Sticks, Stories, and Scotch: Mystery Solved - Positive Identification for the A-7D at Y14

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Mystery Solved - Positive Identification for the A-7D at Y14

70-1050 from another angle

A few weeks ago I wrote about a bit of a mystery concerning the A-7D on display at the Tea (Y14) airport. It seems that Wikipedia, Joe Baugher, and Million Monkey theater all list A-7D S/N 70-1050 as having been destroyed in 1981, while the dedication plaque at Tea states that the airframe in question is the one on display. Surely they can't be one and the same, right?

This led to an inquiry sent to the Air Force Historical Research Agency. A few weeks later, I had a response! According to official records, while 70-1050 was assigned to the Puerto Rico ANG, it was not written off following the 1981 attack. And while the AFHRA didn't send me the rest of 70-1050's records, it seems likely that it served out its days with the Puerto Rico ANG, until that unit switched to F-16 ADFs. When the Air Force needed an A-7D to put on display as a representative for the South Dakota Air National Guard, 70-1050 happened to get the call.

70-1050's manufacturer data plate.

In the end, maybe not much of a mystery, other than Wikipedia getting something wrong. But it's interesting to get information that's a primary source, and gives me the chance to help out a couple of cool websites and people who've put a bunch of time and effort into tracking a vast number of serial numbers.