Warbird Information Exchange

As a fighter pilot in the USAF, assuming you could not longer fly Strike Eagles, would you transition to A-10's if given the chance? If not, why?

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Scott Rose
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Yes.

In fact, I really wanted to go to the Hog for most of my military career. When I was a ROTC cadet going through college I used to have this die-cast A-10 sitting on my desk as a reminder of the goal.

Really neat airplane, really capable airplane, although it has some significant vulnerabilities becuse of its speed and where it operates.

When I was going through initial training, I changed my mind after flying some quasi air-to-air...I realized that I wanted to do a little of that, too, so the F-15E was a better fit for me. Luckily there was one available and I had grades high enough to be selected for it.

So, yes, I'd love to fly one.

But why would anyone want to leave the Mud Hen? Especially since you guys got to be the first ones to take the SDB into action (not to mention be the first operational deployment of the SNIPR XR on the Mud Hen too).

I know a couple of guys here stateside that are envious of you guys in the 492 & 494. They claim that you guys get all the toys first and that they think they should have gotten it first since they're supposed to be the "premier" Strike Eagle unit.

Snipers have actually all ready deployed with the last two F-15E rotations. Great pod...really adds a lot of interesting capabilities.

As for SDB....hmmm....well, we shall see. A pretty boring weapon from an aviator's standpoint but could have a lot of promise in a different war than the one we're in.

I don't know why Lakenheath was the first place to get Snipers and SDBs. It has not always been that way. When I was at SJ, we were the first to get Link 16, so it really all depends.

So, I never said I wanted to leave...but if I had to, I could handle the A-10.

F-15E...A-10...give me a break...you know you really want to fly a Herk!

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"Everyone wants to live here (New Jersey), evidenced by the fact that it has the highest population per capita in the U.S..."

Everybody wants to fly a Herk Scott!

i've made more than one fighter guy who was standing behind me take a seat during a real assault landing.. use to qual the F15 Test guys at edwards and then demo assault landings for them on the lake bed.. opened many an eye..

jcw

Well, It certainly shows how times have changed. In the early 1980s, it seemed like nobody wanted to fly Hogs. Even the Herky guys made fun of us! I think I even caught crap from a Tweet guy once.

I've often wondered why the Marines don't use the A-10, rather than the Harrier. Nothing against the Harrier or anything, but it just seems that the A-10 would fit nicely in the ground support role that the Marines would typically need. Just my opinion.

Gary

I've wondered that myself.

When I was 12, a pair of A-10s made some mock bomb runs on our barn. It was just about the coolest thing I had ever seen!

I got to see an A-10 demo at an air show many years ago. I hafta say that it was *VERY* impressive!!! That baby could turn on a dime and give you 3 cents change!!!

Cheers!

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Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Port Charlotte, Florida

Marines won't take anything that can't be carrier based.

A-10 act at Biggin Hill in the UK (81st TFW? from Woodbridge anyway) about 20 years ago involved a steep climb to several thousand feet, a leisurely roll to inverted followed by a half loop back to about 100ft... For those of you who know Biggin, this was off the northern end of the runway, not over the deep valley to the south. Held my breath during that rapid descent but, no sweat, bags of space. Followed by a rip-roaring, fast rolling, sharp pitching low level display... one of the best ever!

Following weekend at Mildenhall it was a friend's turn to hold his breath during that initial roll and pull through...

A few weeks ago a pair of A-10's "straffed" my car around Nashua, nothing too serious though in ATC space but the two of them passing overhead and pulling away was awesome. It's pretty much my favorite plane in service.

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Scott Rose
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Ahh, good point. Didn't think about that. Thanks Randy.

However, that brings up another question (perhaps a stupid one).....Did Republic ever build a prototype Navy version of the A-10, or was there one on the drawing boards?

Gary