A Tribute to The A-37
"Smallest
Fighter, Fastest Gun"
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 Page by Dennis
Selvig
This aircraft was
brought into service in a rush by the USAF during the Viet Nam
war. It was the only aircraft to undergo operational testing
in actual combat (Combat Dragon).
Nicknamed "The Dragonfly"
the aircraft nobly served the United States Air Force, Republic of Viet
Nam Air Force, US Air Force Guard and Reserve units, and several Air
Forces of Central and South America. Its reliability,
agility, and accuracy made it the perfect close air support aircraft
for low intensity conflict. It served those who were involved
with her very well and we still admire and respect her.
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Versions
The A-37 started out life as a re-make
or upgrade of the Cessna T-37
trainer aircraft. The plane was fitted with hard points on
the wings, a weapons
panel, gunsight, and T-38 engines. It became the A-37/A.
Although many pilots
felt this version was the best, the Air Force thought it was lacking in
several areas and
made a newer, upgraded version.
The next
version had improved aileron booster tabs to
increase control, a far better armament panel, and F-5 engines, sans
the afterburners.
It also had a thicker, more camberous wing and was fitted
with an air refueling
probe. This version was the A-37/B.
Later in
life, as the aircraft assumed different roles
for various Air Forces , it became the OA-37B although it was
essentially unchanged from
the A-37/B.
Combat
Record
During the SouthEast Asian
War it served mostly in the III and
IV Corps areas of South Viet Nam. It was especially well
suited for troops in
contact situations where its accuracy and loiter time made it a
favorite of the FAC's as
well as ground troops and commanders. Its
achievements in combat were
recognized by awarding A-37 units the Air
Force
Outstanding Unit Award.
It flew over 165,000 sorties
in Viet Nam!
The
Dragonfly pulled alert duty at Bien Hoa Air Base (about 30 miles from
Saigon) and from
there was able to reach into most of the southern areas of South Viet
Nam. It flew
both day and night missions in visual meteorological conditions.
The
moderate speed of the aircraft gave it much greater
accuracy than other fighters of that time. The speed caused
experienced enemy
gunners to overlead the aircraft and shoot in front of it.
The A-37's small size
also reduced its vulnerability and increased survivability.
It did not go through
the war without losses, but its survivability surprised many.
One of the
few aircraft made with an unusual ability,
it could carry its own weight. This meant a combat
configuration of 4 Mk82 500 lb
bombs, 2 pods of rockets, and a load of gun ammo. This was
equivalent to the load
carried by the F-100 Super Saber (not counting the 20MM gun).
In close range
missions, the A-37 could actually get bombs on target faster than the
F-100 since the
"Hun" had to burn off some fuel before it could go to work.
It could also
hit the target, climb up to pattern altitude and return to make another
pass quicker than
any other fighter.
Training the USAF and
VNAF
Upgrade training took
place at England AFB, Alexandria,
Louisiana. Initially, USAF pilots went through the course
enroute to Viet Nam, but
eventually many of the pilots returned to England to train the Viet Nam
Air Force
pilots. Guard and Reserve pilots also began to be trained
there. During the
Dragonfly's tour of duty at Alex, it shared airspace with C-47's,
F-100s, and A-7Ds.
The fall of South Viet
Nam
By the time Viet Nam fell,
the VNAF had several squadrons of
A-37s in operation, manned by our student trainees from England
AFB. As these bases
were taken over by North Viet Nam forces, several of our students
managed to fly south and
later evacuated South Viet Nam. Some of the pilots eventually
made their way to the
States
Southern and Overseas
Air Forces.
Comments by John Lamb
Chile, Equador, Peru, possibly Paraguay,
Colombia, Honduras, El Salvador,
Guatemala and the Dominican Republic are the countries that I know for
sure have flown and
are still flying to A-37. I have flown with Honduras, El
Salvador, Ecuador, and have
honorary wings of the Dominican Air Force. They have a web
site with an A-37 photo.
My last flight in the USAF was with the Dominicans in
1994. The Ecuadorians
bought a special package from Israel and modified a few of their jets
to carry the Shafir
II heat seeking air-to-air missile. I taught their pilots BFM
in the spring/ their
fall of 1994. The best A-37 pilots in that region were the El
Salvadorians because
they were the only ones with real combat experience and the maturity
that comes with it.
The ones in Thailand were abandoned by the VNAF at the end
of the war. I
think Korea also inherited a few when the 19th TASS finally quit flying
them in the mid
80's. LAMBO
What
was it like to fly?
See Flying and Operating the A-37
SPECIFICATIONS
Span: 35 ft. 10 in.
Length: 29 ft. 4 in.
Height: 8 ft. 2 in.
Weight: 11,700 lbs. max.
Armament: Max. of 3,000 lbs. including one GAU-2/A
7.62mm "Gattling" gun,
plus additional gun pods, high-explosive bombs, fire bombs, rockets,
grenades, and/or
missiles
Engines: Two General Electric J85s of 2,400 lbs.
thrust each
Cost: $161,000
PERFORMANCE
Maximum speed: 485 mph.
Cruising speed: 425 mph.
Range: 270 miles with 3,000 lb. load
Service Ceiling: 36,000 ft.
The YA-37A shown at right is at the
Air Force Museum,
Wright-Patterson AFB, OH.
United
States Air Force Museum
Questions
or comments, E-mail
dselvig@yahoo.com
A-37 images on the web
are rare. If you have A-37 image files and would like to
contribute them to this web
site, please e-mail them to Dennis
Selvig or
request mailing instructions for original prints. All
originals will be scanned and
returned promptly.
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