As the aviation industry in the 1950s and
1960s embraced supersonic speeds, defined avionics theory, and toyed with eccentric
airframe designs, the A-7 Corsair II stood out as a peculiarly fascinating story. The Corsair II was a unique-looking warplane
that lacked the supersonic capabilities of many aircraft of its time but whose reliability
and versatility allowed it to stay in service even when its flashier counterparts were being
replaced by more ambitious proposals, and it quickly became a crucial asset for the
US Navy. Developed for the Vietnam War, the Corsair
II proved to be a trusty and devastating strike aircraft that traded over-the-top features
for a formidable range, increased payload capacity, and an affordable price. With its iconic oversized air intake and unique
airframe, the warplane would be nicknamed the Sluf or ‘short little ugly ****’ by
the Navy crews. Still, there was nothing ugly about its performance… An Aircraft Revolution As early as the 1940s, the American combat
aviation industry underwent a drastic and hectic series of shifts and evolutions that
resulted in the turbulent and breakneck development of dozens of fascinating warplanes, each more
ambitious than the last. The concept of avionics was just being defined,
and aircraft manufacturers focused on incorporating supersonic technology in most of their newest
designs. The bold proposals resulted in unique and
innovative airframes that often suffered from short operational life. By the time they were deployed, a new and
improved warplane was already coming out of the aircraft factory. Incorporating new technologies and daring
airframe designs meant the projects were expensive to research, develop, and manufacture, which
became an incredibly cumbersome problem considering the warplanes were swiftly replaced. Then, as the US fully entered the Vietnam
War, its leading seaborne aircraft was the A4 Skyhawk, an agile and reliable vehicle
that was reaching the end of its operational life. The Vought corporation was eager to develop
a replacement, as its short-range and light payload capabilities were rendered obsolete
for modern warfare scenarios. The ever-evolving philosophy of the time led
Vought to create formidable and ambitious designs like the tailless F-7U Cutlass or
the influential supersonic F-8U Crusader, which stood out as a remarkable weapons platform. Still, as impressive as the Crusader was,
it was an expensive warplane that continued using guns as its primary weapon, rendering
it ineffective as a strike aircraft in the Vietnam conflict. The US Navy needed an affordable and reliable
strike warplane that put aside all the bells and whistles driving development costs through
the roof and centered on an outstanding operational range and superb strike performance. To reduce costs even further, the new aircraft
had to use the airframe of an already existing warplane, and Vought believed the Crusader
was the perfect starting base for such a design. Less is More By the 1960s, the US Navy had understood that
despite its incredible advantages, supersonic speed was of little use to low-altitude strike
aircraft, only shooting up the development and maintenance costs. A Sea-Based Air Strike Forces study group
meticulously analyzed a total of 144 hypothetical aircraft to support the findings. The result was an unexpected deviation from
the current aircraft development philosophy: subsonic light strike aircraft could achieve
superior performance to a supersonic one. The study concluded that the airframe could
be smaller, cheaper, and easier to manufacture by preceding supersonic capability. Consequently, in what might have seemed like
an odd step backward to the average onlooker, the Navy requisitioned a subsonic aircraft;
instead of speed, they wanted range and the ability to carry a much larger payload. The request was not insignificant; the Navy
wanted a strike plane that had at least two times the range of the old Skyhawk and twice
the payload capacity while remaining cheap to produce and upkeep. The new project’s goal was to create a warplane
specialized in low-altitude dive attacks while shortening the development time as much as
possible by using an already trusted airframe as its starting point. Vought Aviation Engineer Russel Clark embraced
the unique challenge and immediately assembled a team to take the reliable F-8U crusader
and transform it into a long-range low-altitude strike aircraft. As an aircraft-launched plane, the new Corsair
would have to remain compact and sturdy with the ability to land and take off from limited
spaces. Also, the aircraft had to be able to be produced
in mass numbers, in contrast to many other flashier supersonic warplanes. From its earliest tests, the Corsair II exceeded
all expectations; with 8,800 miles of range, it had four times the operational range of
the Skyhawk, a much larger capacity for payload that exceeded 20,000 pounds, and an increased
