Ever seen one?

No, I have not. Honestly, jets don't excite me, I prefer aircraft with propellers.

If I did

I would make a thread about it.

There is a squadron of A10s stationed at Boise ID. We see them doing training flights in the canyons north of Boise when we are fishing on the Boise River. Seems like a magnificent aircraft for it's intended purpose.

They would fly over my place in Owyhee County so low you could see the pilots head & face - [bleep] awesome!!!!

Yep, when I was working at McClellan AFB they put on a show along with the Thunderbirds, unbelievable maneuverability!

Lived off the end of the Hillsboro Oregon Airport. They had annual airshows.

Seen them lots.

Gotta love em

It would be the most interesting thread you’ve ever made….. especially considering how many worthless threads you make. 😂

No

We have the c130s that fly over daily seems like a huge waste of tax payer money

Almost daily when they were stationed @Battle Creek

I'd rather see a flight of Stearman!

I worked at the Grayling Air Gunnery Range for 6 years. The only thing more impressive than the A10 strafing and dropping bombs are the A1 Cobra's. They slowly slithered around 10-50 feet off the ground, using trees and terrain to hide behind. Then they would pop up and either use the cannon, 2.75 inch rockets, or a TOW missile, then slowly slither away again.

I have seen them years ago in Louisiana.

The Cereal Killers!

Our Memorial Day parade used to start off with 2 A10s barreling overhead right off the deck. I would like to know where they find flight suits that can fit over their ginormous balls.

I always enjoyed watching them flying around the Tucson area, but it seems those days are over. Always thought they would make great border protection and reconnaissance

https://www.kold.com/2024/02/08/davis-monthan-begins-divestment-a-10-fleet/

The 103rd TFW flew them for 20 plus years at Bradley IAP and 104th TFW at Barnes Airport in Westfield Mass. 104th now has F-15’s, 103rd C-130’s.
Always great to see them tear drop near my house.
My neighbor flew A -10’s for the 104th then went to other positions within the wing.

https://www.twz.com/a-10-pilots-compelling-case-for-replacing-warthogs-with-super-hornets

This is a great opinion and makes FAR too much sense for the Air Force to do it. But I wish they would, its a far better use of our already purchased assets (with our tax money).

They played war games a while back, cool to watch.

The warthog will go down in history as one of the greatest CAS planes of all time. The grunts love them and the pilots treat them as their personal responsibility to keep them safe. 🫡

Phenomenal aircraft. Years ago at a local air show, one did aerobatics, including a hammerhead stall. then flew out over the creek and dropped below the tree level. You could hear him go down the creek, hang a left and fly down river a bit, and then he pulled up for a gunnery run center stage. Damn!

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Many times over SEC football game national anthem.

Had a pair that were on their way to the Paris Airshow stop in back in '77. I got an up close view of them while they were parked outside of our fuel cell repair hangar. Also catch them overfly our 'hood in the fall when Camp Grayling (MI) is doing their annual war games.

The campfire brain trust schooled me that Apache gunships seat 4 passengers 🤔


Does the A-10 seat 4?

Just asking, settling a debate.

🤙😀

I’ve read that article previously and he definitely makes a strong argument.

Yes. Years ago at Air Shows.

They are slowly retiring them. I still see A-10s flying around Tucson. They have been here since 1976. Another fly over that was inspiring was the U-2 spy plane. Davis Monthan used to fly the U-2s in the 70s. It would always be accompanied by a jet when landing due to its limited visibility.

If the Texas air national guard has any of them, I can think of a really good training area for them to play around in.

Hilarious. This A10 pilot misses mentioning what the F-15E community and USN has known for some time. Having a WSO on the team makes a huge difference in accomplishing the mission when the data density and threats increase. The F/A-18F would be a great choice for replacing the A10 but pilots make the decisions in the USAF so I’m sure there will be an E model bias and not a guy in the second seat.

+1

seen plenty in Tucson but not in the future.

saw an A-7 make an unscheduled landing on Highland Avenue one day. not good.

would have been a lot worse if pilot hadn't stayed with it as long as he did.

Back in the 90's a general was determined to replace the F-4G Wild Weasels with a single seat F-16. Those in the WW community could not dissuade him. As you know, one person can only look one way at a time.

Slumlord, I don't which braintrust you relied on but Apache's only have two crew stations and no room or spare seats for anyone else. Same with the Marine Corps AH-1 series of aircraft.

Having been on the inside of C-130 training as a flight engineer, I see it differently. We had two full crews per plane and then other crew members with other assigned duties that were also crew members. Even in a reserve unit out requirements are the same as active-duty units.

