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Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II — Gun with a Plane Around It

Discussed on this forum before but always a great story ...

One of the Warthog's best stories ever, Colonel Kim "Killer Chick" Campbell stayed in the battle in Iraq protecting soldiers on the ground while getting her A-10 blown to pieces. She flew it back to base on the 3rd, and last, manual backup system and landed safely. The aircraft had never been flown that far or ever been landed on the last backup system before. Some say the 3rd backup system was only there to try and get some distance from the battle before ejecting.

What a great plane and pilot. You can find story after story about this great story on the web.
 
i loved the a-10 as a kid. they reminded me of offensive linemen or some reason. I've seen them fly through the lehigh valley in pa while skiing. they fly low and slow and give the skiers quite a show. i see how they can strike fear into the hearts of bad guys.
 
When I lived in PA use to drive up to the mountains (Indiantown Gap) by the range that the PA ANG used for its A-10 practice. Fun days, those guns get loud in a valley .... lol
They tried to kick us out a few times, but since we were on PA State game land, they couldn't do a thing.
 
That is so cool about the plane recycling it's spent ammo, so as not to have it drop on friendlies! I never knew that! It's too bad that it was designed with the war in Vietnam in mind and yet did not appear until after the war. I wonder if it would have made an impact in those conditions.
 
We have those stationed at the local reserve station (Gowen field). They would fly over the city often. About then years ago, one crashed in the dead of night in a field just out side of the city limits. The pilot stayed with the plane to insure it missed inhabited areas and died in the crash. Very unfortunate, but his bravery save the lives of those in the area.

As long as there are troops on the ground engaged in combat there will always be a need for a support aircraft that can take a beating, deliver surgical strikes, and loiter over the battle field for long periods. Ugly as some think this plane is, I always had a fondness for it.
 
I was fishing in a canyon on the Talkeetna River in Alaska one summer when I heard something making a “HUSHHH” sound. I looked up to see a pair of A-10’s from Eielson AFB cruising overhead. Fortunately there were no marauding brown bears I could see nearby so I was not in need of their services 😜
 
Interesting article. Had the opportunity to see the A10 in action at Fort Hood, Tx.
But I noticed that the author referred to the F-16 as a "VIPER". I worked for the Air Force for many years at Bergstrom AFB, and we always called the F-16 the "Falcon".
 
Winchester67 said:
I lost a good friend in the first Gulf War that was a Warthog pilot. Never heard a bad word spoken about the Warthog in combat from troops on the ground, and would raise my fist to anyone that did.
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I don't know if it's the same pilot, but our ALO in the Gulf War traded the assignment with an A-10 pilot who didn't want to be with a ground unit. Our ALO wanted the ground job so gladly came to us. During the air campaign, his friend who he traded with was killed. Like I said, don't know if it was the same pilot.
 
twowoodenbears1982 said:
Interesting article. Had the opportunity to see the A10 in action at Fort Hood, Tx.
But I noticed that the author referred to the F-16 as a "VIPER". I worked for the Air Force for many years at Bergstrom AFB, and we always called the F-16 the "Falcon".
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I think the F-16 is on about Block 8 improvements making it quite a departure from the Fighting Falcon. I had two assignments as a civilian with the AF and never heard anything but "Viper" when referring to the F-16.
 
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