτως, τα μόνα συγκρίσιμα είναι το A-10 και το Su-25. Για όσους δεν ξέρουν, τα EF και Rafale αναπτύχθηκαν ως μαχητικά εναέριας υπεροχής. Οι Γάλλοι σκέφτηκαν ότι θα έπρεπε να μπορεί να μεταφέρει και οπλισμό κρούσης, όπως και γίνεται στην έκδοση Trance 3. Το EF από την άλλη, πέρυσι άφησε την πρώτη βόμβα δοκιμαστικά.

I remember these birds from way back! cattmandoo2

In Europe only Greece and Portugal have used the A-7, but here they had many structural problems and some accidents. They have been replaced by the F-16 which also replaced the G-91. On Google Earth can be seen in Alverca. I only saw them flying when i was about 13. Great plane.

But they are in storage.

Not all planes.