Yes sir! On Traverse Bay. I saw two of them a ways away and started Jumping and hollering at them they saw me turned around did a low level pass at us close enough I could see the one give us a Thumbs up! Lol, or maybe he was flipping us off it was hard to tell.......

When they passed they did a loop and went east, I would imagine they were returning to Grayling.

Those Bad Asses made three old guys really happy and excited that day!!

There is a Navy gunnery range not far from Oswego Lake, here in the pine barrens.
The Mrs. and I were fishing there one day and from our boat had a front-row seat to three A-10's practicing strafing runs. I soon forgot all about fishing.

Salt Lake County bitchin about the F35 flyovers

Don't like the noise ?

Move back to CA

https://www.ksl.com/article/50944832/hill-fighter-wings-set-to-conduct-night-flying-beginning-monday

They used to fly over me at VERY low altitudes while I was bowhunting in January in the Baboquivari Mountains southwest of Tucson back in the 80s. They were on their way to the gunnery range. They could fly deep into a box canyon before pulling up. They are surprisingly quiet. The A7s that screamed by were a different story altogether!

Yep.....when hunting SW of Boise very close to MH AFB.....they have a targeting range down there (not live fire...just a bunch of containers and mocked up personnel carriers and tanks) You can drive/hunt right next to it and watch them come in low over it (guessing they are doing targeting exercises). I've been on top of some of the hills out there as they circle around for another run and been close enough to easily see the pilot. Memorable experience for sure. Pretty common to get a close look at fighter jet out there too.....last time I was there I spent a good part of an afternoon watching F-18's fly over.

I live about 1.5 miles north of the east end of Gowen Field. Often see them taking off in pairs on Saturdays.

Ten years ago when I was taking flying lessons my instructor and I were waiting for clearance to take off since a flight of six A-10's was coming in. We sat at the edge of the runway and watched them peel off one by one and land right in front of us while listening to the tower chatter with them. Their calls signs were Ugly 1 through Ugly 6.

I was fascinated, my instructor reminded me it was costing X dollars per minute to watch the show but I didn't mind.


Turned the tables later when a pair were waiting for us to land, the instructor had me waggle the wings of our little Cessna 172 at them as we came in on final. He was a retired Air Force E8 and thought that was pretty funny.

They had a couple at the local air show a few years ago. Impressive.

I always work at the local air shows and my favorite is the C17. I always stay long after the show ends and all the aircraft have departed. They always have a C17 on display and it is the last to leave. I realize it is empty, but I'm amazed at how little runway such a large plane needs to get off the ground. They always do low level fly by just over the runway then make a 270 degree turn and fly by across the runway before heading home. A plane that big shouldn't be that maneuverable.

We see them quite often here in central MO. During spring turkey season if 2-3 come over low they can really get the gobblers going.
I've been on Truman Lake fishing and seen them do practice attack runs on fishing boats.

I like the Warthog, truly.

That said, one of my all time favorites was the A1 Skyraider.

Don't know where they come from, but they fly over us at least weekly.

Usually a pair.


I live on a ridge that point to a mountain gap about a half mile away.


We hear them and go running out in the yard.

They lay over on the port side as they go around our ridge, we can look almost horizontally ring down into the plane. See the pilot inside.
Then they flop onto starboard and shoot around the mountain.


One day I was coming home from work and saw one come out of the gap.
That day, it came straight down the road toward me. I could watch it come for about a mile. All I could think of was some poor dumb bastard, in a military vehicle, seeing that thing coming!




We have a neighbor whose cousin works(ed) on Blackhawks and Apaches at the Johnstown airport. On test flights they would come over here and circle the cousins house. Our house was just outside the orbit.

Everyone knows how loud a helicopter is.
I don't think many know how loud they can be when the pilot lays it on its side and pulls a tight orbit. The Whomp, Whomp, Whomp, slows down, but gets louder.

The widows shake and pictures would rattle.



That went on for quite awhile, then suddenly, we quit even seeing them.
Don't know if they aren't over there anymore, or maybe someone got in trouble.

Owls Head Transportation Museum had one at a show and B2 fly-by. I was impressed by the redundancy of the controls so they could take a lot of battle damage. Titanium bucket to sit in is cool too.

Saw one static at Edwards too and a 37 mm gatling gun in the museum. Cool place to spend a few days while my sister was working with NASA flying an instrument on a Global Hawk.

Another great CAS plane.

Had one roll up our 8 1mm firing line one night at Ft. Campbell.

Summers up home we used to be able to hear their cannon fire at Fort Drum from what must be 30 -35 miles. At that distance it would sound like a big, 2 or 3 second groan.

