A7/F8 relationship

I really like the A-7 and was trying to import a cockpit section of one however it was like pulling teeth trying to get anything out of the US so opted for the Jaguar instead. It turned out well really because the Corsair would not have fitted into the garage. Therefore my only A-7 memento is this panel.
Paul

Here also: http://home.att.net/~jbaugher4/newa7.html

Yes, Joe Baugher uses other references to compile his data, but he gets a more complete picture than many others (especially Wiki-waki), and will correct errors pointed out to him.

I found one on the A-7E entry (from experience with the type from working beside VA-105 in Japan in 1984), and e-mailed him.

A few weeks later I got a reply, in which he told me he had researched (and confirmed) my info and corrected his entry, and outlined where he had found the confirming data.

” The Ling-Temco-Vought A-7 Corsair II was the result of a May 17, 1963 Navy design competition named VAL, which stood for Light Attack Aircraft. The VAL aircraft was to replace the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, and was to have as its primary mission the delivery of conventional ordnance as opposed to nuclear weapons. The aircraft was to have a single seat, and the requirement specified that the aircraft would have to be in service no later than 1967. The Navy was interested in low cost, and specified that the aircraft would have to be based on an existing design. In addition, in order to save even more money, the requirement did not call for supersonic performance. A maximum bombload of 15,000 pounds was called for.

Only four aircraft companies entered the competition. Douglas offered a derivative of the A-4 Skyhawk with a larger airframe and powered by a TF30 turbofan. Grumman offered a single-seat variant of the A-6 Intruder (Model 128G-12). North American Aviation proposed a TF30-powered veresion of the AF-1E Fury. Ling-Temco-Vought (into which the Vought Corporation had merged in 1961) proposed the Model V-463, which was a shortened version of the F-8 Crusader fighter. Since the aircraft did not have to be capable of supersonic performance, the aircraft was shorter, had a wing with less sweepback, had no provision for varying the wing incidence, and was powered by a turbofan engine with no afterburner. Outboard ailerons, which were not used on the F-8, were introduced on the wing of the V-463. The structure was strengthened to allow the aircraft to carry the required weapons load of up to 15,000 pounds.

One of the more important features of the V-463 was the presence of no less than eight external stores positions. Two of the hardpoints were on the fuselage sides just ahead of the wing leading edge, and were each capable of carrying 500 pounds. There were two inner underwing pylons, each capable of carrying 2500 pounds, and four outer underwing pylons each capable of carrying 3500 pounds. The aircraft could carry virtually any of the offensive weapons in the Navy’s armoury. The aircraft was also armed with a pair of 20-mm Mk 12 cannon with 600 rpg, one gun on each side of the air intake.

The engine used was a non-afterburning 11,350 lb.s.t Pratt & Whitney TF30-P-6 turbofan. No afterburner was needed, since supersonic performance was not called for in the requirement.

The high-mounted wing was similar to that of the Corsair, but had a somewhat smaller sweep. The outer leading edge had a “dogtooth” extension, and there were a full set of leading edge slats which extended during landing or takeoff for additional lift. The inner wing trailing edge had a set of flaps, and the outer wing trailing edge had a set of conventional ailerons. In addition, the upper trailing edge of the wing had a spoiler just ahead of the flap hinge. The wings folded for storage aboard carriers, the hinge being located at the edge of the dogtooth, at the position of the outermost underwing pylon.

The aircraft was capable of being refueled in midair via the Navy probe-and-drogue technique. The probe was housed on the starboard side of the aircraft, just adjacent to the cockpit, and retracted into an external housing.

The aircraft was equipped with an AN/APN-153 Doppler radar sit, an AN/APQ-116 attitude heading reference set, and an AN/APN-141 radar altimeter. An AN/ASN-41 air navigation computer was also provided.

On February 11, 1964, it was announced that the Vought entry had won the competition. Although the award decision was certainly justified on its merits, some critics carped that the real reason why the V-463 won the contest was because the aircraft would be built in President Lyndon Johnson’s home state. The designation assigned was A-7, in the new post 1962 attack series. Since the aircraft competition was established entirely after the introduction of the new unified designation scheme, it never had a designation under the old system, which would presumably have been A3U. On March 19, 1964, Ling-Temco-Vought received a contract for 7 A-7A flight test articles and 35 A-7A production aircraft. 140 more were ordered on November 10, 1965. “

Note the F-8 used the afterburning J57 turbojet.

There is some good info about the development of the A-7 at these links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-7_Corsair_II

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/a-7.htm

AFAIK yes – the Corsair was designed using large chunks of the Crusader for ease and speed of manufacture, but considerably simplified (i.e. no variable incidence wing) befitting the lightweight strike fighter role. I believe that the final product did not actually use that many Crusader components though.