Navy A-7A Corsair II spotted on a random street

Eclipse · August 08, 2011, 05:23:34 AM

So there I am last week, minding my own business on the way home from a job, when I glance to the right and see this:

In front of an American Legion Post (#1170).

It looks kinda lonely. My guess is that it has been there so long no one gives it a second thought. I'm sure it was
a big deal when it was delivered, but now it isn't even mentioned on their website or FB.

Throw this in Google for a clear Street View: +42° 20' 56.02", -88° 4' 50.51"

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMG6T

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

Pump Scout · August 08, 2011, 02:23:21 PM

Oddly enough, I think there's an Echo model just up the road from my office. Same sort of situation, display in front of an American Legion building. If I can remember, I'll shoot a pic of it sometime soon and post up.

Stonewall · August 08, 2011, 04:11:23 PM

Ironically, I was on a Naval Air Station this morning where they have about 20 a/c on static display and I saw the A7.

The A7 was the first model a/c I ever built and became one of my favorites of all time. I remember being an 8 year old on my dad's carrier, the Forestal, and talking to A7 pilots about how cool their plane was.

JC004 · August 08, 2011, 04:26:59 PM

Where can I get some for some squadrons?

NIN · August 08, 2011, 05:20:06 PM

My first encampment was hosted at an ANG CRTC and the host unit (the 127th out of Selfridge) was flying A-7s.

Man, it was a real treat to have one of those suckers come rocketing over the cantonement area at about 500ft AGL one morning. If you weren't awake beforehand, you were after!

bosshawk · August 08, 2011, 05:26:08 PM

Or two RF-4Cs coming over your tent camp at about 300 ft. at Ft. Drum, NY at 0400 in full burner!!!!!

NIN · August 08, 2011, 05:27:39 PM

Quote from: bosshawk on August 08, 2011, 05:26:08 PM
Or two RF-4Cs coming over your tent camp at about 300 ft. at Ft. Drum, NY at 0400 in full burner!!!!!

MMmm... where do I sign?

RiverAux · August 08, 2011, 05:59:56 PM

I know several VFWs with tanks, but have never seen one with a jet.

ol'fido · August 08, 2011, 10:39:19 PM

There is a VFW in Herrin, IL that has an AH-1 Cobra mounted on the roof. There are also T-33As in the city parks in Centralia and Pinckneyville, IL. Closest I've come to an A-7 is at Volk Field. They have one on display. Plus WIWAC during summer encampment in '83, I was sitting in the cockpit jumpseat of a KC-135 out of O'Hare. We were holding short of the runway waiting to takeoff on an O flight and got to watch a flight of A-7s land.

NIN · August 09, 2011, 12:03:47 AM

Quote from: RiverAux on August 08, 2011, 05:59:56 PM
I know several VFWs with tanks, but have never seen one with a jet.

I think its the VFW in Grayling, Michigan has an F-101. Pretty schweet, too!

SarDragon · August 09, 2011, 02:32:24 AM

The closest I got to an operational A-7 was way closer than I really wanted to be. I got to replace a TACAN receiver in the STBD avionics bay, while the engine was running. There was a bit of a breeze.

BuckeyeDEJ · August 10, 2011, 07:12:04 AM

Alliance High School in Alliance, Ohio (home of Taylorcraft) has an A-7 out front, too. Their mascot? The aviator.

Cliff_Chambliss · August 10, 2011, 02:27:36 PM

Tuscaloosa, Alabama has an A-7 on display at a Veteran's Park. Tuscaloosa Municipal Airport has a T-33 as a gate guard. Also, Banks High School in Birmingham, Alabama (Banks Jets) had an F-86D mounted on a stick in front of the school for years. (It is currently being restored by the Southern Museum of Flight in Birmingham). Prior to the F-86, Banks had an old Banshee (maybe Phantom I) on display. However some idiot cut the wings off with a torch so it was pushed off into the woods behind the school. (As kids we used to play in it). Evergreen, Alabama has an FJ-1 Fury and a T-28 as gate guards.
Birmingham, Alabama Southern Museum of Flight A very nice museum of civil and military aviation.
Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame, Warner Robbins, GA. Absolutely fantastic.
Pensacola, Fl Navy Air Museum, None Better.

DC · August 15, 2011, 09:54:09 PM

There is a drag racing museum right off I-75 in Ocala, FL that has an A-7 out front. I've never been able to figure out why.

Eclipse · August 15, 2011, 10:06:13 PM

Quote from: DC on August 15, 2011, 09:54:09 PM
There is a drag racing museum right off I-75 in Ocala, FL that has an A-7 out front. I've never been able to figure out why.

That's "Big Daddy" Don Garlits' place!

Once he became the "King of the Dragsters," President Nixon told him to go to Vietnam to boost troop morale. He went, but then he came home and told every draft-eligible kid to join the Navy, because that's where American kids were least likely to get killed in Vietnam. And he did it by drag racing an A-7 jet on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. To commemorate that event, Big Daddy bought an A-7 and displays it outside of his Museum.