top ceiling. Impressively, it was also slightly faster
than its predecessor. Inside The Machine The original versions of the Corsair II were
equipped with a single Pratt & Whitney TF30-P-6 turbofan engine that replaced the afterburner-equipped
J57-P-20A turbojet engine of the F-8. As the new light attack aircraft began to
be produced massively, the engine manufacturer had problems meeting the military and civilian
demand for that specific model. As such, later iterations were equipped with
other engines. The Corsair II was eventually powered by the
Pratt & Whitney TF30-8 and the Allison TF41-A-2 engines, as well as a licensed model of the
Rolls-Royce Spey engine. Air was fed to the engine by a simple large
nose inlet which gave the aircraft its peculiar appearance. It also posed a significant hazard to flight
deck personnel, who had to develop specialized protocols to maintain the plane. Meanwhile, an aerial refueling system was
mounted on the right-hand side of the nose, which allowed for mid-air refueling boosting
even further the already impressive range of the Corsair II. Two cannons were mounted on the underside
of the nose, and a mounting for AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles on either side of the
fuselage was used for self-defense against aerial threats. Later variations had the two cannons replaced
with a single M61A1 Vulcan rotary cannon. To reduce susceptibility to ground fire, the
flying control hydraulic systems were triplicated, other systems improved, and much of the fuselage
had reinforced armor protection. The Corsair was often armed with the remarkable
AGM-62 Walleye television-guided glide bomb, and this unique fire-and-forget bomb would
be aimed using a video screen inside the cockpit. As the pilot acquired a target on its screen,
he would lock the target and fire. After that, the pilot could flee the scene
as the bomb smartly glided to the targeted location. The A-7 was fitted with an AN/APQ-116 radar,
later followed by the AN/APQ-126, which was integrated into the ILAAS digital navigation
system. The radar also fed an IBM navigation and weapons
delivery computer, which allowed for accurate delivery of bombs from a more considerable
stand-off distance. All in all, the Corsair had an outstanding
avionics system that surpassed most aircraft of its time. Furthermore, it was the first US aircraft
to have a modern head-up display, which exhibited vital information such as dive angle, airspeed,
altitude, drift, and targeting reticule. The technology quickly became a must-have
instrument in every US combat aircraft. Operational History The A-7 Corsair II flew its first combat missions
over Vietnam in May of 1970 and was part of the Navy’s offensive firepower during the
Operation Linebacker strikes and the aerial mining of North Vietnamese ports in 1972. Pilots immediately fell in love with the new
platform, considering it a responsive and easy-to-fly warplane that excelled at low-altitude
strikes and had an incredible range. David’ Frosty’ Olson, who accumulated
more than 3,500 hours flying the Corsair A-7A, B, C, E, and H - as well as performing 750
carrier landings, gave a more detailed description of the platforms highs and lows: (QUOTE) “As an attack aircraft, it was a
very stable platform and it handled nicely, but it bled-off energy fairly quickly and,
without an afterburner, during air combat maneuvers we would end up dropping from the
sky like a turd from a tall moose just to keep us at the corner velocity. Still, in the right hands, an A-7 could do
a tolerable job, but it wasn’t a fighter aircraft – although its fuel capacity also
made it an airborne tanker.” A total of 1,500 warplanes were built, and
the Corsair II became the backbone of aerial carrier-launched operations during the conflict,
with up to 854 models participating in over 97,000 sorties. Most of the missions carried out by the A-7
would continue to be low-altitude dive strikes that stood out for their reliability and bullseye
accuracy. Ultimately, the Corsair II only lost 54 units
throughout its combat service in the Vietnam War. And despite fears that its lack of supersonic
speeds would make it a prime target for enemy fighters after a dive attack, the aircraft
remained a highly survivable platform for the US Navy. The A-7 continued to serve decades after its
initial debut, and several different iterations were developed. In total, the warplane has flown over 120,000
combat sorties and has fought extraordinarily well in conflicts in Vietnam, Libya, Grenada,
Panama, and Operation Desert Storm. In an age of ambitious, over-the-top aircraft
design, the Corsair II proved that sometimes the best aircraft was not the fastest or the
most expensive, but the one you could build in large numbers and keep the pilots safe. Thank you for watching our video! Don’t hesitate to click on your screen and
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