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Chance Vought A-7E Corsair II
Aircraft Background
The A-7E Corsair II located at MAPS Air Museum previously served with VA-105, the Gunslingers. Before coming to MAPS, the airframe
was on loan to the Intrepid
Sea Air Space Museum, New York City. Officially part of the USN Collection, the A-7E is on indefinite loan from the U.S.
Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola, FL, to MAPS Air Museum for restoration purposes.
MORE A-7 CORSAIR II RESTORATION PHOTOS WILL BE FORTHCOMING
AS THEY ARE RESIZED AND RENAMED.
Crew Chief: Kim Kovesci
Crew Chief's Update (Restoration Progress):
11/2008.
Port and Starboard lower wheel well doors
mounted to airframe. Continued work on wing fold
areas, focusing on mechanicals and missing parts.
Completed work on speed brake area completed it is now
'closed' and lies flush with the fuselage underside.
Continued work on weapons pylon access panels.
Completed sanding of tail surface. Work continues on
intake warning stripe on port side.
10/2008.
Both port and starboard wing tips mounted
on the aircraft. Work continues on wing fold areas,
identifying missing parts and looking to acquire them.
Fabrication of access panels for the weapons pylons continues.
Weapons pylons being prepped for painting. Work on speed
brake area began. Sanding of tail
section to remove improper unit markings started. Work on
canopy area started. Missing canopy attachment part
being fabricated. Sanded off improper 401 markings from
front fuselage area, will be repositioned correctly after gray
paint is applied. Work begins on intake warning stripe on
port side.
09/2008.
Underside of both wing tips painted with
two coats of gloss white. Tops of both Horizontal
stabilizers painted with two coats of gloss white.
Outer panels of lower wheel well doors painted with two
coats of gloss white. No. 6 (Starboard outer) weapons
pylon painted with two coats of gloss white. Misc.
access panels for weapon pylons are being fabricated.
Gun vent panel being prepped for painting.
08/2008.
Both wing tips primed completed.
Work continues on Port wing fold area. Work on Starboard wing
fold area completed. Sanding of horizontal stabilizers
completed, both parts were primed
07/2008.
Sanding of both wing tips completed.
Work continues on Port wing fold area. Sanding of horizontal
stabilizers started. Primer and Paint identified and 1
gallon acquired.
06/2008.
Insignias were painted on Port and
Starboard forward fuselage. Disassembly of Starboard wing
fold area started. Sanding of Starboard wing tip underside
continues. Sanding of Port wing tip underside started.
05/2008.
Horizontal stabilizers brought from
storage. Work on air intake area completed. Port
wing fold area components mounted, and port outer weapons
pylon hung (supported by the wing fold mechanism.
Sanding of Port wing tip underside completed, sanding of
Starboard wing tip underside started.
04/2008.
Refueling probe and housing cleaned. Work
continues on port wing fold area. Started work on
cleaning / repainting air intake area.
03/2008.
Port middle weapons pylon mounted.
Port flap mounted. Damage to nose section repaired.
Starboard side cleaned with degreasing agent. Port
wing fold area work in progress.
02/2008.
Starboard stainless steel exhaust vent repaired; starboard panel
and fastener work started. Port side access panels restoration started. Installed gun
barrels and gun access panel. Starboard inner weapons
pylons mounting completed. Starboard flap mounted.
Port inboard weapons pylon mounted. Tail cap temporarily
mounted.
01/2008
New Crew Chiefs are conducting parts survey and parts inventory in
preparation for creating a restoration / work plan. While much of the work
is cosmetic, or adding items back to the airframe, some preventative work may
need to be done.
05/2007
Patching and stripping of the wing
fold panels is completed. They will be test fit on the
aircraft this coming Saturday, then handed off to the Crew Chief
for painting.
04/2007
Work has begun on the A-7 wing fold areas
again. Work is focusing on cleanup and paint prep.
The patch for the wing fold panel was riveted, and is in the
process of being prepped for painting.
Aircraft's History:
Originally
Designed as a replacement for the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, the A-7
Corsair II was roughly based on the Chance Vought F-8 Crusader
interceptor aircraft then in squadron use with the Navy.
Despite the fact that it was based on a fighter, the A-7 was a
pure ground attack / close air support aircraft, with the only
air-to-air weapons for self-defense mode. With the
airframe's first flight in September 1965, and the initial
squadron use in late 1966, the A-7 was had one of the quickest
development periods of any post-World War II aircraft.
Soon after initial squadron use, the A-7 was flying over the
skies of Vietnam. Early version suffered an underpowered
engine, so subsequent versions featured up-rated engines.
Then Secretary of Defense William McNamara touted combined
airframes that could be used by more than one branch of the
military, thus cutting operating and maintenance costs.
With her stable mate the F-4 Phantom, the A-7 was one of the most
successful cross-branch lives, serving with the USAF, USN, and
USMC and Air National Guard. Typical of intra-branch
needs, many of the later versions of the A-7 came as branches
built upon a previous version (e.g., the USAF's A-7D was the
Navy's A-7C version, with a more powerful engine, and the
following A-7E saw the USN borrowing that more powerful engine
of the A-7D and adding some additional USN-specific
features. Notable facts on the Corsair II include that it
was one of the first aircraft to use a HUD, or Heads Up Display,
to display critical information to the pilot without him having
to look down into the cockpit, and it was also one of the first
to use a projected map display, tracking the aircraft across a
map displayed in the cockpit.
Specifications:
Span:
38' 9"
Length: 46' 2" Height: 16' Weight:
29,040 lbs loaded Armament: 1 M61 Vulcan 20mm
Gatling gun with 1,300 rounds, 2 AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles, plus
up to 15,000 lbs ordnance on wings, including up to 30 500 lb
Mk 82 bombs, Paveway laser guided bombs, AGM-65 Maverick or
AGM-88 HARM missiles.
Engine: Allison / Rolls Royce TF41-A-400 15,000 lbs (no
afterburner
Performance
Maximum speed: 698 mph
Cruising speed: 535 mph
Range:
715 miles (strike setup), or 2,861 (ferry setup)
Service Ceiling: 42,000 ft
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