For Aircraft enthusiasts 40 years of the USAF's unwanted step child.

#21
96tbird said:
If the Air Force had brains, they'd commission a constant supply run of these airframes in lower replacement numbers for an indefinite term.

It would be absolutely stupid to EVER not have them in the inventory.
Click to expand...

Here is a video of Senator John McCain, an X Navy fighter pilot, basically telling the air force general that he is an idiot for wanting to decommission the A-10.

 
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#22
Back in the 80s I used to hear A-10s practicing on an offshore firing range, on a clear day you could see the spray rising from the bullets hitting the sea.

The gun sound is much more impressive in real life than any recording I have heard, they all fail to capture the low end adequately. Much like playing a 5 string through a little practice amp.
 
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#26
Stewie26 said:
Here is a video of Senator John McCain, an X Navy fighter pilot, basically telling the air force general that he is an idiot for wanting to decommission the A-10.

Click to expand...


I grew up around those ...idiots..., and then had to deal with them myself for 24 years. Here, in a nutshell, is the Air Force brass's philosophy about non-transport/non-bomber aircraft, for as long as I can remember:

1. If it doesn't have a pointy nose and go at least Mach 2? We don't want it!

2. The USAF is supposed to have as little involvement as possible to do with other branches of the US military. Close Air Support?!?! If the Army, or anybody else, wants it, they can jolly well do it themselves. That's what God made helicopters for...

3. If it doesn't have a pointy nose and go at least Mach 2? We don't want it!

4. The USAF is for Dawn Patrol, scarf-in-the-wind, air-to-air combat. Air-to-mud is demeaning; it's for losers, not Hot Rock Fighter Jocks; and no clown on the ground is going to tell us what to shoot at...When I was stationed at Seymour Johnson AFB, I was in charge of Airfield Obstructions and Safety (as in, "can we build X out by the runway?") I told a squadron commander once that, while having large pictures of MIGs, Sukhois, etc., along the taxiways for "his boys" to check their gun sites with was a cool idea, he wasn't going to get them because: a) the Airfield Safety regs said not only no, but Hell No; and b) his F-4 squadron's mission wasn't air combat, anyway; it was air-to-mud (ground support for NATO troops). I thought he was going to have a stroke... especially when he complained to the Wing Commander about me, and got told the same thing - and not to bother me again with stupid questions...and finally:

5. If it doesn't have a pointy nose and go at least Mach 2? We don't want it!

And so, the A-10 has always been a red-headed stepchild as far as those clowns are concerned. They'd get rid of it yesterday if they could. It's no surprise at all, that there's no viable replacement for the Wart Hog. The Air Force top brass doesn't want one... unless it's painted green/black, and says "US Army" on it...:thumbsup:
 
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#27
GIBrat51 said:
I grew up around those ...idiots..., and then had to deal with them myself for 24 years. Here, in a nutshell, is the Air Force brass's philosophy about non-transport/non-bomber aircraft, for as long as I can remember:

1. If it doesn't have a pointy nose and go at least Mach 2? We don't want it!

2. The USAF is supposed to have as little involvement as possible to do with other branches of the US military. Close Air Support?!?! If the Army, or anybody else, wants it, they can jolly well do it themselves. That's what God made helicopters for...

3. If it doesn't have a pointy nose and go at least Mach 2? We don't want it!

4. The USAF is for Dawn Patrol, scarf-in-the-wind, air-to-air combat. Air-to-mud is demeaning; it's for losers, not Hot Rock Fighter Jocks; and no clown on the ground is going to tell us what to shoot at...When I was stationed at Seymour Johnson AFB, I was in charge of Airfield Obstructions and Safety (as in, "can we build X out by the runway?") I told a squadron commander once that, while having large pictures of MIGs, Sukhois, etc., along the taxiways for "his boys" to check their gun sites with was a cool idea, he wasn't going to get them because: a) the Airfield Safety regs said not only no, but Hell No; and b) his F-4 squadron's mission wasn't air combat, anyway; it was air-to-mud (ground support for NATO troops). I thought he was going to have a stroke... especially when he complained to the Wing Commander about me, and got told the same thing - and not to bother me again with stupid questions...and finally:

5. If it doesn't have a pointy nose and go at least Mach 2? We don't want it!

And so, the A-10 has always been a red-headed stepchild as far as those clowns are concerned. They'd get rid of it yesterday if they could. It's no surprise at all, that there's no viable replacement for the Wart Hog. The Air Force top brass doesn't want one... unless it's green/black, and says "US Army" on it...:thumbsup:
Click to expand...
Now, if someone were to create a completely modern take on the ground attack aircraft taking advantage of technology advances since the 70s and lessons learned, there could be a viable replacement. It's a sad state of affairs that there isn't, and all the money is going for high tech fighters that don't even work. Seems to me something's wrong with the decision making process.

