Salute!
I have a hard time with the A-37 needing more than about 5,000 feet to get up, even at max gross weight. Something doesn't compute.
At Bien Hoa, Pleiku, England AFB and Barksdale a decent loadout was two tanks, two BLU-1 napes, 2 x MK-82 500 pounders and 2 x MK-81 250lb "lady fingers". No problem at 35 or 40 deg C. So I feel the reservists were joking.
Pleiku was 2,400 feet elevation and the rwy was 6,000 feet more or less. I flew from there with the load above from Christmas 1967 to March of 1968. No problems. The four fuel tanks on the "OA-37" don't come close to maxing out the weight or drag we flew with.
Lastly, I was an FCF pilot at England AFB and with just enuf gas in the tips and drop tanks to see if they were feeding we could get airborne in about 800 feet and then climb at 30 degrees. Biggest problem was getting gear up before airloads got too high. That sucker was more overpowered than the Viper.
The long pole in the tent was stopping distance, and the small brakes were a factor if aborting at rotation. We did have one go off the other end at Bien Hoa trying to stop, and that RWY was about like Barksdale's. He actually got up, and set back down versus cleaning the wings and pressing on with one good engine. And recall that we routinely shut one down to save gas when loitering, even with the heavy loadout
Too bad about all the security at Barksdale, but some bases are worse than others after those towers went down and we are still fooling around over in the sandbox. Ditto for not getting a ride, as you would have loved that little beast.
Gums sends...