Off Topic: Air show

high desert · Sep 25, 2011

Had the chance to attend the Redding CA air show and see the air force thunderbirds. It was awesome. My favorite aircraft was the A-10 Warthog or Tankbuster. The A-10 has many nicknames. I guarantee if our enemies could see the capabilities of this jet they would never fire upon our troops in fear of retaliation. God bless America and those who serve. Sorry forgot the camera.

Jafarkiller · Sep 25, 2011

H,

back mid 80's, when I was in the french army, based in Germany, we where used to call them: " la croix du diable", (the devil"s cross)!
I think, I know what you mean! ;-)

Amicalement

J-Luc

corwise · Sep 25, 2011

There's an A-10 guard base in Boise, ID. On occasions I'd be hiking in the back woods and a pair of A-10s would suddenly pop over a ridge a few hundred feet off the deck, scream through a valley, and then disappear over another ridge. It was one of those random things that was always cool to see.

Glad you enjoyed the airshow.

Jaxx · Sep 25, 2011

corwise said:
There's an A-10 guard base in Boise, ID. On occasions I'd be hiking in the back woods and a pair of A-10s would suddenly pop over a ridge a few hundred feet off the deck, scream through a valley, and then disappear over another ridge. It was one of those random things that was always cool to see.

Glad you enjoyed the airshow.

I miss that... the 3 days after 9.11, the only aircraft I saw were A-10's...and having the sky to themselves, they were making full use of it. One pass took a pair directly over my house so close, I could easily see their helmets as they turned & burned on by. :thumbup: Enjoyed their flyovers for years until Willow Grove AFB closed.

budthachud · Sep 25, 2011

I worked at Mountain Home AFB from '03-'07 (Air Traffic Control). I always liked the A10 pilots out of Boise, they were always way more laid back and sounded like they were having more fun than the fighter pilots. Awesome jet.

Helrazr · Sep 26, 2011

Absolutely love the warthog. Last time it was at the airshow here at MacDill they wouldn't let you within 20 feet of it though, ticked me off.

TheLunk · Sep 26, 2011

Didn't I hear a few years back that the powers-that-be had decided to decommission the A10?

I seem to remember thinking "well, that's a damn foolish decision".

Or am I making that up in my head?

Garth Reckner · Sep 26, 2011

There really is nothing like an A10. Absolutely amazing aircraft.

Garth

corwise · Sep 27, 2011

I worked at Mountain Home AFB from '03-'07 (Air Traffic Control). I always liked the A10 pilots out of Boise, they were always way more laid back and sounded like they were having more fun than the fighter pilots. Awesome jet.

Bud, I was there the same time, 03'-06' with the 726th ACS (Hardrock). I'm sure I talked to you on the phone about airspace sometimes.

I loved that place, would kill to go back.

Didn't I hear a few years back that the powers-that-be had decided to decommission the A10?

I seem to remember thinking "well, that's a damn foolish decision".

Or am I making that up in my head?

Back in the late 80s there was a lot of talk about getting rid of the A-10. I think they even made it offiical in '90 or so. Then Desert Storm hit, and the A-10 kicked the shit out of everything. The decision to get rid of them was put on hold. Still pops up now and then, but never seriously.

Random war story: I was flying (AWACS) in Afghanistan in 2002, things still very confused. The ground guys couldn't get good coordination/support through their channels so they'd just find a frequency I was on and scream for help. One night a random JTAC (AF guy tied to the Army, controls close air support) pops up on my freq and screams "Troops in contact, I need air support!" I confirmed where he was and got the nearest guys flowing toward him, a pair of F-18s. When I told him they were coming he came back with: "F-18s? Don't you have any A-10s or AC-130s?" When I told him we didn't have any in theater you could hear him sign on the radio as he said "Forget it. We'll take care of it ourselves."

Trying to get a fast mover (F-16, F-18, F-15Es) to go slow enough to see what the heck is going on can be difficult (as I understand it). Apparently for this guy it wasn't worth the effort.