Aircraft Background

This aircraft, Bureau Number 152681, was assigned to VA-125 Squadron (Rough Riders) in Lemoore, California from December 1, 1969, to September 10, 1972.

Our A-7A Corsair arrived after receiving a permanent loan from the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, FL in 1991. Then, the Corsair was trucked from NATTC Millington, TN by Chuck Schmacher and Jim Ondeck, and the help of Ralph Hafley’s trucks from R R Hafley Crane Services Inc. The aircraft is painted in the colors of the VA-125 Rough Riders, and was painted in 1993.

History

On 11 February 1964 the US Navy named the former LTV Aerospace Corporation winner of a design competition for a single-seat light attack aircraft. The requirement was for a subsonic aircraft able to carry a greater load of non-nuclear weapons than the A-4E Skyhawk. To keep costs to a minimum and speed delivery it was stipulated by the USN that the new aircraft should be based on an existing design; the LTV design study was based therefore, on the F-8 Crusader. The A-7 shared only a family resemblance to the F-8 Crusaders airframe however, the maximim commonality the two aircraft shared was through the use of many previous designed internal components. An initial contract to develop and build three aircraft, under the designation A-7A was made on 27 September 1965.

As the US Navy A-7 was in development, the US Air Force evaluated the design and determined that it met a US Army demand for a dedicated close air support aircraft. On 5 November 1965 the US Air Force announced that it would purchase a version of the A-7, designated the A-7D, for Tactical Air Command. The A-7D differed in engine, systems, and armament from the Navy’s initial A-7A and A-7B models.

US Air Force Corsair IIs were phased out of front-line service by the late 1970s, many aircraft passing to the Air National Guard. Navy aircraft were gradually replaced by the F/A-18 Hornet in the 1980s. The last US Corsairs were retired not long after the 1991 Gulf War.

Production of Corsairs continued through 1984. A total of 1,569 aircraft was built.