A tribute to the coolest awesomest kicka** airplane EVAR.

I'll admit, the A-10 is about the most badassed thing to ever fly.

And I was a Squid airplane fixer....

 

good share! these are some really cool/personal pics of the A-10.

 

A-10 has always been my favorite fighting plane. I love the sound of that gun!

 

Glad you like it guys!

I miss seeing them overhead flying out of the local base.

 

Hands down my favorite airplane. So cool you got to see one in person! My dad knew a few pilots so when I was 6 I got to sit in one!

 

.
Some of the top UASF and other military brass did not like the A-10 and not much love for the prime manufacturer, Fairchild, either.

Many thought it was not sexy enough and some thought that it was very ugly and not capable.

This all changed later when it proved all those bozos very wrong in its' primary role of CAS. Plus the plane could take a pounding and still get back to base.
.

 

During the tour one of the veteran pilots told us how he got half his wing shot off and lost an engine but was still able to fly cover until backup arrived.
Impressive to say the least.

 

deffinately the coolest sound in the world when they shoot. you can feel it in your chest. if you dont crack a smile, you're just not human.

 

Mini gun & Warthog

 

Where I grew up there was a bombing range near by. Not going to say where, but the warthogs would do practice runs and you could hear them from the three miles away. I was pretty young so my dad would take me to watch (hear). Won't ever forget that! It was cool growing up close to an air national guard base, the a-10s would fly over my neighborhood all the time. Sadly not anymore....

 

Most maintenance friendly aircraft I ever worked on.

 

the A10 is pretty bad ass...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w920CQ7uQ0Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrhoYnpgm-g

 

And the A10 driver has the unique status of being the only military jet pilot who has to worry about birdstrikes from the rear

 

YES! A= Attack 10= MPH. Also to launch it, the crew chiefs grab the homing antenna and push it down the runway at a healthy jog.

 

There's nothing finer than hearing the "Fart of Freedom"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bMfrixJyWc

 

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Stories1/001-100/0016_A-10-battle-damage/story0016.htm

 

So true...Sadly. Everybody thinks the new "Hot Shit" super fast & stealthy planes are the best, but it's hard to provide cover to those on the ground when screaming by at 500 Kts.

Plus, the way these take damage is 2nd to none... well, maybe the good ole B-17. What good is a $150 million aircraft if 1 bullet will bring it down.

And HomerTaco, thanks for sharing, awesome pictures!

 

I spent a good bit of time at the Grove and these were the only things that broke up the monotony of fixing life rafts. And when I was a helo crewman we did a CAS training mission and 2 A-10s came in at about the same level we were at, 200 ft or so, to drop bombs on a beach.

 

I work at a factory next to a small city airport and usually eat lunch outside on nice days. One day a few weeks ago I was eating lunch outside with my back facing the building and heard what sounded like a very large plane landing across the street. The noise got louder and louder until I was convinced that this plane was going to crash into the factory. Right at the moment I was going to jump up from the table and see what the shit was going on an A10 buzzed right over the building, directly overhead at about 50-75 ft. altitude. Right after the first a second one cruised over the building and over my head.

I was the only person outside and just sat there smiling with my jaw dropped. One of the coolest random occurrences to ever happen to me.