A-6A vs A-6E, pylon location

[malibu43]

Hey folks. Been playing around with the A-6a and A-6E a lot in WOV/WOE, and I noticed that the inner pylons on the E are outside only. The A isn't this way, and based on what I've seen/read, I always thought the A (and all other varients) could load a full six Mk82's on each of the inner wing pylons. However, I noticed that the way the E model is set up in the game, the inner ordanace would be bumping into the gear doors, and that's probably why those racks are outside only (in the game). Tried researching the issue online a little more, and based on the pictures I found, I'm wondering if this could be accurate. I never saw any E's with bombs loaded on the inside of the inner wing pylons, but I saw A's loaded both ways. These pictures show what I'm talking about:

 

http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0S020vESVdIb3kA...nock/316890106/

 

http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0S020rVSVdIGtEA...a19/1554156021/

 

If you look at the picture of the E, it looks like there wouldn't be room to load more MK82's next to the gear doors, when there's clearly room in the pic of the A. But maybe the pics are deceiving - I don't know.

 

Does anyone know if there is in fact a difference in the pylon positioning, or should they be the same?

 

Thanks!

[C2Aaircrew]

Not sure if this will help you. Copied out of my cruise book, when I was with VA-65. Actual loadout photos of an A6-E TRAM. I've got other photos somewhere, just have to find them in the garage if anyone is interested. No ordnance on the inside of the forward part of inner pylon, can carry on inside aft part of inner pylon as shown in the second photo and third photos. Tried to enhance so you could see the two nose cones forward of leading edge and three set of fins aft of the inboard flap. It doesn't look like it came out too clear, sorry.

 

 

 

 

Hope this helps you,

 

C2

Edited July 28, 2008 by C2Aaircrew

[malibu43]

Not sure if this will help you. Copied out of my cruise book, when I was with VA-65. Actual loadout photos of an A6-E TRAM. I've got other photos somewhere, just have to find them in the garage if anyone is interested. No ordnance on the inside of the forward part of inner pylon, can carry on inside aft part of inner pylon as shown in the second photo and third photos. Tried to enhance so you could see the two nose cones forward of leading edge and three set of fins aft of the inboard flap. It doesn't look like it came out too clear, sorry.

 

 

 

 

Hope this helps you,

 

C2

 

Thanks! Those pics are helpful. I hijacked another thread and was able to find the answer to my question. I guess that in Vietnam ground crews would remove some of the landing gear doors in order to fit additional ordinance on, if needed. So that explains that...

 

http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?showtopic=30262&hl=

 

[C2Aaircrew]

I had heard about removing the doors from older ordnancemen from the Viet Nam era. I had never actually seen it myself. I'm glad you found your answers. I'll probable go ahead a dig out all of my old photos. F-14, A-6, A-7, SH-3, RH/HH-53, C-1/C-2, A-3D, etc..., from squadrons and ships I was assigned to. Some are from various aviation museums and airshows I've been to.

 

Take care,

 

C2

[Southernap]

To load up a full MER on the inner stations (2 and 4) of any of the A-6 variants (A-6A, A-6B, A-6C, A-6E, and even the proposed A-6F, and A-6G) you had to remove the main landing gear doors. On most USN aircraft ths was not done for a number of reasons the primary being maintenance issues regarding having to re-rig the main landing gear doors. Which requires a jack job to swing the gear and trying to achieve that on an aircraft carrier is a serious pain in the arse. Some USMC aircraft did this the end of the Vietnam war when they were shore based, however it was not the norm rather a requirement to achieve maxium bomb load against NVA targets in South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.