attila.szabo wrote:Grappig zo'n discussie, hoort bijna in 't Praethuys thuis, van "stealth fighter" naar "sluf"
Oja, nog een feitje van wiki: LTV A-7 Corsair II use in F-117 development
The A-7s were used as a deception and training aircraft by the group between 1981 and 1989. It was selected because it demanded about the correct amount of pilot workload expected in the F-117A, was single seat, and many of the F-117A pilots had F-4 or F-111 backgrounds. A-7s were used for pilot training before any F-117As had been delivered to bring all pilots to a common flight training base line. Later, the A-7s were used to chase F-117A tests and other weapon tests at the Nellis Range.
A-7 flight operations began in June 1981 concurrent with the very first YF-117A flights. The A-7s wore a unique "LV" tailcode (for Las Vegas) and had a dark purple/black paint motif. The A-7s were based officially at Nellis Air Force Base and were maintained by the 4450th Maintenance Squadron.
There were approximately 20 A-7D aircraft used in developing the F-117, including several two-seat A-7K trainers. In January 1989, just three months after the USAF admitted the F-117A existed, the A-7s were retired to AMARC and were replaced by AT-38B Talons as training aircraft and the 4451st TS was deactivated.
A schoolbuddy of mine, whose brother in law was flying the F-15 at Soesterberg in the 80s, told me that when he visited Nellis after his brother in law has transferred to flying F15s there, he was allowed to photograph everything on base but the old A-7 Corsairs. Seemed very strange at the time!