The Best Hog Is A Filthy Hog

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Winston

Winston

Lorenzo von Matterhorn
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The Best Hog Is A Filthy Hog: If USAF Had Its Way This Jet Wouldn't Be Devouring ISIS
This photo reminds us that the A-10 is a hard working, ferocious and versatile jet, that has had to fight for its life overseas and on Capitol Hill - by Tyler Rogoway - July 13, 2017

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...ad-its-way-this-jet-wouldnt-be-devouring-isis

Excerpt:

"This awesome shot, showing a A-10C Warthog bristling with a diverse array of weaponry, and its belly a sooted and greasy mess from continued firing of its GAU-8 Avenger 30mm cannon, is a reminder of just how relevant this aircraft still is today. And if the USAF had its way years ago, it wouldn't have had the chance to prove that it can be among the most deadly platforms when it comes to tearing apart Islamic State fighters and their material in Iraq and Syria, and it has been very busy doing just that.

"Seen under its wings from right to left are a pair of AIM-9M Sidewinders, a AN/AAQ-28 LITENING targeting pod, a 500lb GBU-12 laser guided bomb, a 500lb GBU-54 Laser JDAM, a 2,000lb GBU-31 JDAM, a AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground missile, a LAU-131 2.75 inch rocket pod with seven rockets (or laser guided rockets), and another GBU-12 to round out the load-out. Of course, there's also the big drum of ammunition we can't see that holds 1,174 rounds of coke bottle-sized PGU-14 armored piercing incendiary or PGU-13 explosive incendiary ammunition. For ripping up the Islamic State, the PGU-13 is the flavor of choice.

"The A-10 is truly a "blue collar" plane. One that works tirelessly for its very survival and in doing so it wreaks absolute destruction on America's enemies. That's precisely why the most beautiful A-10 is one that is filthy and banged up from constant attacks on the bad guys. In essence, a begrimed and grungy Warthog means the enemy is dying, our allies on the ground are living, and the A-10 is proving its worth so that it can live to fight another day.







 
When I first learned to fly long ago. I lived in Muncie In.. they had A10's at Grissom and one of our Corporate Pilots was in Reserves and flew them. He use to come to Muncie and put on a show.... goose bumps!
 
It's funny when I read the title I was thinking The best hog is a Warthog. Clicked on it and lo and behold that is exactly what you were talking about.

Not far from where I grew up, about 30 miles, and where I still live, is England Air Park, which used to be England Air Force Base and A-10s were stationed there at one time. When I was a kid the A-10 was a familiar sight flying over the house. They live-fired on Fort Polk which is even closer to where I live. My dad worked on the range they used and sometimes was allowed to snap some pics. We were so close that the impact of bombs and rockets would rattle the house and scare the living crap out of our out-of-town relatives. We wouldn't even hear it, we were so used to it. In fact, when Space Shuttle Columbia exploded, lots of folks in the area said they felt the shockwave and heard the boom. We don't know if we did or not, living so close the the impact areas of JRTC and Fort Polk, booms were just an everyday thing.

The "brrrpp" was a familiar sound as was the whine of those two engines. We knew it was an A-10 when we heard it coming. On occasion they would fly over with what looked like a full package of ordinance, bombs, rockets, missiles, etc. I hated to see them leave England.

Last time I remember seeing them live fire was about seven years ago and they were dropping bombs into an impact area just a few miles from where I was working at the time - building a training village at JRTC. I know they have been around since but can't remember the last time I heard the gun.

I wanted to join the Air Force to fly one but physical limitations would have kept me from the cockpit so I didn't join at all. My dad kinda discouraged me from joining as well. He served but didn't really want us boys to. My granddad was in the Navy at Pearl Harbor and then went on to join and retire from the Air Force.
 
Nothing better than a filthy HOG...

To decimate those filthy bastards...
 
r66astro said:
When I first learned to fly long ago. I lived in Muncie In.. they had A10's at Grissom and one of our Corporate Pilots was in Reserves and flew them. He use to come to Muncie and put on a show.... goose bumps!
Click to expand...

I saw one at an airshow one time sans weaponry and apparently very light. The pilot could really whip it around in the air with careless abandon. Very impressive. Slow flight was really something. Kurt
 
