I spent 5 years with VA-146 on the USS Constellation from 75-80 as a plane captain and later an engine mechanic. I've worked on 40+ different types of aircraft over the past 50 years in aviation and the A7E was one of the finest aircraft of them all. Simple, reliable and built like a tank. Some say it was ugly, but it was beautiful to me. You could beat the hell out of it and it still got you home.
The A-7 Corsair II entered combat in 1967, not 1970. The USAF's A-7D Corsair however, entered combat service in 1970 though, but the Navy had already operated the A & B models since 1967. The D model (USAF) was the first model to introduce a HUD, along with the M61A1 Gatling gun, the Navy was impressed and commisioned their own version (basically identical to the USAF D variant), designated the A-7E.
Gorgeous thumbnail of my squadron VA-146 Blue Diamonds and great footage of my sister squadron VA-147 Argonauts. I was a Blue Diamond from 1974-1977 at NAS Lemoore. The A-7E was a workhorse and performed its job well! Great video!
During 1970 and again in 71, I was attached to Va-155 on the USS Oriskany. We flew that A7 B with the PW p8 engine. I loved that plane as it was easy to maintain and dependable.
I grow up by, NAS Dallas, LTV across the runway, As a kid at night, They would turn up the flight line for about an hour, Some thing I will never forget, The A-7 looked like the F-8s little badass brother 😁 VF 201 and VF 202 of Texas
Beautiful aircraft. It has the aesthetics of a flying tank to me, and I mean that as a complement. It just looks like it can fly straight through a brick wall and not be impacted. I love any aircraft with that big air intake in the front. It's great.
I worked in them, once upon a time. The aircraft was armored on the bottom side in many areas. Also the armor plate on the back of the pilot was if I remember correct, more than an inch thick. A couple bladder fuel tanks were self sealing. All in all, the sluf was a lil mofo not to be underestimated. Provided some aircover, a sluf duo could devastate an entire enemy airfield on a significant level.
The A-7K, literally 'Killed It' as the 'next Strike Fighter' in the early'-90's. Vought upgraded the Cockpit/Avionics to almost F-18/levels, and put in an Afterburner, giving it Mach-1, while carrying some bombs! What it could-have-been, we'll never know..
Unfortunately, the politicians and other big wigs chose the military contractors with the best fishing trips and hookers. I used to work on A-7E's and that is what a test pilot told me. I really believe he was serious and there might have been some sort of truth to his statement. Although the FA-18 was a good replacement. Alongside the FA-18 the A-7s did their job well and it was very maintenance friendly.
Started my career in the Navy as a Plane Captain on Maneaters in '84. They finally put my old azz to pasture in 2013 after working on the Corsair's replacement, the F/A-18 Hornet.
Very nice. Just an FYI: the plural of aircraft is "aircraft," there is no "s" at the end. So you would say, "There were numerous aircraft in the area." You would NOT say: "There were numerous aircrafts in the area."
Not easy to maintain if one was a AMH. Pissed fluid everywhere. Could absorb combat damage, Saw one that a SAM went through it's wing but didn't detonate, big 1 foot jagged round hole.... made it back to Sara.
I wonder if he shit his flightsuit on that one. I was 8 when it was in service, I built the 1/72 Revell model kit and read all about it. I knew what it was when I saw Vietnam footage on TV. It was my favorite Vietnam era fighter.
@@stepanbandera5206 He literally kissed the flightdeck. Same guy was shot down up north where we usually operated and one of our helo's rescued him. 9 lives I would guess.
The A-7 in all its variants was a close air support/ground attack aircraft, not a fighter, although when not loaded down with explosive ordnance and a full bag of fuel, it could be a pretty agile aircraft with a 20 mm Gatling gun and 2 sidewinders.
