DONE @p.3 +++ 1:72 A-7N Corsair II of RNZAF 2 Squadron, 1993

Dizzyfugu · May 25, 2017, 12:13:28 PM

1:72 LTV A-7N "Corsair II", aircraft '(NZ7)031' of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) No. 2 Squadron; Ohakea AFB, 1993 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Some background:
The Ling-Temco-Vought A-7 Corsair II was a carrier-capable subsonic light attack aircraft introduced to replace the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk. The A-7 airframe design was based on the successful supersonic Vought F-8 Crusader, although it was somewhat smaller and rounded off. The Corsair II initially entered service with the United States Navy during the Vietnam War. It was later adopted by the United States Air Force, including the Air National Guard, to replace the Douglas A-1 Skyraider and North American F-100 Super Sabre. The aircraft was also exported to several foreign countries, including Greece, Portugal, Thailand and New Zealand.

1:72 LTV A-7N "Corsair II", aircraft '(NZ7)031' of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) No. 2 Squadron; Ohakea AFB, 1993 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 LTV A-7N "Corsair II", aircraft '(NZ7)031' of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) No. 2 Squadron; Ohakea AFB, 1993 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 LTV A-7N "Corsair II", aircraft '(NZ7)031' of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) No. 2 Squadron; Ohakea AFB, 1993 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 LTV A-7N "Corsair II", aircraft '(NZ7)031' of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) No. 2 Squadron; Ohakea AFB, 1993 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

For the latter operator, the Corsair II was part of a major modernization campaign in the early 1970s. For instance, in 1970 14 McDonnell Douglas A-4 Skyhawks were purchased to replace the Vampire FB5's, which had been the primary light attack aircraft for the RNZAF for years, but the type was hopelessly outdated.
Furthermore New Zealand was also looking for a replacement of its similarly ageing Canberra fleet. These 31 aircraft were also phased out of service in mid 1970, and the A-7 chosen as the RNZAFs new fighter bomber because of its proven all-weather strike capability and advances avionics.

The RNZAF bought and operated 22 LTV A-7 Corsair II aircraft primarily in the coastal defense/anti-ship and sea patrol roles, air interdiction and air defense roles being secondary duties. The RNZAF Corsair II was very similar to the US Navy's A-7E, even though the machines would only be operated form land bases. Designated A-7N, the machines featured an AN/APN-190 navigational radar with a Doppler groundspeed and drift detector plus an AN/APQ-128 terrain following radar. For the deployment of smart weapons, the machines were outfitted with a Pave Penny laser target acquisition system under the air intake lip, similar to the USAF's A-7D, and could carry a wide range of weaponry and sensors, including AN/AAR-45 FLIR pods for an improved all-weather performance. Against enemy ships and large ground targets, visually guided smart bombs (AGM-62 and the more modern GBU-8 HOBOS) were bought, as well as AGM-65 Maverick against smaller, high priority targets.

1:72 LTV A-7N "Corsair II", aircraft '(NZ7)031' of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) No. 2 Squadron; Ohakea AFB, 1993 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 LTV A-7N "Corsair II", aircraft '(NZ7)031' of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) No. 2 Squadron; Ohakea AFB, 1993 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 LTV A-7N "Corsair II", aircraft '(NZ7)031' of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) No. 2 Squadron; Ohakea AFB, 1993 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 LTV A-7N "Corsair II", aircraft '(NZ7)031' of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) No. 2 Squadron; Ohakea AFB, 1993 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Active service lasted between 1975 and 1999, and the A-7Ns were originally allocated between RNZAF 2 and 75 Squadron at Ohakea, where they were operated together with A-4K and TA-4K. The latter were also emplyed for A-7N pilot conversion training, since the RNZAF did not operate any Corsair II two seaters.
Several times the Squadron deployed to Clark Air Base in the Philippines and to Hawaii with both of the Corsair IIs and Skyhawks to exercise with the United States Air Force. Furthermore, the annual deployments as part of the Five Power Defence Agreement (called Exercise Vanguard) had the Squadron visit Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand to practice with those countries. Two RNZAF A-7s of 75 Squadron even made visits to Great Britain.

In the early Nineties the Corsair IIs started to suffer from numerous maintenance and logistic problems due to the lack of spare parts and general financial problems. This also prevented a major avionics update and the procurement of AGM-84 Harpoon missiles for the A-7Ns and the RNZAF P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft. The maintenance situation became so dire that several aircraft were cannibalized for spare parts to service other fighters. In 1992 only sixteen A-7Ns remained operational. This resulted in the available fighters no longer being assigned and dedicated to one specific squadron, but shared and assigned to one of the RNZAF combat squadrons (2, 14 and 75 Squadron, respectively), as needed.

1:72 LTV A-7N "Corsair II", aircraft '(NZ7)031' of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) No. 2 Squadron; Ohakea AFB, 1993 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 LTV A-7N "Corsair II", aircraft '(NZ7)031' of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) No. 2 Squadron; Ohakea AFB, 1993 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 LTV A-7N "Corsair II", aircraft '(NZ7)031' of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) No. 2 Squadron; Ohakea AFB, 1993 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 LTV A-7N "Corsair II", aircraft '(NZ7)031' of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) No. 2 Squadron; Ohakea AFB, 1993 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

During its 24 years of duty in the RNZAF, the A-7 fleet suffered 8 severe accidents with aircraft losses (and two pilots being killed). Nevertheless, the introduction of the A-7 was seen as a success due to the evolution that it allowed the Air Force in aircraft maintenance, with focus in modern computer and electronic systems, and in the steady qualification of pilots and technicians.

