SLUF

The LTV* A-7 Corsair II was nicknamed the "SLUF", for Short Little Ugly Fucker. A single seat attack aircraft developed from the F-8 fighter, it was a workhorse in Vietnam.

The one in Dayton is an A-7D, which is a version of the Navy's A-7 that was built for the USAF. Instead of the two 20mm Colt Mk. 12 cannon of the original, the D model had a single 20mm Vulcan, as well as a more powerful Allison turbofan, a fine product of Indiana.

The USAF A-7's were relegated to Air National Guard units as the F-16 came online in the Seventies, but the last combat missions flown by Navy SLUFs were in Operation Desert Storm. The Corsair II was also flown by the Greeks, Thais, and Portuguese.

*LTV was Ling-Temco-Vought, the company that resulted from a 1961 hostile takeover of the old Chance Vought corporation of F4U Corsair and F8U Crusader fame by Ling Electric, who had recently gone on a buying spree, absorbing Temco Aircraft and speaker manufacturer Altec Electronics among others.

Meme Dump!

Interwar Bombers

The Martin B-10, which first flew in prototype form in '32, went into service with the USAAF in summer of 1935. It was a sales success, with the US government buying over a hundred and export sales to China, the Dutch, Thailand, and Turkey.

We phased ours out pretty quickly at the start of WW2, but the type saw extensive combat with the Chinese, Dutch, and Thai forces, and Thailand didn't retire theirs until 1949.

It was replaced as a frontline aircraft in the USAAF inventory by the Douglas B-18 Bolo.

Most of our forward deployed B-18s were in the Philippines and got destroyed on the ground by the Japanese. Most of its wartime US service was flying anti-sub patrols along the coasts. Canada got twenty of them, which were also used for anti-submarine work, and a few went to Brazil, where they served as trainers.

Gratuitous Gun Pr0n #263...

It appears I may be spending some time getting good with a DA trigger again, as the tactical dirt colored SIG Sauer SP2022 in the horsehide Milt Sparks Summer Special 2 will attest. The SIG is likely just going to be a waypoint for three or four months as I work back up to spending six months or a year carrying the Langdon Beretta, which is the pistol with which I've had most of my moments of glory in gun school.

The rest of the pocket detritus is the same as usual: Surefire EDCL1-T, Spyderco Dragonfly, and POM spray.

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Meme Dump!