Sigh, A-10 warthog going away
 

http://news.yahoo.com/end-looms-us-a...115956604.html

Heavy sigh. Worked on the combat simulator for this and other combat systems back in the 80s as part of the original DARPA SimNet program. Used to love flying these around on Friday evenings with a beer in one hand carving a hole through legions of tanks, APCs and Bradleys with the simulator set to unlimited ammo and no ground (that is, we could fly below the ground and pop up for shots). We used to have so many simulators running on beer and pizza night... but it was purely for quality control purposes, I assure you.

Re: Sigh, A-10 warthog going away
 

I want to try the simulator.
The warthog is arguably one of the most diehard, useful, and iconic planes of the US mil.
BUFF, Fast Movers, Warthogs. What couldn't you do with an air force solely made up of those three?

Re: Sigh, A-10 warthog going away
 

Pretty sure the "no ground" thing doesn't work IRL, cheater.

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With the role it played on our arsenal, im sure they are planning on a replacement.

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"fast movers"? I do not think that this means what you think it means. It's a very slow close combat support plane, which is why the Army loves it and the Air Force hates it. Close combat is a primary Army need but multi-role is the primary Air Force one. Gonna be hard to replace no matter what.

SimNet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIMNET

Re: Sigh, A-10 warthog going away
 

Neither does "unlimited ammo" but not one said that war was fair :D

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Edwin they aren't replacing it with a new specialized plane, just one of the new fighters. It's too bad, saw many many many of them do their thing in Desert Storm, quite the sight!

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One tough and nasty little platform for its task, but a fleet in excess of 300 aircraft does seem a bit much for the threats we face at present.

Yet with the Army telling Congress it wants no more Abrams tanks, as it is fully equipped PLUS has thousands mothballed, yet still the contractor is making them over these objections, I can't see the harm in keeping maybe as much as a third of the A-10s in service, even if with some other branch if the Air Force jet jockeys dislike it so much.

Edit: Oh, and let's not forget the Navy's Littoral ships, which even they admit is flawed.

Edit 2: Or the massive cost overruns and delays in the F-35 program.

Re: Sigh, A-10 warthog going away
 

That's to bad. The A-10 was one of my favorite aircraft. Any time you have to move the nose gear to make room for a bigger gun! That's a winner in my book.

Those AF pilots just don't like to fly slow.

Re: Sigh, A-10 warthog going away
 

A fine aeroplane!

http://www.montgomeryaviationphotogr...a10rlbank2.jpg

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Another thing about A-10s, women pilots in combat the percentage of female combat pilots is small I think there are around 50, but many of them are / were A-10 pilots.

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Fast Movers. F-4 Phantom. BUFF. Big Ugly Fat Fellow. B-52. 3 iconic aircraft. The F-4 would be outclassed by a number of very small countries air forces today, but for 30+ years, useful in its varied platforms in a variety of tasks.

Re: Sigh, A-10 warthog going away
 

Ah! My bad. Thanks for the clarification. If I didn't work on it, I probably don't know the nicknames. My personal tie to the movie The Hunt for Red October is in having written the hardware simulator for the torpedo side of the P3 Orion ASW/SOW.

Re: Sigh, A-10 warthog going away
 

Some guys are flying BUFFs that were flying before THEY were born! And, the BUFF seems to be hanging on and on and on.

Re: Sigh, A-10 warthog going away
 

I wanna buy one!!

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Re: Sigh, A-10 warthog going away
 

Group buy :tu

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Three generations of B-52 pilots
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...w-Vietnam.html

Re: Sigh, A-10 warthog going away
 

Adam can buy the fuel!!! :tu

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Oh, thank goodness, I read the title and thought Mr. Mark was sending me to a gulag.

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Re: Sigh, A-10 warthog going away
 

I ain't gonna lie. I got a chub reading that Scotty.

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I almost fainted by the shear awesomeness of that post scotty

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I've always heard that the grunts have been aching to get their hands on these. Can you imaging these flown by Marines?

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I work at a hospital here in Stuart, FL and every year we have an airshow nearby. The hospital is right next to the ocean and that area is also where the jets, planes, and blimps come to, to turn around so one day I was working helping a patient when in the window an A-10 fly's by and the pilot actually gave us a bit of a show and I just couldn't get over how maneuverable the warthog and was just beautiful watching it. One of my favorite memories working there.

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They've been talking about doing this for over two decades, starting not too long after DESERT STORM, IIRC. Back then the plan was to have the F-16 take over the CAS mission. I'm not sure what they're going to do now.

It's my wife's and stepfather's favorite planes and both are sad to see them go. I was at Davis-Monthan in the late '90's and when my folks visited my stepfather and I would grab some cold beers and watch the A-10s flying around from my apartment's balcony.

Re: Sigh, A-10 warthog going away
 

I will never forget seening them clear a whole valley in Afganistan with just two passes and a whole of of firepower. I know i owe my life to some of those sexy, supper fine a$$, terrist scaring, awesome fire power plane.

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I remember them when I was a kid. They flew practice bombing runs all the time and would come roaring over what seemed like tree-top high. Slow and loud. They could turn in a Tupperware bowl. I always wanted to shoot that gun with depleted U bullets. Pretty bad ass.

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I just want a surplus nose cannon....:r

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I know one air wing of the MI Air National Guard flies these. I wonder what they'll be flying now? I used to work a couple of miles from Selfridge Field in Mount Clemens, MI so seeing them was a daily thing. Wait, I just looked it up; they also fly KC-135 tankers, so...

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Yeah, the Mi ANG stopped flying those a number of years ago. Based near Battle Creek- their nickname was the "Cereal Killers!"

In theory, if you kept firing the nose gun you would actually stop the plane from moving forward!

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As I work on an AF base and we have one on permanent display and have seen a broke on on the line, people really don't grasp how huge these birds are until you are face to face with that massive Gatling gun in the front of these monsters!

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The A-10 has always had a place in my heart since I was 11. There was an air show put on at the local municipal airport in Sugar Land, TX...and the main act were 2 A-10's performing their ground strike maneuvers. Before they were set to perform, low clouds had rolled in. They went ahead with the show, and it was awe-inspiring. They were drifting in and out of the clouds like no other aircraft I'd seen before.

Since then I've favored them for their appearance...their sound...and their safety record. It's ugly, slow, and deadly. There will never be another like it. Unlike the SR-71, it didn't crush records...just the skulls and spirits of those looking to do evil to our ground troops...one depleted uranium round at a time. RIP 'Hog!!! :salute:

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I can, and it's a BEAUTIFUL sight :tu

The A-10 is my third favorite plane. First being the Tomcat and second being the Blackbird.

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I am sure rumours of it's demise are premature, lol. When a classic is a true classic, it never dies erhem, B-52, ehem....
They are throwing so many billions down the F-35 hole, trust me, they'll be flying A-10 s after I am dead. news story
or NO news story. My favorite is of course the only one i ever worked on or flew in. but the A-10 is another story altogether.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1d6aa87c.jpg

Re: Sigh, A-10 warthog going away
 

F4 Phantom? Brad.

Re: Sigh, A-10 warthog going away
 

F4, in fact.