The art on the vertical stabilizer indicates the squadron, the large letters indicate the air wing. All of the squadrons deployed on a carrier are part of the same air wing. My squadron, VA-97 Warhawks, was home based at Naval Air Station (NAS) Lemoore, California. Along with our sister squadron, VA-27 Royal Maces, we were part of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 14 designated by the letters NK. The "V" in CVW designates that the air wing is made up of fixed wing aircraft. During my time in VA-97 from the fall of 1970 to December of 1973 we deployed twice to the Tonkin Gulf aboard USS Enterprise (CVAN 65). The air wing was made up of two A-7E light attack squadrons, VA-196, an A-6 medium attack squadron, two F-4 fighter squadrons VF-142 and VF-143, one RA-5C photo recon squadron, RVAH-5 if memory serves, one A-3 refueling squadron and one E-2 early warning squadron. I'm not sure which squadron had the scimitar art, it may have been an east coast squadron.
The A-7 squadron as you describe it here is VA 147, the Argonauts, sister squadron to VA 146 Blue Diamonds. We deployed together in 1970 on the America, the first two squadrons to bring the A-7E into combat. I believe we were part of CAG 9 (airwing). The A-7E was a vast improvement over both the A and B models which I also flew on a previous cruise. The taxpayers got their money's worth with these planes. The plane showing above is one of ours on a later cruise. It is configured with a "Buddy Store" refueling package which enables it to be a tanker for other aircraft. So equipped, we could off load 8,000 lbs of a total of 13,000 lbs we could launch with. That's enough to keep 4 or 5 airplanes out of trouble if they are low on fuel approaching the ship.
I sw a video of one the the carrier crew getting sucked into the engine of one of these. Fortunately, because he followed procedure and was wearing a helmet. his helmet stopped the engine and he was unharmed. When I saw that, I was thinking hoo-rah, he just kept himself from being a mess. If he hadn't been wearing that helmet, I wouldn't want to see what would have come out the back of the jet.
Hi Ross. Tnx for the feedback :) we actually installed a voicer over artist coming next month 😀 so hopefully the ln we can aim at producing high quali video and sound 🙏🏻 tnx for watching
WHY all the videos using "aircrafts" when referring to multiples? The word aircraft is, of course, both singular and plural by definition. Let's all learn to speak correctly, OK? Hammer SSGt USAF; CW4/SrAviator; INS/ICE/CBP, ret.
We definitely took this comment to heart and would like to just let you know that we have fixed this issue with videos going forward. Check out our new videos to see if they were fixed.
Again another Ai video with misinformation ! The A7 Corsair deployed by the US Navy and was over Vietnam flying combat missions in December of 1967. Get your facts straight before making a video!!!!!
I spent 5 years with VA-146 on the USS Constellation from 75-80 as a plane captain and later an engine mechanic. I've worked on 40+ different types of aircraft over the past 50 years in aviation and the A7E was one of the finest aircraft of them all. Simple, reliable and built like a tank. Some say it was ugly, but it was beautiful to me. You could beat the hell out of it and it still got you home.
The A-7 Corsair II entered combat in 1967, not 1970. The USAF's A-7D Corsair however, entered combat service in 1970 though, but the Navy had already operated the A & B models since 1967. The D model (USAF) was the first model to introduce a HUD, along with the M61A1 Gatling gun, the Navy was impressed and commisioned their own version (basically identical to the USAF D variant), designated the A-7E.
Gorgeous thumbnail of my squadron VA-146 Blue Diamonds and great footage of my sister squadron VA-147 Argonauts. I was a Blue Diamond from 1974-1977 at NAS Lemoore. The A-7E was a workhorse and performed its job well! Great video!
Glad you enjoyed it
During 1970 and again in 71, I was attached to Va-155 on the USS Oriskany. We flew that A7 B with the PW p8 engine. I loved that plane as it was easy to maintain and dependable.
Must of been cool 😃 tnx for watching
Same here I was with VA 155 from 71 until 74 aboard USS Oriskany. Plane Captain and jet mechanic.
@@lorenzomaximo1818 I left in Sept. 1971. Thank you for your service .
🇺🇲THANK YOU!🇺🇲
I grow up by, NAS Dallas, LTV across the runway, As a kid at night, They would turn up the flight line for about an hour, Some thing I will never forget, The A-7 looked like the F-8s little badass brother 😁 VF 201 and VF 202 of Texas
They did a lot of close air support for we Marines in Vietnam. Excellent war plane with a big payload.
