Vought A-7D "Corsair II"

Vought A-7D "Corsair II". . The U.S. Air Force adopted the LTV A-7 December 23, 1968 and 645 were placed on order. It was developed as a single-seat subsonic tactical fighter and designed to deliver a weapon load with pinpoint accuracy. Originally designed for the U.S. Navy, the prototype made its first flight September 27, 1965 at Dallas, Texas. The USAF A-7D began to arrive at Korat Air Base, Thailand during the late summer of 1972, by the end of October 1972, the A-7D had taken over the combat close air support (Sandy) mission from the Douglas A-1E "Skyraider" attack aircraft. During operations in south east Asia, A-7s flew more than 100,000 sorties and earned the respect on all who flew them. In the late 1970's, the A-7 was delivered in significant numbers to U.S. Air National Guard units where further improvements on weapons systems incorporated the "Pave Penny" laser target designation pod and the addition of advanced maneuvering flaps. The last model series of the A-7, affectionately known as the SLUF ("Short Little Ugly Fella"), was the A-7K two-seat strike trainer. All A-7s were decommissioned from the USAF inventory in 1992., The A-7D (sin 71-337) on display is painted to represent the 23rd Tactical Fighter Wing, USAF, England AFB, Louisiana from the late 1970's., This aerospace vehicle (s/n 71-0337) is part of the USAF Heritage Program Collection.