Here we see mainly AF C-17’s on the approach, sometimes very, very low. Occasional fighters of one kind or another. Have seen Ospreys a few times, my neighbor used to fly those. I’ve been surprised to see P3’s a few times, once in the past week. I’d just assumed they were no longer in service.

i've seen the Warthog when i was going thru basic training in Ft Lost in the Woods (Leonard Wood).

Wot about the skids?
Short term passengers.

No A10s here.

A lot of Ospreys, a few blackhawks, and Zoomies about daily......

https://youtube.com/shorts/5JipoLXqrXU?si=m2KYR3cC5x2vIhbE

The Budweiser blimp drifted over a few yrs ago

Yep. Seen a few, including gun runs and ordnance drops. Very capable plane and not one I’d want angry with me. Insurgents hated them, for good reason.

Old70

Can't say for sure but they might have been lining up on us doing training runs. We were touring a cranberry marsh near Tomah, Wi.

I don't believe anyone posted that claim. Maybe I missed it. Specifically, which campfire member, or members, made the claim that Apache gunships seat 4 passengers?

I believe Hans-Ulrich Rudel had some say so in the development of the A-10.

I flew the Challenger 604 back in the late 90's, which had the exact same engines as the A-10. First day of type training, our ground instructor pointed at the engine and said, "this is a GE CF34 engine, the same one that powers the A-10 Warthog. It's the most reliable piece of equipment on the aircraft and that's all you need to know about it". He was half joking of course, but then proceeded to show us pictures of A-10 engines that had ingested FOD from low level bombing and strafing runs. The amount of external/internal damage was incredible, but the engines never failed, just kept on running. Supposedly, often times the damage wasn't discovered until performing routine inspections. Ended up logging 1600 hours sitting in front of those engines without nary a hiccup.

That completely bogus Apache claim came from the Texas National Guard crash thread.

The Air Force is determined to eliminate the A-10, despite there being a mandate for them to support the Close Air Support mission. And there is no other AF plane or training for CAS. There have been claims that the F-35 is the A-10's CAS replacement, but the F-35 has neither the loiter time nor the weapons load for that mission. More importantly, there is NO part of the F-35 training syllabus devoted to CAS. It is not simply having airframes that counts; it's the training. We learned in Vietnam that Forward Air Control and CAS is the most difficult, most demanding, and mentally most challenging air mission ever performed. It is NOT something you can simply do on a whim or sideline.

If the A-10 is completely retired, there will be no USAF CAS support for ground troops. None. That's going to cost a lot of lives.

Bluffview, We would be standing on top of one the bluffs near Wildcat Mt. state park 30 mi. south of Tomah and the A 10' would pass by below us. We would look down at the pilots at maybe 150-200 yards away. This was maybe 1980 ?.

No, but as a kid, I shot at many B-58 Hustlers with my BB gun flying over my grandmother's house.

IN ANG has done the flyover at the Indy 500 a few times. I've seen them at least once.


FWIW
L-R A10 practice projectile, 20mm dummy, 30mm (Apache) dummy, 30mm PGU13/B HEI. The HEI uses 2200 grains of propellant in every case. We dumped pallets of 45lb kegs. Pretty sure I've loaded more propellant in a day that some have in a lifetime.

The A-10 is too old, too slow, and too cheap for the Air Force.




Also seen as too expensive for an airframe whose only mission is supporting
other branches.


They should give it to the Marines, and give the pilots the option of going along.
😁😁😁.



The Marines happily improved and use helicopter designs the Army discarded decades ago. I'm sure they could take on A-10s, if the budget went with them.

Dillionbuck,

I seem to recall that they are quite effective on technicals and camel caravans....

The A-10 was based in Willow Grove, Naval Air Station, Pennsylvania. I live about 25 miles north as the crow flies. used to see them on a regular basis. Two ship mainly, but sometimes four ship… I sure do miss them, F4 phantoms and P3 Orians. Kind of interesting, there is a small static museum there. There’s an A4 Skyhawk on display. My buddy Captain Dino (machine )Peros was a marine aviator. We went there with his logbooks got the serial number and To his surprise, he had quite a few hours in that particular ship. He got a little choked up over it, he loved the A4. He was Carrier based with it.

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/live/giFh9fazY6I?si=Vf6DFA77dSLvb3z8[/video]




This guy has whacked over 700, this year!
Never knew camels were such a problem down under. Supposedly the strips are tasty, they have no way to handle the numbers killed.[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/live/giFh9fazY6I?si=Vf6DFA77dSLvb3z8[/video]

Hmmm. Won’t post the video

Lots of Apache helicopters around here. I believe it would be a little nerve wracking to see an A-10 coming in at you.