US Air Force Pilot Lands A-10 Thunderbolt (Warthog) On Michigan Highway And Films It On His GoPro
BY Herschel Smith
2 years, 7 months ago
Tell me this isn’t the coolest thing you’ve ever seen. In another life and another possible world I might have been an A-10 pilot.
Oh, and by the way, only fools want to retire the A-10. It’s the coolest aircraft flown by the USAF. I would request this job over any other.
On May 5, 2022 at 3:53 am, Glenn said:
I wonder if the pilot is jabbed with boosters and I wonder if he has a “pride” tapestry in his quarters.
On May 5, 2022 at 5:18 am, Joe Blow said:
John Anon, I dunno where you get your music, but…. I think they classify that sound track as guitar rock.
Best frickin plane ever built….
On May 5, 2022 at 5:23 am, Wes said:
Nice to see they still do that. Autobahns were going to be the alternative during the plane’s mission concept. What a great aircraft.
On May 5, 2022 at 8:56 am, Frank Clarke said:
I’m probably hallucinating, but it looked like the pilot turned the plane around inside its own length…
On May 5, 2022 at 8:56 am, 41mag said:
Even if the mission was crazy, I’d still fly an A-10. Best plane in the military to me.
On May 5, 2022 at 10:03 am, ArmyArmstrong said:
This is why I follow your site!!
On May 5, 2022 at 1:29 pm, Chris said:
I remember when some of “Genius Betters” thought this plane should go.
I can only hope there Career Advancement came to a screaming Hault.
On May 5, 2022 at 6:45 pm, rondo1342 said:
I was stationed in Korea three times while in USAF, and there’s several long, flat stretches of freeway all over the country that were purpose-built to serve as runways…not sure if they were intended as backups only or if they would immediately be used at the start of a conflict, for dispersal reasons.
On May 5, 2022 at 9:10 pm, Paul B said:
That kind of aircraft will always be needed. I think it was the A7 Corsair was doing it during Viet Nam. Seems like the A10 came out of that. Very good plane.
On May 5, 2022 at 9:54 pm, Brad said:
I build a lot of parts for the A-10. Cool aircraft. The DLA support team is exceptional. Solid Model for 90% of their parts. Best Aircraft the air force has. No, that distinction still belongs to the F16.
On May 5, 2022 at 10:38 pm, Herschel Smith said:
Never said best. Said “coolest.” Stand by my words.
On May 5, 2022 at 10:44 pm, Georgiaboy61 said:
@ Herschel
Re: “Oh, and by the way, only fools want to retire the A-10. It’s the coolest aircraft flown by the USAF. I would request this job over any other.”
Right on! This air-frame is an ace-in-the-hole for U.S. combat aviation and a true Godsend to grunts on the ground in need of tac-air support. One of the best values ever for the taxpayer’s hard-earned dollars so it figures that the clowns in the five-sided puzzle palace want to “retire” it. That would be a big mistake, because there is nothing waiting in the wings which is nearly so effective.
And old tech isn’t always bad or obsolete tech, either, as the B-52 Stratofortress heavy bomber has proven so well over the decades. It is approaching seventy years in service and still going strong.
Fun historical fact about the A-10 Thunderbolt: Legendary Luftwaffe ground attack pilot and the most-decorated military man in Germany during the wartime era 1939-1945, in the 1960s, Hans-Ulrich Rudel was asked by Fairchild Aviation to consult on the design features of the A-10, then on the drawing boards.
Rudel flew 2,530 missions, and claimed 51 aerial victories and over 800 vehicles and tanks destroyed. His design input resulted in the engine layout and numerous backup systems on the Thunderbolt, which made it more resistant to ground fire.
Though most of his missions were flown in a twin cannon-armed Junkers Ju-87 “Stuka” dive-bomber, he also piloted an FW-190 ground attack fighter in nearly 500 missions.
Rudel’s unsavory fascist political leanings persisted after the war, but few people can find fault with his design recommendations for the A-10.
On May 6, 2022 at 3:43 am, Plague Monk said:
To each their own; I trained as a weapons mechanic(USAF 462XX) many years ago, and the instructors at Lowry tech school “disliked” the A-10. I worked on F-4s until we got the first operational F-16 unit, but I serviced the A-10s when they came to the base. Total POS as far as I was concerned, especially compared to the F-16.
Years later, when I was in college for history, one project was done asking whether it was worth keeping the A-10, and on the F series, keeping the guns. My view was to get rid of the guns on every aircraft, give the A-10s to the Army and focus USAF on acquiring and maintaining air supremacy. I still hold that view, some thirty plus years later.
Anyone who had to work on the guns in both the F-4s and the F-16s hated them with the fire of a thousand suns. I only serviced a few F-15s, and the planes that visited had deactivated their guns, because of the problems with them.
On May 6, 2022 at 3:55 am, Plague Monk said:
As a Mech. Designer, shortly before the Kung-Flu hit, I worked a contract for an avionics shop, and there were several aircraft, both civilian and military, that I was tasked with working to upgrade the avionics black boxes. The civilian aircraft were technically more challenging, the civil aviation planes were straight out fun to work on, and even most of the military planes and helis had good drawings. Except for the A-10, which I had to model 3 black boxes.
The engineering documentation was a total “mess”(we used much stronger language), and figuring out how to install them in the aircraft meant a lot of 80 hour weeks. I’m still not happy with the way they were mounted, but USAF signed off, client got paid, and I was able to keep my wife and cats living indoors.
On May 6, 2022 at 11:06 am, TRX said:
“The General Electric GAU-8: The Gun So Awesome They Put Wings on It.”
The “Fairchild-Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II” is simply the GAU-8’s mobility platform, in the same way a horse-drawn cart was the mobility platform for an old-school Gatling gun. Which is appropriate, since the GAU-8 is a descendant of Richard Jordan Gatling’s 1861 invention.
The airframe has an array of hardpoints for attaching bombs and missiles if the GAU-8’s services aren’t needed. A fully-loaded Warthog looks like a flying junkyard once they get finished dressing it out.
There have been bigger and more powerful guns, and even recoilless cannons, mounted on airplanes, some before WWII. But none of them match the GAU-8 for laying down sustained whoop-ass.
On May 7, 2022 at 10:05 pm, Chuck Connors said:
When the Schumer hits the fan we will be fighting people such as that. We have to sneak in, hit their logistics, hit ’em while they’re on the ground re-fueling and then book back to the boonies.
If you make fist-sized caltops, sneak in at night and sow ’em on the road; when the ‘hogs take off they’ll puncture their tires, skid off the road and make a brilliant, fire works style explosion!