Ain't she sexy in all that mascara!
In the 80s, the USAF was talking about getting rid of them, the Army wanted them, then the 1st Gulf War broke out and suddenly they were indispensable. The ground troops have stated several times that "if the Warthog is overhead, we can rest a little easier." Why? The F-16 nor the F-35 can maneuver or carry the fire power like the A-10 does. The F-16 bless it's heart has a thirsty engine and little fuel capacity. Down low, in its habitat, nothing can compare to the A-10. Its not sexy. It doesn't go fast or have those sexy catch words like stealthy (snore), supersonic, or fly-by-wire (its mechanical linkage gives it an advantage) . It punches holes! VERY big holes as it was designed to do and does it repeatedly with 9 stations of boom and the 30mm cannon. If you're an enemy troop, by the time you hear the engines whine overhead, your day is finished. We had one land in Saudi with so many holes in it, Rescue was amazed the airframe held together. The hog is a heavy weight prize fighter. Unfortunately, IMO, the USAF once again made a grievous error in judgement like the F-23 and F-17 (F-18) fiasco and bought the F-35. The F-23 was superior to the F-22. The F-17 came at a time when the USAF wanted away from the expense of twin engine fighters and the F-16 won out. My instructor pilots would tell you in a heartbeat that at altitude where they are designed to operate, the F-18 is a beast to beat in a turning or straight line dog fight. The A-10, like the P-47 and P-38 will go in the books as one of the all time greatest ground support airframes ever built.
 
Probably around 1982 or so while still in college, I walked up to one at an airshow in Topeka, KS. Not very many were crowded around the plane (not glamorous enough I guess back then), so I had some time with the pilot to discuss a few things. He even let me climb a ladder to look right down one of the 30mm barrels, and eventually I was allowed to sit in the cockpit under his watchful eye. I came away with deep impressions and an awe of the raw destructive power that war machine wielded.

Later on, in 1991 while I was working in Tennessee, Desert Storm began. Many co-workers were yammering on about Saddam's tank army and how it was going to be months if not years before we gained the upper hand. I asked a few of them, "Do you know what an A-10 Warthog is, and what it can do to a tank?" Blank stares. I said, it can rip through one of Iraq's tanks like a chainsaw through a Styrofoam cup, and that the conflict would be resolved very quickly. Later on, when the in-plane footage was shown on network TV, of just that happening, the co-workers asked how I knew this. Back to story of the airshow in 1982.
 
I've always loved the "Warthog". It's a big crowd-pleaser at the annual Chicago Air Show.
Got to see one up close at the Oshkosh Airshow in 91' or 92'. I was totally blown away by the size of it's Avenger cannon. Reading specs is not the same as seeing first hand.
 
Tobor said:
I've always loved the "Warthog". It's a big crowd-pleaser at the annual Chicago Air Show.
Got to see one up close at the Oshkosh Airshow in 91' or 92'. I was totally blown away by the size of it's Avenger cannon. Reading specs is not the same as seeing first hand.
Click to expand...

My understanding of the design of the A10.

It was not an airplane fitted with a cannon.

It was a cannon fitted with an airplane.

A10vs20mm.jpg
 
aerostadt said:
The Air Force is planning to re-wing A-10's.

https://www.nationaldefensemagazine...19-seeks-capabilities-for-multi-domain-battle
Click to expand...

What we REALLY need is a new A-10 replacement built on the same design philosophy but with modern capabilities. We've flown the ever lovin snot out of those airplanes over the last 40+ years, far beyond the original design life. She's a fierce capability as long as we employ it with air superiority assured and a low-ish anti-air threat. You'll not see Warthogs taking on a double digit SAM, or playing anywhere near around one. Love my Hogs, but it's time for an all new one.
 
Viperfixr said:
What we REALLY need is a new A-10 replacement built on the same design philosophy but with modern capabilities. We've flown the ever lovin snot out of those airplanes over the last 40+ years, far beyond the original design life. She's a fierce capability as long as we employ it with air superiority assured and a low-ish anti-air threat. You'll not see Warthogs taking on a double digit SAM, or playing anywhere near around one. Love my Hogs, but it's time for an all new one.
Click to expand...
We seem to be completely unable to specialize anything that's not a drone. Hey, that gives me a great idea....
 
Been trying to get a decent shot or two from my phone of the group in town training at MacDill -
They aren't great and even being a block or two off base- its true, by the time you hear em - your late :wink:
ruw7sg.jpg

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aypxys.jpg
 
I saw this today though it was cool and this would be a good place to share. The rest of the sort and pictures at the link.
https://theaviationist.com/2017/08/...th-anniversary-of-the-107th-fighter-squadron/
[h=1]U.S. AIR FORCE A-10 WARTHOG GETS RARE “NON-STANDARD MARKINGS” TO COMMEMORATE THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 107TH FIGHTER SQUADRON[/h]Although throughout its career it has sported some different camouflage schemes (including the spotted one, worn by the aircraft of the 57th Tactical Training Wing for ex. JAWS in 1978 or the test camo one of the 349th Wing AFRES in 1995), the U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II has rarely been painted with celebrative liveries: indeed, shark, snake or warthog’s mouths aside, the “Hawg” has been limited in terms of special liveries.Some examples of “non-standard markings” are the D-Day Invasion stripes, applied to an A-10A of the 45th FS in 1994 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the D-Day or the special scheme applied in 2003 to the A-10A “Black Lightning” of the 118th FS/103rd FW of the Connecticut Air National Guard (a paint job applied on the standard two-tone grey camouflage that commemorated the 118th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron P-51 Mustang in WWII).
 

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