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Vietnam loadout?


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Hey guys,

Having searched through the forums and not found the answer, I felt an urge to ask the questions here.. :wacko:

I'm planning to build an USAF A-7D Corsair II from the Vietnam era. What was the standard loadout for

these birds? I've tried to find pics on the net, but so far no ones good enough. Hopefully some people here

can help me out. I'm counting on you guys now..! :)

Happy modelling!!

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From the Squad/Sig A-7 in Action book, No 22, mention is made of carrying 2 external tanks and 10 Mk-82s. Slant 4 on a MER on the middle pylons and a single Mk-82 on the o/b pylons. For shorter missions, the fuel tanks were removed and they would carry 18 Mk-82s, i'm guessing slant 4 on MERs on i/b and middle pylons with a single Mk-82 on o/b pylons. Mk 82's seem to be the usual load but they also frequently carried 1000 and 2000 pounders, finned Napalm, 2.75 inch rockets, and various types of CBU's.

Jari

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The loadouts would depend on what the fragged mission was. It could carry a full load of 500 pound bombs, 2.75 inch rocket pods and cbu dispensers, napalm or a combination of these plus some other weapons including the early AIM 9 series missiles.

These may help. I took them at korat. Each one has a different or partial loadout.

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Edited by ikar
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From the Squad/Sig A-7 in Action book, No 22, mention is made of carrying 2 external tanks and 10 Mk-82s. Slant 4 on a MER on the middle pylons and a single Mk-82 on the o/b pylons. For shorter missions, the fuel tanks were removed and they would carry 18 Mk-82s, i'm guessing slant 4 on MERs on i/b and middle pylons with a single Mk-82 on o/b pylons. Mk 82's seem to be the usual load but they also frequently carried 1000 and 2000 pounders, finned Napalm, 2.75 inch rockets, and various types of CBU's.

Jari

Thanks Jari, that's a lot of help! Does it tell whether to put those MER Mk-82s as 3+1 on the MER racks, or 2+2 or perhaps 1+3? Any info whether this was standard Mk-82s or with extended fuse or perhaps with the extending tail?

The loadouts would depend on what the fragged mission was. It could carry a full load of 500 pound bombs, 2.75 inch rocket pods and cbu dispensers, napalm or a combination of these plus some other weapons including the early AIM 9 series missiles.

These may help. I took them at korat. Each one has a different or partial loadout.

Great pics Ikar, thanks a lot! I have a little bit hard time identifying the load though, but I'll just dig deeper into the pics when I get home, I'm at work now.. :P

Seems like two fuel tanks on inboard pylons is the way to go, and perhaps a couple of AIM-9B.. It must have a full load..!! :thumbsup:

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Thanks Jari, that's a lot of help! Does it tell whether to put those MER Mk-82s as 3+1 on the MER racks, or 2+2 or perhaps 1+3? Any info whether this was standard Mk-82s or with extended fuse or perhaps with the extending tail?

The slant 4 config is 2+2, 2 on the bottom racks of the MER and 2 on the outboard racks. The pics in the book don't show any fuze extenders and the standard conical tail on the Mk-82. Of course that doesn't mean the FE and Snakeye tails weren't used.

Jari

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The slant 4 config is 2+2, 2 on the bottom racks of the MER and 2 on the outboard racks. The pics in the book don't show any fuze extenders and the standard conical tail on the Mk-82. Of course that doesn't mean the FE and Snakeye tails weren't used.

Jari

Thanks Jari for your help, great piece of information!!

Guess it will be fuel tanks - 2+2 Mk-82 - single Mk-82.

Sidewinders?! We'll see about that.. :lol:

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  • 11 years later...

NAJK: "Seems like two fuel tanks on inboard pylons is the way to go, and perhaps a couple of AIM-9B."

 

With regards to the AIM-9Bs; I was told by a former member of the A-7D community in SEA that the A-7s only carried the AIM-9 for their first several missions.  According to what I was told an AIM-9 was inadvertent launched in route to the target.  The missile was not locked onto anything and did not guide on any heat sources, it did however, upset, actually severely upset the strike package in front of the A-7s. Following this incident the AIM-9 did not appear in the Air Tasking Orders (ATOs) for the A-7D community.

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There have been several accidents with the AIM9 in the past.  There were two at Okinawa, one was a F-15 in a long trail formation during the O.R.I..  Somehow one pilot accidently fired a missile towards the front of the formation.  Fortunately it wasn't warmed up and sent off towards parts unknown, causing the formation to scatter.  The missile self destructed soon after launch.  It was interesting listening to his squadron commander trying to explain what happened to P.A.C.A.F. HQ.  Lot of tap dancing on that one.

 

The other one was a NAHA Airport.  There was a scramble of a couple JASDF F-15s  in progress and the lead ship managed to fire one of his AIM9s while taxiing to take off.  This time it was completely ready to destroy something when it left its rail.  We got a partial report of what happened but the end result was that it went streaking across the base to what it locked on to.  It hit a car in the base HQ parking lot and the pilot had just gotten out and was on the steps talking to someone when his car blew up.  We never heard the whole story but I'm sure it was told at the Commander's briefing later.  Enlisted not invited.

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The other one was a NAHA Airport.  There was a scramble of a couple JASDF F-15s  in progress and the lead ship managed to fire one of his AIM9s while taxiing to take off.  This time it was completely ready to destroy something when it left its rail.  We got a partial report of what happened but the end result was that it went streaking across the base to what it locked on to.  It hit a car in the base HQ parking lot and the pilot had just gotten out and was on the steps talking to someone when his car blew up.  We never heard the whole story but I'm sure it was told at the Commander's briefing later.  Enlisted not invited.

 

Now that is an episode of candid camera I would like to watch!

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Can you imagine seeing that...or worse yet, being the pilot?  It happened not all that long after they dropped their F-`04s, in which they were very good, according to our pilots who would go up against them every so often.

 

In S.E.A. we lost a A-7D in a crash on base.  The guard in a tower normally should be looking toward the perimeter but sometimes you just have to look around the rest of the base that you can see.  Most of the posts were that way, you get bored and look for changes.  One day the guy in a tall tower was watching the aircraft moving around the flight line when he heard a jet.  Most of the aircraft lining up at the time were props and as he watched them the noise got louder.  He turned around and saw a A-7 coming in and heading directly for his tower.  He started down the rope used to haul up the machinegun, realized he ran out of time and just dropped the rest of the way.  The fighter slammed into the tower, knocking it over and then slammed into the grass.  Major damage.  Fortunately his approach angle was enough that it missed the runway  All waiting aircraft were delayed but they did eventually leave for their missions.

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Air Force didn't come to call all that much up north, but still not important. Most everybody flew a generic load of 500 pound dumb bombs and napalm. One must know the mission of the day to see the configuration. Yet there always were some airframes with the generic package. Plus if your crossing into never never land, you'll need gas. Quite a bit to be exact because it's a long way north to refuel. 

        However you do your load out, remember that in country missions were vastly different than heading north

Gary

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