A-7a Corsair VA-56 tail codes

[almac]

Evening all. I’m wondering if anyone can help with a query regarding tail codes. I am building a 1/72 A-7a and had picked va-56 decals from an old microscale sheet. On the sheet the tail codes are AH but all the pics on the web show NF. I can find nothing showing AH. Is this an error on the decal sheet or did VA-56 use those codes at one time? Can anyone shed any light on this please.

 

Cheers Allan 

 

 

[CT7567]

I don't have an answer for you, but I can give you some places to look for possible explanations (apologies if some or all of this is old news, but I figured it might help you and others for similar searches in the future).

 

In general for the "modern" era (circa Vietnam onward), US Navy two-letter tail codes are assigned to a particular air wing. The squadrons assigned to the wing vary as new types/units rotate into the fleet and older types are retired. 

 

Likewise, as the carriers themselves are rotated in and out of service (temporarily for programmed refits or permanently when obsolete), the assigned air wings will move from one ship to another - usually with some changes in makeup of the aircraft types and/or squadrons, corresponding to the "down time" between cruises.

 

A great resource to track the history of the postwar carrier air wings is gonavy.jp

 

Navigation can be a little tricky if you're not sure which air wing or ship you're looking for, but their database is extremely comprehensive, even covering short term "shakedown" cruises when ships have deployed with non-standard air groups for test/training.

 

A similar site for individual squadrons is seaforces.org  - it gives histories of the types used and deployment dates, including assigned air wings.

 

The "NF" code you're seeing for VA-56 is for Air Wing Five (still in use today). The "AH" code is no longer current and may have been assigned for a "one-off" cruise with a different air group. 

 

Another possibility, unfortunately difficult to verify, is if there was a planned deployment for VA-56 with the "AH" air group that was cancelled, the tailcode may have been updated but no actual deployment with that group actually happened.

 

http://www.seaforces.org/usnair/VA/Attack-Squadron-56.htm

 

Hope that's helpful.

[almac]

3 hours ago, CT7567 said:

I don't have an answer for you, but I can give you some places to look for possible explanations (apologies if some or all of this is old news, but I figured it might help you and others for similar searches in the future).

 

In general for the "modern" era (circa Vietnam onward), US Navy two-letter tail codes are assigned to a particular air wing. The squadrons assigned to the wing vary as new types/units rotate into the fleet and older types are retired. 

 

Likewise, as the carriers themselves are rotated in and out of service (temporarily for programmed refits or permanently when obsolete), the assigned air wings will move from one ship to another - usually with some changes in makeup of the aircraft types and/or squadrons, corresponding to the "down time" between cruises.

 

A great resource to track the history of the postwar carrier air wings is gonavy.jp

 

Navigation can be a little tricky if you're not sure which air wing or ship you're looking for, but their database is extremely comprehensive, even covering short term "shakedown" cruises when ships have deployed with non-standard air groups for test/training.

 

A similar site for individual squadrons is seaforces.org  - it gives histories of the types used and deployment dates, including assigned air wings.

 

The "NF" code you're seeing for VA-56 is for Air Wing Five (still in use today). The "AH" code is no longer current and may have been assigned for a "one-off" cruise with a different air group. 

 

Another possibility, unfortunately difficult to verify, is if there was a planned deployment for VA-56 with the "AH" air group that was cancelled, the tailcode may have been updated but no actual deployment with that group actually happened.

 

http://www.seaforces.org/usnair/VA/Attack-Squadron-56.htm

 

Hope that's helpful.

Thanks for all the info. I'll do a bit of research at the sites you mentioned and hopefully get some clarity. I didn't know the codes related to the carrier wing I assumed it belonged to the the squadron.  Thanks again for your help.

 

Cheers Allan

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

There are a number of good photo’s of VA-56 A-7’s (A’s, B’s, & E’s) in this link but you will need to scroll down a bit. The pre-dominant codes are NF for A-7A’s & A-7E’s, NE for the A-7B’s. 

 

http://www.seaforces.org/usnair/VA/Attack-Squadron-56.htm

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Navy_and_U.S._Marine_Corps_Aircraft_Tail_Codes

 

According to the wikipedia link the AH Code ceased being used in 1960-61. I hope it helps in some fashion. 

 

Dennis

Edited April 18, 2019 by Corsairfoxfouruncle

[Junchan]

VA-56 used the tail code "AH" during 1970 when the unit was deployed in CVW-16 (tail code AH). They did not use the A-7A in this period, but used the A-7B with modex 400.

Jun in Tokyo

https://www.flickr.com/photos/horaburo/albums

 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

I see Junchan found this ⬆️ So i went looking and also found this. 

 

http://www.gonavy.jp/CVW-AHf.html

 

At the bottom of the page, it confirms the info above. 

 

Dennis

Edited April 19, 2019 by Corsairfoxfouruncle

[almac]

Thanks Junchan and Dennis for the info, much appreciated. Now I know the codes were correct for a time on an A- 7b and not an A could I get away with using the decals on my ‘A’ kit or are there significant differences between the two? My brief research would indicate they were few differences    between the two.

 

Cheers Allan 

[CT7567]

7 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

I see Junchan found this ⬆️ So i went looking and also found this. 

 

http://www.gonavy.jp/CVW-AHf.html

 

At the bottom of the page, it confirms the info above. 

 

Dennis

Note the GoNavy table indicates the 1970-71 assignment of air group 16 to Midway as "not deployment" - this was one of the shakedown periods I mentioned in my earlier post.

 

Midway had undergone a major refit (SCB-101.66) from 1966-1970, including revisions to the angled deck and elevators. The air group would have been assigned while she was on sea trials in the Atlantic (hence the A-series tail code, vs N-series for Pacific fleet). 

 

So what you have with the AH/CVG-16 Corsair isn't a combat tour, but a rather unique point in the squadron's history.

[CT7567]

14 minutes ago, almac said:

Thanks Junchan and Dennis for the info, much appreciated. Now I know the codes were correct for a time on an A- 7b and not an A could I get away with using the decals on my ‘A’ kit or are there significant differences between the two? My brief research would indicate they were few differences    between the two.

 

Cheers Allan 

Yes, for modeling purposes the A-7A and A-7B are essentially identical.

[almac]

1 hour ago, CT7567 said:

Yes, for modeling purposes the A-7A and A-7B are essentially identical.

Thanks CT7567 that will do for me.  

Thanks everyone for your help.

 

Cheers Allan