Question regarding LTV A-7E Corsair II's.ability to launch without catapult??

[Pioneer]

G'day all

I read somewhere, that the late model A-7E were used/could be used as emergency fighter's, in the avent of catapult failure/malfunction, as it was able to launch itself armed with Aim-9's and M61 cannon!

Can anyone confirm this or give supporting litriture please?


Regards
Pioneer

 

[djfawcett]

Howdy,

I suspect if the crew can get the carrier to between 130 and 150 kts, the A-7 will come of the deck very nicely, along with anything else that is not nailed down.

Dave

 

[Archibald]

Why not ? if loaded with little fuel and armed only with a pair of AIM-9, and using the full length of a Forrestal or Nimitz... must be doable.

Reminds me of that old Buck Danny story where terrorists shoot a B-52 over Greenland with SAM-7s (Thulé 1968 style, but deliberately) they recover a trio of H-bombs, then they steal a trio of Tomcats. Destination: Cancun, to nuke the G7 summit there. They manage to lure all the air defence away, minus Buck Danny A-7 Corsair acting in a carrier defense role. In the end the last Tomcat is shot when Buck throws his A-7 in a collision with it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_Danny#Charlier_and_Berg%C3%A8se,_1982%E2%80%931989

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_Alert_(Buck_Danny)