An addition to the V-519 White Whale posts are these images of 156801. These are some scans of some older negatives that were not in the best shape of the V-519. These appear to be taken prior to the first flight. A couple of items of interest: the designation is still A-7E and most visibly the gold stripe is not painted on the vertical fin.
A nice image of the nose with the canopy open. VAHF Archives
Side view of the V-519 after being towed from the hangar. The gold fin stripe has not been added yet. VAHF Archive
Close up of the tail markings on 156801. VAHF Archives
A little better image of the aircraft with the A-7E designation painted on the fuselage above the Bureau number. VAHF Archives.
The White Whale, a fixture around the Vought plant for many, many years, was used in a number of test programs. Further posts will illustrate more of the different paint schemes carried by the aircraft over it's service life with Vought.
Another interesting variation in the paint is the inclusion of Navy on the sides of the fuselage, or not. I was a production acceptance pilot at the Navy office at LTV during the YA-7H project and we had an ongoing discussion with the company about the Navy label. LTV was anxious to get the Air Force to buy two seat A-7s instead of the A-10, which was just coming to life at the time. They believed that the Air Force would be less receptive if the plane said Navy on the side. Imagine that.
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking time to comment on the post. I guess those seemingly small details could cause the potential loss of a multi-million dollar contract. I might have a photo or two of you from the images that I have scanned from this time period. Thanks again!
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