Cessna A-37B Dragonfly for sales
Dragonfly A-37B cessna sales bid for cessna aircraft
Dragonfly A-37B cessna sales bid for cessna aircraft
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Cessna A-37B Dragonfly for sales
To get this greater weight off the ground, the A-37B was fitted with General Electric J85-GE-17A engines, providing 12.7 kN (1,300 kg / 2,850 lb) thrust each. These engines were canted slightly outward and downward to improve single-engine handling. Air commando pilots in Vietnam operating the A-37A had found single-engine cruise an effective means of improving their flight endurance.
Modifications were made to control surfaces to improve handling. To improve aircraft and crew survivability, the A-37B was fitted with redundant elevator control runs that were placed as far apart as possible. The ejection seats were armored, the cockpit was lined with nylon flak curtains, and foam-filled self-sealing fuel tanks were installed.
The A-37B added a refueling probe to the nose, leading to pipes wrapped around the lower lip of the canopy, for probe-and-drogue midair refueling. This was an unusual fit for USAF aircraft, which traditionally are configured for boom refueling. Other improvements included updated avionics, a redesigned instrument panel to make the aircraft easier to fly from either seat, an automatic engine inlet de-icing system, and revised landing gear. Like its predecessors, the A-37B was not pressurized.
20 millimeter and 30 millimeter cannon pods were developed for the A-37B to give it more punch, but apparently such pods were rarely or never used in operation.
A total of 577 A-37Bs were built, with 254 delivered to the South Vietnamese Air Force. They reportedly performed well in actions against Communist forces. When South Vietnam fell in early 1975, a South Vietnamese Air Force officer, Captain Nguyen Thanh Trung, defected to the Communists and led strikes against South Vietnamese government positions in his A-37B.
There were about 187 A-37Bs in South Vietnamese hands when the country fell. 92 were recovered by the Americans, while the other 95 were later used by the Communist Vietnamese in missions over Cambodia. These "renegade" aircraft were phased out of service in the late 1970s or early 1980s, no doubt due to lack of spares.