06/30/2006. Remarks by Jack McKillop: "The YA-9A was developed in response to a USAF request for a dedicated Close Air Support (CAS)/ground attack aircraft capable of operating from short unimproved runways, have a long loiter time over the battlefield area, and have a relatively high cruise speed to get from the home field to the battle field.

Twelve companies were asked for a proposal and six responded. Northrop and Fairchild Republic were asked to build prototypes for a fly-off competition; Fairchild's aircraft was the YA-10A Thunderbolt II (q.v.). The first flight of the YA-9A was on May 30, 1972 and the fly-off competition ran between October 10, and December 9, 1972. The USAF selected the YA-10A as the winner of the fly-off on January 18, 1973. The two prototype YA-9As were transferred to the NASA for flight testing before being retired.

This aircraft was placed on display at the Castle Air Museum, Merced, California, USA, but as of May 2006, it has been moved to the Edwards AFB, Muroc, California, for restoration."