So, has anyone WHIF'd an A-7F?

[scooter]

Can We Learn Something From The Defunct A-7F "Strikefighter?"

Its a convincing article that the USAF, and most Air Forces that can afford it, need a practical mix of airframe types- Fighter, Attacker, L/O Fighter, etc., instead of a "square peg, round hole" mentality.

[Diamondback]

ISTR there was an article about kitbashing the Super SLUF prototype in a '90s issue of Finescale Modeler...

[kerick]

Here's the one I built longer ago than I care to think about.


I used the Fujimi kit and added an F-16 engine cone. An old Matchbox A-7 donated some fuselage sections in front of and behind the wings. Decals are F-16 and A-10 scraps.

[Captain Canada]

Funny...I was just reading a sidenote in a magazine article about the A-7 about this. That link above is awesome....thanks so much ! Love the A-7 and it really is too bad they didn't go for the F. I'm also bummed to learn that the MI ANG flew them while I lived 45 minutes away and I was too young/ dumb/ drunk to go watch them fly !

The model looks great too kerick !

[kitbasher]

SLUF! 

[kerick]

What really finished off the A-7 F idea wasn't so much the concept but the fact that many of the A-7s in service were found to have cracks in the wing skins around the various fasteners. By the time the wings would have been reskinned and the fuselage rebuilt it was easier to just get a new F-16. It would have made a butt kick'n strike fighter!
I also believe a mix of a\c types is required for an effective force. Every design is a mix of compromises. Long range or heavy payload? Fast and high or low and slow? No one design can do everything.

[scooter]

I also believe a mix of a\c types is required for an effective force. Every design is a mix of compromises. Long range or heavy payload? Fast and high or low and slow? No one design can do everything.

And let's not forget stealth and payload.  Unfortunately, this idea that L/O is the be all end all of fighters is 1) overkill and worthless when you're fighting non-linear warfare where payload and loiter time are more important than being "stealthy", and 2) going to result in many more mission sorties and and increased pilot workload over dedicated, non-stealthy fighter-bombers like Strike Eagle and Tornado.  Just MHO on the matter.

[kerick]

There is a need for stealth when the targets are "downtown" in a heavy radar directed SAM environment. Not all targets are in such places as we have seen in south west asia. Question is where is the point where the cost of the L/O types consume all the resources and you are left with little other aircraft to carry out the day to day dirty work?

[Diamondback]

Precisely the point that many have tried to make and been called Luddites or "Obsolete System Fanboys" by the F-35 Kool-aid Slurpers for.

Is it a great aircraft? I believe potentially it could be--the problem is, we will never be able to afford enough of them to service every target in every theater around the world, so we'll need to prioritize them and the F-22s as Silver Bullets for high-value targets and clearing the way for strike-packages of conventional aircraft. Frankly, with some retrofitting of data-link systems, I believe the F-35 paired with existing F-15s and F-16s could be a powerful tool: F-35 or F-22 out in front paints target, older fighter launches payload before the enemy knows they're within the envelope to be shot at with the Raptor or Lightning providing midcourse guidance. Basically, the F-22 and F-35 after their Day One precision infiltration strikes become stealth sensor-platforms for the missile- and bomb-trucks following...

[Captain Canada]

If you only have 1 type of a/c and that type has a serious issue that requires grounding then what ? Call in your second type ? Oh, wait a minute.....

[Diamondback]

I believe the term used by the Oldies and Moldies who the "Next Big Thing, Always The Next Big Thing" fans poo-poo is "Don't put all your eggs in one basket."

[Thorvic]

The A-7F would probably make a good conversion set, would probably have to make use of the Hobbyboss kits as its the most available, even if Fujimi is rated as the more accurate kit, their flaky availability means going for the more readily available option  .

Be interesting doing  a Two-seater TA-7F 

[Captain Canada]

That's a good idea there Geoff !