I could think that it must have been cool to witness this thing! Tnx for watching
Thank you for your service. God bless the peacekeepers
A little before my Navy days , I was stationed in the first F-18 squadron on the east coast VFA-131 Wildcats out NAS Cecil Field fla 1985/1988 .
Beautiful aircraft. It has the aesthetics of a flying tank to me, and I mean that as a complement. It just looks like it can fly straight through a brick wall and not be impacted. I love any aircraft with that big air intake in the front. It's great.
Absolutely! It was one of those fantastic machines :)
Thanx for watching; stay tuned for more coming soon! 😍
I worked in them, once upon a time. The aircraft was armored on the bottom side in many areas. Also the armor plate on the back of the pilot was if I remember correct, more than an inch thick. A couple bladder fuel tanks were self sealing. All in all, the sluf was a lil mofo not to be underestimated. Provided some aircover, a sluf duo could devastate an entire enemy airfield on a significant level.
@@egooidios5061 Wonderful to hear. Beautiful, protected, safe and effective.
Beautiful design
Absolutely
The A-7K, literally 'Killed It' as the 'next Strike Fighter' in the early'-90's. Vought upgraded the Cockpit/Avionics to almost F-18/levels, and put in an Afterburner, giving it Mach-1, while carrying some bombs! What it could-have-been, we'll never know..
That is crazy 😄
Unfortunately, the politicians and other big wigs chose the military contractors with the best fishing trips and hookers. I used to work on A-7E's and that is what a test pilot told me. I really believe he was serious and there might have been some sort of truth to his statement. Although the FA-18 was a good replacement. Alongside the FA-18 the A-7s did their job well and it was very maintenance friendly.
Started my career in the Navy as a Plane Captain on Maneaters in '84. They finally put my old azz to pasture in 2013 after working on the Corsair's replacement, the F/A-18 Hornet.
Wow! Tnx for watching 😍
🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🫡🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲
Beautiful jet , I love those things , since was a kid during the Vietnam War .... I was 10 then .... The A - 10 Warthog's progenetor ...
The A10 was also a beast 😃
Love the video!!
Glad you liked it!!
This music is awesome!
Thumbs up!
Tnx 😍
Very nice. Just an FYI: the plural of aircraft is "aircraft," there is no "s" at the end. So you would say, "There were numerous aircraft in the area." You would NOT say: "There were numerous aircrafts in the area."
Tnx for the freebit! Will use it in our next video script 🚀 tnx for watching 😍
@@generalfurrington ...yeah you will have to go in and change the code in the AI and re-teach it.
:)
Not easy to maintain if one was a AMH. Pissed fluid everywhere.
Could absorb combat damage, Saw one that a SAM went through it's wing but didn't detonate, big 1 foot jagged round hole.... made it back to Sara.
Wow!🥹
I wonder if he shit his flightsuit on that one.
I was 8 when it was in service, I built the 1/72 Revell model kit and read all about it. I knew what it was when I saw Vietnam footage on TV. It was my favorite Vietnam era fighter.
@@stepanbandera5206 He literally kissed the flightdeck. Same guy was shot down up north where we usually operated and one of our helo's rescued him.
9 lives I would guess.
@@fawnlliebowitz1772 Thank you for the history.👍
The A-7 is NOT a fighter. It is an attack aircraft. A-7 pilots would be insulted if you called them fighter pilots.
Thank you for the clarification. Did you serve in the military or know anyone who does?
The A-7 in all its variants was a close air support/ground attack aircraft, not a fighter, although when not loaded down with explosive ordnance and a full bag of fuel, it could be a pretty agile aircraft with a 20 mm Gatling gun and 2 sidewinders.
Sorry for the misconception. Think I was just distracted by all the weapons.
How about a twin engine version. High subsonic speeds. The design is already done, its just redesigned for two engines.
WHat air wing is the one with the Scimitar on the tailplane?