This may be the only issue in the known universe on which I agree with Senator McCain. ;)
 
#28
The A-10 has been on my list of favorite planes since I first saw one. I can always tell when there's one flying in the area because the sound of the turbofan engines is so unique. My other favorites are:
P-38 Lightning
P-51 Mustang
SR-71 Blackbird
Harrier (because my Dad helped develop the hydraulic systems for it)
 
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#30
It became a separate branch of the military - The United States Air Force - on 18 September, 1947, as part of the Military Reform Act. Along with a lot of other changes in the military - like ending official segregation. And, yes, sometimes I'm not sure it wasn't a big mistake to make the Air Force a separate entity, either. My father always said he missed the USAAF - and all the hash marks on his sleeve.;) Ahh... politics....:whistle:
 
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#31
I never understood why they were always trying to fix something that wasnt broke by replacing the A-10. It still seems like the best plane for the job.
I always thought the coolest plane was the A-36 Apache, the CAS dive bombing version of the P-51.
A-36 Apache.jpg
 
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#36
Downunderwonder said:
You would love a time machine also.
Click to expand...
oh, yeah, They weren't in service yet. I wonder what that was I got confused about. Now I wonder where I was when I used to see them every day.
My mistake not withstanding, I would love a time machine. I would be playing a pristine 51 P through a late 60s SVT
and driving around in a 64 Mustang.
 
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#37
A-7 Corsair.jpg
And, speaking of A-7 Corsairs... yeah, I remember them pretty well, too. No, they didn't do what the A-10 does nearly as well; but you have to remember that Ground Attack and Close Air Support are not the same thing. Killing Bad Guys 50 yds. from our troops, and blowing the snot out of a bridge, are two entirely different jobs. And, for pure Ground Attack, the A-7 worked pretty darn well. They had a highly sophisticated electronics package; several A-7 pilots and ground crew guys told me the Corsair could pretty much fly a whole mission on it's own. And they were accurate, too - very accurate. In the early '70s, we had a squadron of them for a while at Howard AB, Panama. We had no planes of our own (except for a couple of VIP transports, and 3 helicopters); fighter squadrons (Air National Guard units, usually) rotated in and out to use the gunnery and bombing ranges. The Corsairs that I remember were painted like this one, in fact.

Good as they were, though, A-7s did have problems. A very trouble-prone fuel delivery system was one. The other problem was that A-7s had the Glide Aspect Ratio of a brick. If you lost engine power, the recovery process was simple:
1. Tighten your seat harness ASAP
2. Lower your helmet visor ASAP
3. Pull Ejection seat handle-ASAP
4. Wave Bye-Bye to your A-7.
Trying an engine re-start was not an option - under any circumstance.

Sadly, we lost an A-7 one day, coming in over the ocean on approach. Pilot lost the engine at 5,000' AGL, about one mile from the runway. Despite being told "Eject RIGHT NOW", he tried to re-start the thing. He hit the water 1/4 mile from the runway... they don't glide well at all. After they recovered the plane (never found the pilot, by the way. Sharks, probably...) and discovered the fueling problem, that mishap was the final straw. All USAF A-7's were grounded - for quite a while. The problem turned out to be something about not switching from one fuel tank to another in exactly the right order, IIRC. Must have been fixable, 'cause they flew the things for many years afterwards...:thumbsup:
 
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#38
I used to see A-10s all the time. The Connecticut Air National Guard at Bradley Airport in Windsor Locks and the Massachusetts ANG at Barnes Airport in Westfield flew them.

The plane earned its reputation as a fearsome tankbuster.
 
#39
I have a younger brother, when he graduated HS in the early 90s, one of his best buddies wound up going to the AF Academy. 2 Jersey Air Guard A-10s buzzed his house during the graduation party. The flew around for like 5 minutes and took off. Don't know who/how that was arranged, but it was very cool.
 
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#40
When I lived Maryland about ten years ago my office was a couple of miles from Martin State airport/Warfield Air national guard base. The 175th Wing of the Maryland Air National Guard is based there with a fleet of A-10C Warthogs. The company that I worked for used a fleet of Pilatus PC-12s for executives. My boss had the use of one of them, so he and I flew out of Martin pretty often.

It was very cool sitting on the taxiway waiting for takeoff clearance and watching A-10s come and go.
 
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