A part of BND’s ‘Airplane Park’ story gave me pause | Belleville News-Democrat

I enjoyed reading the BND article on “Airplane Park” in Edwardsville. Until her recent graduation, my daughter attended Metro East Lutheran High School for the last four years. The park is located just across the street, so I know that landmark well.

As an Air Force veteran and former air traffic controller, airplanes are near and dear to me, even if they are sporting U.S. Navy markings.

The A-7E Corsair II, tail number 159303, is an aircraft carrier-capable subsonic light attack aircraft, designed and built by Ling-Temco-Vought. LTV was an industrial conglomerate headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and later Cleveland, Ohio, from 1961-2000.

The aircraft was named Corsair II after the highly successful F4U Corsair of WWII fame. A “corsair” is a fast ship used for piracy. A fitting moniker for an tactical aircraft.

One line in the BND article caused me pause, “In the early 1990s, it was donated by Scott Air Force Base to the township and installed at Airplane Park.” The aircraft is actually on loan from the National Museum of Naval Aviation at Pensacola, Florida.

The aircraft might have been flown into Scott in pieces onboard a military transport jet but Scott has no pride of past ownership.