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Old 04-13-2003, 11:06 AM   #1
Undertoad
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4/13/2003: A-10 Warthog injured



I had cleared out my cache of war images (hints taken) when someone whose name I can't link up to a Cellar userid (thank you, friend) sent this along, and it's too wild to pass up. This and three other images of the beast are here:

http://forums.prospero.com/tp-breakt...s/?msg=29530.1

Kind of interesting, the shots were sent home to the US and posted on this homebuilding forum which has nothing to do with military.

The thread points to an old-media story (link below) which tells you how the aircraft got into that condition. And notes that the pilot is Air Force Capt. Kim Campbell (yup, female). The story says you can see more images at www.a-10.org , but that site seems to be DOA.

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercuryne...aq/5592254.htm
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Old 04-13-2003, 12:07 PM   #2
tw
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Capt Campbell is said to be the first A-10 pilot to ever land a Warthog intact without hydralics. She was shot up over Baghdad the same day another Warthog was shot down.

Bad day. These are the best airplanes in the Air Force. All other planes basically serve a support function for the A-10. There are just not enough of them. My guess is that only 36 remain in service - about 1/3rd based in Willow Grove PA.
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Old 04-13-2003, 04:04 PM   #3
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There are about 267 A-10 and OA-10 variants in service.


This is THE plane pictured above.
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Last edited by xoxoxoBruce; 04-07-2007 at 06:09 PM.
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Old 04-13-2003, 10:19 PM   #4
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The 442nd Combat Wing (formerly the 442 Military Transport Wing..don't ask how they got from one to the other) used to be based at now-defunct Richards Gebaur Air Force Base here in Grandview, MO, where I live. Before they moved all operations there to Whiteman (yes, the same base where the B-2's live), the 'Hogs used to fly over my house several times a day. They are amazing aircraft, which is proven by these pics, beyond a doubt.

There are sexier, faster planes, but nothing is more manuverable, tougher or deadly to targets on the ground than an A-10.

Way to go, Hogs!
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Old 04-13-2003, 10:30 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally posted by Elspode
Before they moved all operations there to Whiteman (yes, the same base where the B-2's live), the 'Hogs used to fly over my house several times a day. They are amazing aircraft, which is proven by these pics, beyond a doubt.
My friend spent most of his 4 years over at Whiteman. His job: Guarding the B-2 with an M-16 12 hours a day, 5 days a week.
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Old 04-14-2003, 08:36 AM   #6
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How do you list that on a resume? "Major Skill?" "Staying awake during long perioids of extreme discomfort and boredom."

That's one of the reasons I stayed the hell away from the military...I would have ended up as a laundry clerk or something.

I've been to a couple of airshows at Whiteman in recent years (it is the closest one now that we don't have Richards-Gebaur anymore...they used to put on a *bitchin'* annual show, though). They feature the B2 quite prominently, although you don't get to get really close to it like the other, older aircraft. It is still pretty damn neat standing about 150' away from the taxiway and seeing it, though. It is a weird looking thing from the side. Looks more like the submarine from "Fantastic Voyage" than an aircraft in that profile.

I've got some pretty good video of the B2 from that perspective...I should digitize a bit of it and put it up on my web space.
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Old 04-14-2003, 12:07 PM   #7
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The only thing I didn't do on the B-2 program was actually ride along in the right seat. When they first arrived out there at Whiteman they took the mayor of the town (Knob Noster, MO) on a ride, I believe. Lucky bastard.

A friend forwarded the PowerPoint slide show of this aircraft to me. This is what I had to say in response:

"A-10s are built to be heavily armored - the cockpit is a titanium tub to protect the pilot from ground-based fire. They are simple aircraft, too. Not a lot of electronics, no fly-by-wire stuff, low pressure hydraulics, so not a lot to damage by AAA or automatic weapons fire, which is what that looks like. That also means this aircraft was very low when it took those hits, I think.

"I saw a B-52 at the Wright-Patterson AFB Air Force Museum that had about 20 000 man hours of damage repair on it. It was a Viet Nam War era relic. It was shot up pretty good, too."
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Old 04-14-2003, 12:13 PM   #8
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I've seen many demos, both in-air and on-ground of the A-10. One of the maintenance guys out at R-G once told me that they had essentially designed the rotary cannon, and then designed an aircraft around it that would allow them to put the weapon in the most favorable location for maximum effectiveness.

I think they did a hell of a job of that. The A-10 is one badass weapon, something to be feared when you see it coming at you over a battlefield, no matter what kind of armor you're driving.
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Old 04-17-2003, 07:54 PM   #9
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I used to be an Aircraft Battle Damage Repair (ABDR) engineer for A-10s at McClellan AFB. The EOD guys would come out and blow a hold in our retired A-10 so we could practice repair design. Since my assignment was after Desert Storm, but before Iraqi Freedom, I was never able to practice the art of ABDR in the field.

These planes can handle an amazing amount of damage before they are totally non-airworthy. I'm proud to have been associated with the A-10 and think it's the coolest airplane in the DoD!

Too bad Fairchild isn't around anymore, or we could pay them to make some more...
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Old 04-18-2003, 12:39 AM   #10
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I hate to say it, but the DoD would probably be better off with 747s.
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Old 04-18-2003, 03:38 PM   #11
xoxoxoBruce
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I hate to say it, but the DoD would probably be better off with 747s.
Say what? How in hell are you going to fly close air support with a 747? When the a-10 comes in to kill a tank or ground artillery position they can see the pilots face. When you can see a 747 pilots face, he's already crashed.
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Old 04-18-2003, 06:46 PM   #12
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Thank you Bruce!!!

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Old 04-18-2003, 09:58 PM   #13
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I once took down ( shot down ) an A10 , It was equiped with full miles gear ( lazer tag for you civi folks ) with an M60 .
My LT bought me a case of beer ..
We were at FT Irwin in the desert , being the bad guys for an entire Bragade of Army guys ( I am ex USAM ) . I got first blood of the entire engagement . They made is carry man pacs
( transponders that tracked our position and shots fired ) they kept stats on all of us , the top guns( the folks who stasticaly took the most good guys to kill us bad guys ) were presented with OPFOR(oposing force ) berets . I still have mine,,,
16 to 1 ratio

P.S.OH yeah A10's ROCK you can't hear them till they pass you
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Last edited by zippyt; 04-18-2003 at 10:01 PM.
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Old 04-18-2003, 11:04 PM   #14
Undertoad
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Thank you for your service.

But damn, Zip, how do they know for ABSOLUTE certain that the main gun on the A-10 nose is loaded with blanks...? I'd hate to stare that down, thinking that if somebody made a dumb mistake I was gonna be instantly perforated (and probably cut right in half).
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Old 04-19-2003, 12:32 AM   #15
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UT my miles gear didn't go beep ,, and the A10's blinker light and smoke pot weht off ,,, I was amazed , seeing as tough as an A10 is (TI bath tub and all ) Damn hard to shoot down ...
I saw 2 black bots comeing at us across the desert and said "sir we have incomeing ",, he said hit the deck !!!!! I said "sir i think i can take one down , he said do it ,,, i let loose ,, i lead it and the lights and the smoke pot went off and he did a barrel roll to show he had been hit .... I was stoked !!!!!!!!!! The LT called in to confirm ,,, I had first blood of the whole engagement !!!!!!
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