I really wonder about modern aircraft doctrine sometimes. Like… during the sandbox wars… the A10 was the perfect bird for the job. It can carry a ton of ordnance, and it’s built like a tank. Which, I suppose, is why it’s so good at opening tanks up! It was literally built to attack targets that can defend themselves quite well. Apparently they are easy to repair, and their resilience and reliability are legendary. Other than the bombers…there was virtually no real need for any of the other fighter/attack planes.
I have never seen a dead one before. Now that I think of it…I’ve never seen a dead magpie before either. They should be everywhere… and yet, I’ve not seen so much of a feather. I’ve seen tons of dead ducks and grouse.
I wonder how Darwin and Murphy pick their winners and losers sometimes.
Is a Norteamericano Magpie like a European one? The Aussie ones are nasty, only bird I ever had pecking and clawing bits out of my head because I wandered within 1/3 mile of its nest. Well, if you blow its brains out with .22 or a good air rifle it stops that behaviour, but its mate keeps it up until equality is achieved. Sad to see such a fine bird die, but I want my skull the way it was, before anyone forks it up worse than before. As for the A10, perhaps its finest moments could be seen if it hunted the roads of DC, because there are beaucoup heaps of carrion transported by chauffered car and we know since 11th Sep 2001 that there are no functioning air defences worth a droplet of lukewarm magpie poo anywhere near there. Otherwise, they wouldn't have magpies...
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Pretty certain that’s photoshopped. The gear are up. I fixed Hawgs for most of my USAF career., including during the first dance in the desert. They’re a mechanic’s dream and incredibly reliable.
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DeleteAbsolutely photoshopped.
DeleteI'd really like to hear the story behind that picture. I've seen and read about A-10's shot to pieces and still limping back to base. Triple redundant control systems, armor plating in all vital areas, the pilot sits in a titanium bathtub, and there are videos of machine gunfire bouncing off the canopy.
ReplyDeleteMagpies around here are carrion eaters, cleaning up roadkill. Occasionally I've seen a dead one that got a bit too cheeky with traffic trying to drag his lunch off to the side of the road.
Seeing a dead A-10 is as sad as seeing a dead American Eagle......
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I like Anons idea for DC. The A-10 is a great bird, but if we gave them to the Ukies, they would get shot down just like the rest of the Uke air force. Ivan isn't a raghead with 1st-2nd gen anti aircraft defenses.
ReplyDeleteA-10's were loved in the USAF Special Tactics community for CAS and calls for fire. The pilots were treated as one of us, a "ground guy", them and then Talon pilots werent like the rest of the zipper-suited sun gods. Eventually ST, and SMUs went with a small prop plane, even tried P-51' in a proof of concept for CAS replacement as these are phased out. Hell, even the A-7s would get slow and low, A-0 design was the best. Theres no money in a simple, efficient platform and war is all about money.
ReplyDeleteSpent years repairing F-4s, a mechanic's worst nightmare. Not one engineer designing the Phantom gave any thought to maintainability. Deployed to Nellis, a few of us F-4 guys checked out an A-10 in Phase dock. We almost fainted. We did not know ease-of-maintenance existed. The A-10 was so well designed that us F-4 types joked about being able to fix anything on an A-10 with a Leatherman.
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