The A-7 Corsair II aircraft was introduced in the mid-sixties as the Navy’s premier attack platform. And indeed it was, as it evolved over the years to become the USAF A-7D and the Navy A-7E. The A-7 was a computer-driven machine, employing an inertial platform and a low-bypass ratio turbo-fan engine. It was truly a generational leap in air-to-ground weapons delivery technology.
But in spite of contractor assurances to the contrary, and in spite of the glitz and glamour of this shiny new machine, the A-7 had a dark side. It had a violent out-of-control mode that could be encountered in just about any portion of the airplane’s normal flight envelope. It scared the bejeezus out of pilots! The Navy lost 14 A-7’s to “out-of-control flight” in pretty short order — and half of the time we lost the pilot, too.
I was on my first tour as a test pilot in Flight Test at the Naval Air Test Center in Maryland. The Navy suddenly became intensely interested in solving the A-7 “spin problem” and funds and aircraft were made available to do the job. I was named as the primary project test pilot. Thus began a 47-flight, 350 maneuver, 2-year program to identify, define and solve the out-of-control flight problem in the A-7 airplane.
I’m enclosing a couple of videos. The first shows some of the A-7 gyrations following a vertical entry at 38,000-ft. The second video was taken on Flight #1 and shows us testing the spin recovery parachute — something we would normally use in an emergency only. The parachute was huge, and successful jettison was essential, since the airplane could not fly with the chute attached. What a weird ride that was — hanging at the end of that parachute with no control over the airplane whatsoever!
I'm one of those Americans who was born during the Great Depression, watched WWII as a young boy, and eventually used the U.S. Navy as my ticket to leave my little home town and to confront the jarring reality of flying combat Naval Aviation. I learned my trade well. I flew 33 types of aircraft, including virtually all of the high-performance fighters of my day. I accumulated more than 800 carrier arrested landings and flew 138 combat missions over North Vietnam. I became the Navy's Chief Test Pilot, testing the F-14 Tomcat, the Swedish Viggen and many other aircraft. I managed to get the Tomcat into the first flat spin EVER -- my back-seater and I barely escaped with our lives.
But, I'm retired now -- one of those old, bold aviators. I set my thoughts and combat experiences to print back in 2010 (it was an unpublished family affair) -- then put them aside for eight years. In 2018 I cleaned up that old book, shorted it, re-worded it, re-shuffled it and brought it up to date. I nervously and with much hesitation published it on Amazon in May, 2018. Surprise! The book, Above Average -- Naval Aviation the Hard Way -- has sold thousands of copies and remains a solid 5-star book today!
Stephen Coonts (author of Flight of the Intruder) wrote a very flattering review of Above Average. The preface to my book deals with a single-plane sortie against the fabled Than Hoa bridge in North Vietnam (flown by yours truly). Steve asked to use that very same vignette as the prologue to his new book, Dragon's Jaw, which is all about the American air effort to drop that bridge. Of course, I was happy to comply!
If you're interested in reading about guts, determination and triumph from someone who had a front row seat, you might give my book a try. When you're finished, I would love to hear your thoughts.
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Above Average 