In 1999, the National Government selected an order of 28 F-16A/B Fighting Falcon aircraft to replace the complete fleet of A-4 Skyhawks and A-7 Corsair IIs, but this procurement plan was cancelled in 2001 following election by the incoming Labour Government under Helen Clark. This was followed by the disbanding of several fixed wing aircraft squadrons, with the consequence of removing the RNZAF's air combat capability. The last A-7 flight in RNZAF service took place on 1st of October 2001. Subsequently, most of the RNZAF's fighter pilots left New Zealand to serve in the Royal Australian Air Force and the Royal Air Force.

1:72 LTV A-7N "Corsair II", aircraft '(NZ7)031' of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) No. 2 Squadron; Ohakea AFB, 1993 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 46 ft 2 in (14.06 m)
Wingspan: 38 ft 9 in (11.8 m), 23 ft 9 in (7.24 m) wings folded
Height: 16 ft 1 in (4.9 m)
Wing area: 374.9 sq ft (34.83 m²)
Airfoil: NACA 65A007 root and tip
Empty weight: 19,127 lb (8,676 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 41,998 lb (19,050 kg) overload condition.
Fuel capacity: 1,338 US gal (5,060 l; 1,114 imp gal) (10,200 lb (4,600 kg)) internal

Powerplant:
1 × Allison TF41-A-2 non-afterburning turbofan engine, 15,000 lbf (66.7 kN) thrust

Performance:
Maximum speed: 600 kn (690 mph; 1,111 km/h) at Sea level
Range: 1,070 nmi; 1,231 mi (1,981 km) maximum internal fuel
Ferry range: 1,342 nmi; 1,544 mi (2,485 km) with maximum internal and external fuel
Service ceiling: 42,000 ft (13,000 m)
Wing loading: 77.4 lb/sq ft (378 kg/m²)
Thrust/weight: 0.50
Take-off run: 1,705 ft (519.7 m) at 42,000 lb (19,000 kg)

Armament:
1× M61A1 Vulcan 20 mm (0.787 in) rotary cannon with 1,030 rounds
6× under-wing and 2× fuselage pylon stations (for mounting AIM-9 Sidewinder AAMs only)
with a total ordnance capacity of 15,000 lb (6,803.9 kg)

1:72 LTV A-7N "Corsair II", aircraft '(NZ7)031' of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) No. 2 Squadron; Ohakea AFB, 1993 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 LTV A-7N "Corsair II", aircraft '(NZ7)031' of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) No. 2 Squadron; Ohakea AFB, 1993 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

A simple build, yet a very interesting topic and in the end also an IMHO very cool-looking aircraft in its fictional livery - and VERY different from KiwiZac's interpretation of the subject, even though it could have been the look upon delivery? Building the Hobby Boss A-7 was easy, despite some inherent flaws of the kit (e. g. totally blank dashboard and side consoles, and even no decals included!).

The paint scheme, lent from the RNZAF Hercules', suits the Nineties Kiwi SLUF well, though:

Gondor · May 25, 2017, 12:19:05 PM

That's very nice indeed

Gondor

KiwiZac · May 25, 2017, 01:57:07 PM

Top job DF! That really looks the business. I thought the camo seemed familiar!

One teeny tiny gripe: the 7xxx serial prefix is for transports. But this is What If, after all!

Captain Canada · May 25, 2017, 02:49:13 PM

Perfect ! That looks so right. Excellent job. Love the beauty shots as always ! Especially the ones in front of the hangars.

Dizzyfugu · May 25, 2017, 11:57:39 PM

Quote from: KiwiZac on May 25, 2017, 01:57:07 PM
Top job DF! That really looks the business. I thought the camo seemed familiar!

One teeny tiny gripe: the 7xxx serial prefix is for transports. But this is What If, after all!

Rats! I was afraid of that, but could not find a good reference. I either wanted a NZ6XXX serial higher than the Skyhawks, but then thought that a 7-serial would be more suitable for the different, type. Nah, it's whifworld... and a conversational piece for the experts.

DogfighterZen · May 26, 2017, 12:41:04 AM

As always, great work, that camo looks very good on the SLUF!

zenrat · May 26, 2017, 12:52:15 AM

It is a transport. It's transporting those two bombs to a position over the target...

Nice. The yellow stuff on the canopy looks like thin masking tape. You could have used that.
Good work.

darthspud2 · May 26, 2017, 01:26:37 AM

very nice, and great backstory.

Rick Lowe · May 26, 2017, 01:52:47 AM

Quote from: zenrat on May 26, 2017, 12:52:15 AM
It is a transport. It's transporting those two bombs to a position over the target...

Yeah! What he said!

That's a nice build, Dizz... looks so right.

The kit detail of the openable avionics bays is a nice touch.

NARSES2 · May 26, 2017, 06:02:23 AM

Another superb all round build