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.

Re: Sigh, A-10 warthog going away
 

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

Re: Sigh, A-10 warthog going away
 

"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

Re: Sigh, A-10 warthog going away
 

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!

Re: Sigh, A-10 warthog going away
 

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

Re: Sigh, A-10 warthog going away
 

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.

Re: Sigh, A-10 warthog going away
 

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!!

Re: Sigh, A-10 warthog going away
 

Re: Sigh, A-10 warthog going away
 

Group buy :tu

Re: Sigh, A-10 warthog going away
 

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

Re: Sigh, A-10 warthog going away
 

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