Aviation News - February 2016 UK

PILOT’S VIEW

Capt Paul Austin, US Navy (Ret) tells Aviation News about his experiences with the A-7.

I transitioned into the A-7B from the A-4E and immediately noticed how much

larger the cockpit was. The visibility allowed much better views when conducting

air-to-air manoeuvring or looking for and defeating surface-to-air missiles (SAMs).

I was in Vietnam  ying off USS Kitty Hawk and USS Oriskany [and]  ew 310

combat missions. I learned in combat that it could not out climb AAA [anti aircraft

artillery] gun  re. Shells would burst all around us as we pulled off targets day

or night. We learned not to try to climb so fast, but to keep our speed up while

staying lower and turning to give the AAA a harder target.

We  ew different types of missions. One was called Alpha strikes; 30 or more

aircraft going against one well-de ned target such as a bridge, railway or air eld.

The bombs were free fall and a large number of them were needed to get the

desired destruction. Another mission was smaller in scope, only four aircraft from a

single squadron targeting roads, intersections and some smaller pontoon bridges.

The enemy put much of their high-value equipment, such as SAM sites, near

towns or populated areas. We were not permitted to plan our attacks [to] reduce

our exposure to defensive  re. We were required to make our runs to preclude

any long or short hits landing in populated areas. The enemy knew this and

placed their aim points in what was called Barge Sector Fire, meaning they would

point all of their guns on the bearing they knew we would have to use and just

 re any time they thought we were there, causing us to  y right through the  ak.

The missions we considered the highest priority was ‘A Troops in Contact’

mission, which meant our guys on the ground needed air support. We would

stay as long as we could, dropping one weapon at a time or none just to keep the

enemy off guard by  ying low over their heads. We would leave only when we

were Winchester (out of weapons) or bingo (out of fuel).

One event I am particularly proud of is the last combat mission we  ew off

USS Oriskany on February 22, 1972 as the war was drawing to a close. The

senior officers got together and decided the  ight would be made up of only

senior officers... no junior officers. No one wanted to have to write a letter home

explaining why a son, husband, or brother was lost on the last mission.”

52 Aviation News incorporating Classic Aircraft February 2016

Two VA-72 Corsair IIs  y over Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Shield. US Navy

48-55_a7DC.mfDC.mfDC.mfDCDC.mfDC.mf.indd 52 08/01/2016 11:47