Hi :) - I am not sure, will try and find out. Tnx for watching 😃
The art on the vertical stabilizer indicates the squadron, the large letters indicate the air wing. All of the squadrons deployed on a carrier are part of the same air wing. My squadron, VA-97 Warhawks, was home based at Naval Air Station (NAS) Lemoore, California. Along with our sister squadron, VA-27 Royal Maces, we were part of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 14 designated by the letters NK. The "V" in CVW designates that the air wing is made up of fixed wing aircraft. During my time in VA-97 from the fall of 1970 to December of 1973 we deployed twice to the Tonkin Gulf aboard USS Enterprise (CVAN 65). The air wing was made up of two A-7E light attack squadrons, VA-196, an A-6 medium attack squadron, two F-4 fighter squadrons VF-142 and VF-143, one
RA-5C photo recon squadron, RVAH-5 if memory serves, one A-3 refueling squadron and one E-2 early warning squadron. I'm not sure which squadron had the scimitar art, it may have been an east coast squadron.
The A-7 squadron as you describe it here is VA 147, the Argonauts, sister squadron to VA 146 Blue Diamonds. We deployed together in 1970 on the America, the first two squadrons to bring the A-7E into combat. I believe we were part of CAG 9 (airwing). The A-7E was a vast improvement over both the A and B models which I also flew on a previous cruise. The taxpayers got their money's worth with these planes. The plane showing above is one of ours on a later cruise. It is configured with a "Buddy Store" refueling package which enables it to be a tanker for other aircraft. So equipped, we could off load 8,000 lbs of a total of 13,000 lbs we could launch with. That's enough to keep 4 or 5 airplanes out of trouble if they are low on fuel approaching the ship.
Was called the Harley of the fleet.
Did it also make the sound :) ?
Oh, because it leaked. I get it. Lol
Range 8,000 miles and payload capacity of twen zero pounds? Great job with the video footage of the A-7 though, most of which I've never seen.
auto tune :(
I am impressed by your humble response, so you just found yourself a subscriber, and I look forward to more of your videos!
Don't quit your day job
❤❤
:)
I sw a video of one the the carrier crew getting sucked into the engine of one of these. Fortunately, because he followed procedure and was wearing a helmet. his helmet stopped the engine and he was unharmed. When I saw that, I was thinking hoo-rah, he just kept himself from being a mess. If he hadn't been wearing that helmet, I wouldn't want to see what would have come out the back of the jet.
Oh my!
The number of Americans who don't know that the plural of aircraft is AIRCRAFT not aircrafts!
We try kev … we try 😳
8,000 miles of range?!
Goodness, must be a script error 🥲 you have excellent senses 🤺👋🏻
this is a good video except for the crappy computer voice. Is it really that expensive to get a human narrator?
Hi Ross. Tnx for the feedback :) we actually installed a voicer over artist coming next month 😀 so hopefully the ln we can aim at producing high quali video and sound 🙏🏻 tnx for watching
text to voice is always a downvote from me. Hell, Id take subtitles over ttv
Tnx, we are taking note :)
And had to Diane system digital integrated attack night navigation system
😁😁
WHY all the videos using "aircrafts" when referring to multiples? The word aircraft is, of course, both singular and plural by definition. Let's all learn to speak correctly, OK?
Hammer
SSGt USAF; CW4/SrAviator; INS/ICE/CBP, ret.
We definitely took this comment to heart and would like to just let you know that we have fixed this issue with videos going forward. Check out our new videos to see if they were fixed.
Again another Ai video with misinformation ! The A7 Corsair deployed by the US Navy and was over Vietnam flying combat missions in December of 1967. Get your facts straight before making a video!!!!!
Sorry for the misinformation, Thank you for pointing this out. Please feel free to go through ALL our content and check if our facts are correct.
Lose the fake voice. Maybe I'll be back.
8000 mile range nice it’s like a 777.
One plane = aircraft.
More than one airplane = aircraft.
Not aircrafts....
But there are many aircrafts in the air 😀