Gary,

The A-7 stuff is a bunch of Hooey!

There was and is no Navy pattern requiring such ludicrous dirty flight
regimes.  Yes I've been 600 kts into a 7.5 G break.  This (in a Hornet)
would barely arrive at any kind of interesting AOA.  Perhaps 35 degrees
if I kept reafing on the pole down past 200 kts.  Never the less, the
remainder of the pattern was 25-28 deg AOB at onspeed AOA of 8.1 deg.  

The Sewer Pipe you speak of can hardly be compared to anything using the
term "Hi Performance" including our relatively low performing Lancairs.
Of course it needed mil power in the pattern.  It was a drag device with
half of a non-afterburning engine strapped to it.  That airplane
couldn't fight it's way out of a paper bag.

Stick a fork in it!

Respectfully,

Larry Henney
360LH

PS: No disrespect intended to any of you Military folks holding that
Harley, Single Seats Forever mindset.  I'm sure it was a swell airplane
in it's day.