A-7 Mock Up

     There was a request recently for photos of the A-7 mock up other than those already posted of the various weapons fits. I came across these images in the collection previously and had miss-filed them. Here are a few images of the A-7 mock up that was used for inspection and weapons fit testing.

     Ease of maintenance access was an important feature of the V-463 design. Accessing compartments using both a minimum of fasteners and tools along without using a ladder or other external stand was preferred. Lessons long learned from the F7U Cutlass and applied to the F8U Crusader design.

     One of the great maintenance improvements in the A-7 (V-463) was in the area of engine maintenance and repair. The A-7 had a unique design which allowed the engine to be serviced through access panels on the sides and bottom of the fuselage. With the removal of the access panels and tail code the engine could be removed and replaced with out the penalty of having to split the fuselage to remove the tail section as had been done on the F8U Crusader. This eliminated some of the space hogging and special equipment needed for engine changes on board ship.

PR-5435 Left Side View of the A-7 (V-463) Mock Up VAHF Collection

PR-5433 Left Had Rear View Of the V-463 Mock Up. VAHF Collection

PR-5412 Technician Illustrating Access To Cannon, LOX and Avionics Bay. VAHF Collection

PR-5413 Technician Showing Ease Of Access To The V-463's Engine Compartment. VAHF Collection

F7U-3P Part Three

     Final installment on the F7U-3P Mock Up. These final three images illustrated the access door on the upper fuselage to allow camera installation and film magazine servicing. Along with hold open rods for the door, the hoist for raising and lowering the cameras is installed. It still would have been quite a challenge changing cameras and install in film magazines 12-14 feet off the deck!

CVA-10619-F7U-3P-Door-Stay-Instal-Camera-Access-Door-and-Hoist-19520627

     This next photo shows the Tri-metric mount along with CA-8 and T-6 cameras.

CVA-10445-F7U-3P-TRI-Met-and-Camera-Mount-Showing-All-Configs-19520618

   

     Next up is the mock up of the main instrument board. The main visual difference is the addition of the view finder in place of the gun sight. The viewfinder worked for missions where the aircraft was configured for downward looking cameras for coverage of targets that the photo Cutlass flew over.

CV-10907-F7U-3P-Mock-Up-Main-Instrument-Board-19520729

  The final image shows the oblique sights for camera installations shooting out the sides of the photo Cutlass. A sight was provided on the left and right canopy sills for use depending on the camera configuration mounted in the aircraft.

CVA-10610-F7U-3P-Oblique-Sight-Installation-19520625

     The photos and information for this installment came from Chance Vought Report 7802 Model F7U-3P Mock-Up Photographs dated August 5, 1962. The report was found in NARA 72-AC-30G.