On Sat, 27 Dec 2003 06:15:34 -0500, Cub Driver
wrote:


It was the
product of a well designed competition between A-9 and A-10 to build
an updated A-1;

Which competition was rammed down the Air Force's throat! Crikey, Ed,
have you looked at Campbell's The Warthog and the Combat Air Support
Debate ?

I was around at the time and I don't remember this at all. It sure
didn't seem to show up in AvWeek or Flight, at any rate. Nor did I
hear anything from Contractor's Row, which is a hotbed of gossip and
inside news, sometimes inextricably mixed.

I do remember discussion about whether the USAF had enough support
from the Army, as well as comparisons with the USMC, but the USAF
seemed really hot for the new airplane, whichever it was.

For what it's worth, Dryden got the YA-9s after the fly-off. The four
engines went to Ames to power the QSRA eventually and, much later, the
airframes went to be gate guards.

Mary

--
Mary Shafer Retired aerospace research engineer