Pittsburgh A-7D, The "SLUF"!!

Sluf01 · 01-15-2008, 11:52

Thought that you guys would like a pic of my old ANG unit at the "Burgh".. 112TFG/146TFS when we had the A-7D/K.. Those were the days, never to be seen again.. Enjoy!!

***G19Tony*** · 01-16-2008, 08:14

I was a weapons guy on A7's in the IA ANG. Great airplane. I saw all our A7's in the boneyard at DM a few years back. They are all beer cans now.

Every airplane I worked on or flew is gone now. Even the early F16's.

Scottech · 01-16-2008, 12:04

NICE!! I work with a guy that was with the 171st in Coraopolis PA. They fly only KC-135R model tankers now.

Sluf01 · 01-16-2008, 14:07

REALLY?? I just retired from the 171stARW back in '04.. I worked in Operations and my brother retired from the Skycops around '02.. Can you give a name??

Bradley Brasso · 01-16-2008, 16:24

Have a good friend, an Academy grad who flew A-7's out of D-M. Great airplane-very good range, accurate bomber, reliable, carried a lot of weapons. Really a better plane at its' mission then its' sucessor- F-16. By the way- great picture

Scottech · 01-16-2008, 18:49

I'd rather not say his name Sluf01. Sorry. Not trying to play "Mall Ninja" but he reads all the gun forums and he knows my forum tag.

I will say he worked in COMM and left Pittsburgh around 1998 to move here. He was actually here before I arrived in 2000. I'm pretty sure you probably new him if you were in OPS.

Lt J.A. Moss · 01-18-2008, 07:20

Great picture and stories!

This thread perked my curiosity and I googled the A-7. Found this video on you tube, the planes belong to the Greek AF but a cool video nonetheless! (apologies if you A-7 guys have seen this clip a million times)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0zCvwhPlU4&NR=1

Sluf01 · 01-18-2008, 20:05

HEY, It's still an A-7.. I believe the Greeks birds are ex-Navy "E" models and their Family models (2 Seats) are TA-7C's.. There's pics out there of the Greek A-7 done for the Tiger Meets. Very pretty bird..

Sluf01 · 01-18-2008, 20:12

In fact I just found a pic of the "Tiger Meet" A-7.. Enjoy..

rtmpgh · 01-19-2008, 17:53

I enjoyed the picture ... nothing like see Three Rivers Stadium again

Sluf01 · 01-20-2008, 19:37

Just to show that not only did the A-7's go to the boneyard. Here's a pic of one the KC-135E's from my last unit (171st ARW) with the "University Of Pittsburgh" nose art sitting in the Arizona sun for it's retirement..

Waterwagonboom · 02-03-2008, 23:23

From '73

SAWMAN · 02-06-2008, 06:09

Corsair II's right ?

I remember them from my SE Asia tours with the Navy. They could carry a huge load of bombs. IIRC more than the empty weight of the A/C.

Looks like in the above pic the A/C still has several CBU's that are "unused".

Great A/C with a great rep. !!

Fred Hansen · 02-06-2008, 08:20

Used to love watching them out the back window of my barracks room as they flew out of the NAF side of Kadena AFB. Sweet pics!

***Morris*** · 02-09-2008, 01:41

Thanks for the memories. Can remember digesting the weapons systems when I went through loader school back in 1988. Mostly Guard birds by then as I recalled. Was reported a good CAS bird later when I moved to TACP. Never did direct work with them though. Thought they were the ugly girl you screwed, had fun with but never told your friends about.

Sluf01 · 02-11-2008, 20:28

The A-7 was a great aircraft. If you didn't know, they are now starting to do diecast (1/72 Scale) of this bird.. They are doing the Navy versions now, but there will be the USAF/ANG version coming.. Here are 2 versions of the "Test Shots" of this diecast..