page_title: Tonopah Test Range Airport
section_title: Support aircraft
hierarchical_section_title: Tonopah Test Range Airport / History / F-117A Nighthawk Program / Support aircraft
caption_attribution_description: English: 4451st Tactical Squadron A-7D Corsair II 69-6225 1969: Aircraft delivered to 4525th Fighter Weapons Wing, Nellis AFB, NV (c/n D-0055) &#160;:Re-designated 57th Fighter Weapons Wing/66th FWS, 1969 Transferred to 354th Tactical Fighter Wing, Myrtle Beach AFB, SC, 1972 Transferred to 124th Tactical Fighter Squadron, IA Air National Guard, 1977 Transferred to 4450th Tactical Group/4451st TS, Nellis AFB, NV, 1983 Transferred to 152d Tactical Fighter Training Squadron, AZ Air National Guard, 1989 Transferred to AMARC as AE0089 Nov 27, 1991 Disposition:04-APR-97 / To National, Kolb Rd, Tucson, AZ, Scrapped
context_page_description: Tonopah Test Range Airport, at the Tonopah Test Range is 27 NM southeast of Tonopah, Nevada and 140 mi northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. It is a major airfield with a 12,000 ft × 150 ft runway, instrument approach facilities, and nighttime illumination. The facility boasts over fifty hangars and an extensive support infrastructure.
context_section_description: Because of the tight restrictions on F-117A flights during the 4450th TG "black" era, a surrogate aircraft was needed for training and practice and to provide a cover story for the 4450th TG's existence.  The aircraft chosen was the Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV) A-7 Corsair II.   The A-7Ds came from England AFB, Louisiana, which was converting to the A-10 Thunderbolt II. The A-7 had been chosen as an interim trainer because its cockpit layout and avionics were considered similar to those in the F-117. It was also a single-seat attack fighter, as the F-117 was programmed to be.  It therefore would bring all pilots to a common flight training base line.  The 4450th TG was the last active USAF unit to fly the A-7D.  Along with the A-7Ds that came from England AFB, the group acquired one of the new A-7K twin-seat trainers from the Arizona Air National Guard for checkout flights at Nellis. A second A-7K was acquired from Edwards AFB (73-1008), which was the prototype two-seater that had been converted from its original A-7D configuration in 1978. In doing so, the group became the only active-duty unit to fly the A-7K.
  A-7D flight operations began in June 1981 concurrent with the very first YF-117A flights. The A-7's wore a unique "LV" tailcode (for Las Vegas) and were based officially at Nellis Air Force Base. They were maintained by the 4450th Maintenance Squadron, based at Nellis. Some A-7s operated from Tonopah from the beginning, and care was taken to leave them outside the hangars, so that satellites passing overhead could see that Tonopah operated nothing more exciting than some Corsairs.  There were approximately 20 aircraft, including a couple of A-7K trainers.
  In addition to providing an excuse for the 4450th's existence and activities the A-7's were also used to maintain pilot currency, particularly in the early stages when very few production F-117As were available. The pilots learned to fly chase on F-117A test and training flights, perform practice covert deployments, and practice any other purpose that could not be accomplished using F-117As, given the tight restrictions imposed on all F-117A operations.  On off-range flights, the pilots talked to the air traffic controllers as if they were in an A-7D Corsair II.  Each F-117 aircraft also carried a transponder that indicated to radar operators that it was an A-7.
  In January 1989, just three months after the USAF admitted the F-117A existed, the aging A-7's were replaced with newer T-38A and AT-38B Talon trainers as a measure to streamline the F-117A's training operation.  Many of these "Talons" formerly belonged to the 4447th TS "Red Hats" that flew "acquired" Soviet aircraft at Groom Lake, Nevada. One of the AT-38B Talons even served as a USAF Thunderbird in the 1970s.  With the arrival of the T-38s, the squadrons Corsairs were retired; the borrowed A-7K being returned to the Arizona Air National Guard.
caption: 4450th TG A-7D at Nellis AFB.
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