The last of the Aegean Corsairs

The event included static displays of A-7 and F-16 aircraft, a photography exhibition, flights and aircraft transits and demonstrationsby the Air Demonstration Teams "Zeus" withan F-16 and "Daedalus” with a T-6A aircraft.
The ceremony was attended by serving and retired personnel of the Air Force, that served in the A-7 aircraft.
Araxos Air Base in the Peloponnese region of Greece, is home to 116 Pteriga Makhis (Combat Wing) of the Elliniki Polemiki Aeroporia (Hellenic Air Force) and is quite unique in that it operates the most modern fighter aircraft in the Hellenic Air Force (HAF), as well as the oldest. The state of the art Lockheed Martin F-16 'Block 52' Fighting Falcon is operated by 335 Mira, whilst the ageing but venerable Ling-Temco-Vought A-7 Corsair II is flown by 336 Mira. The last LTV A-7 Corsair II's belong to 336 Mira Vomvardismou (Fighter-Bomber Squadron) at Araxos,  the last active Corsair II's anywhere in the world. The 'SLUF' (short, little, ugly fella) as the A-7 is colloquially known, was withdrawn today, and so we present a bit of the aircraft's long and illustrious career, before yet another legendary aircraft fades into the history books.

"A-7 Heaven"  The Hellenic Air Force (HAF) became the first foreign customer for the Corsair II in 1975, taking delivery of 60 new A-7H's (the H standing for Hellenic) to replace the Republic F-84F Thunderstreak in Greek service. An order was later placed for 5 two-seat trainer aircraft, designated the TA-7H. Deliveries of these took place between July and December 1980. The first Hellenic Air Force Corsair II's went to 115 Wing at Souda Bay, Crete with 340 Mira and 345 Mira and to 347 Mira at Larissa. All the A-7's were later moved to Souda Bay in July 1993 and then finally onto Araxos in 2002. The original A-7H and TA-7H aircraft remained in service until March 2007, when all the survivors were put into storage.

Having proved extremely reliable and popular with pilots and ground crew alike, the HAF had decided to buy more A-7's in the early 1990's. This resulted in some surplus US Navy A-7E's and TA-7C's being purchased, delivery taking place in 1992, with the airframes issued to 116 PM at Araxos, where they equipped 335 (Tiger) Mira and 336 (Olympos) Mira. February 27th, 2008 saw 335 Mira withdraw its A-7's in favour of the F-16, with many of their aircraft bolstering those of 336 Mira, which continues to fly the A-7E and TA-7C to this day and has the distinction of being the last unit in the world to fly the SLUF. Currently having approximately 30 aircraft on strength, 336 Mira has more than enough to maintain sufficient flight hours for the unit's pilots, whilst also providing enough airframes to cope with any on-going maintenance. This aside, Araxos also has a vast storage area containing large numbers of withdrawn A-7's, providing an almost never ending supply of cannibalised spare parts when required. 

"Fly Low, Hit Hard" The A-7’s varied role with the HAF includes close air support (CAS), tactical maritime support operations, ground attack and bombing operations. The A-7E has an internally mounted M61-A1 20mm six-barrel cannon, six wing pylons and two fuselage launch stations. The pylons can carry a large single weapon, multiple racks capable of six weapons per rack, or triple racks with three weapons per rack. The wing pylons can carry four wing-mounted 300 gallon fuel tanks and a combination of general-purpose bombs totaling 15,000lb (6,800kg), including up to 30×500lb (230kg) Mk.82 bombs, Paveway Laser-Guided Bombs (LGB), AGM-45 Shrike, AGM-62 Walleye, AGM-65 Maverick, AGM-88 HARM, and GBU-15 electro-optical glide-bombs. The Autonomous Free-flight Dispenser System (AFDS), containing 16 BLU-108B bomblets is also certified for the A-7. The Hellenic Air Force had previously participated in NATO's nuclear weapons sharing using the A-7, whereupon they deployed the B61 unguided tactical nuclear bomb, but in 2001 the B.61's were put into storage. The HAF A-7's are also optimized to carry the AIM-9L Sidewinder for self-defence, utilising the two fuselage launch stations just below the cockpit.