I was an AT and worked on the Avionics of the A7-A. It was one of the best A/C I ever worked on. All the Avionics were contained in 2 bays and were very accessible. The only draw back to the Avionic was the ECM gear "Shoehorned" in the Turtle back. I cussed NARF every time I or one of my men had to pull the gear.

Sol Love, Project Director, J. Russell Clark, Project Engineer.

I am writing a short article for AF Magazine "Classic" section on the A-7. I need the names of pilots who distinguished themselves in the aircraft or in other pursuits. Also would like to learn the name of the lead designer/project engineer. Thanks. Walter Boyne

I flew the A-7A,B and E models, making a 10 month WestPac deployment in the A-7A aboard the USS Saratoga in April 1972. The planes we flew were old but did a great job of delivering tons of ordinance to targets into North Vietnam. Of all the systems it had, I am probably most thankful to its ejection seat. After having my left wing blown off by a
SA-2 SAM, I ejected safely from less than 2000 MSL with 2 just two swings in the chute before landing in the rice paddies of NVN...

As far as I know I am the only pilot to have flown all models of the A-7. I bagan training in the A-7A and flew all subsequent production models - B C, D (USAF), E, H (Greek), P(Portugese)and both versions of the "T" two seater; one from "re-cycled" B models and one from the C model. This was possible since I was the GFR at Vought for a shore duty tour. I also think I am the high time "guy" with 4513 hours. Great airplane but needed more engine - a familiar lament among all USN aviators!

This is a well built aircraft, that was reliable and very capable. Because of its high-bypass turbo-fan engine, the engine response wasn't very rapid - and required pilots to be very careful about making many changes to the power on approach to an aircraft carrier. I flew this aircraft for nearly 4 years and liked it very much.

The aircrafts shown are A-7C or A-7E if Navy & A7-D if Airforce, no tail hook. The aircraft shown is a single seater ie one canopy. I was trained as a member of the fire control team & worked on all navy versons of the A-7 in the late 196o's & thru the 1970's. I spent time in VA-174 & VA-86 at Cecil Field, Jacksonville, Fl. While with VA-86, I made a WestPac cruse on the USS Coral Sea CVA-43 & A Med cruse on the USS America CVA-66.

The aircraft you have in the drawings are A-7's which had TF-41 engines. The aircraft in the picture is a 2 seater. Thats a TA-7C that had a TF-30 engine