Vick wrote:

marcusofcotton wrote:

Headoutdaplane wrote:It is an awesome thing too hear the snaps of hundreds of rounds coming over your head followed soon after by the throaty hummm of the rounds going off, and then the a-10's engine noise as he jinks away (yes, it happens in that exact order from the ground).

Would be interesting to hear an audio clip of this, anyone know of any?

Mark J

You can pretty well imitate it if you burp really loud as an airbus flies by

If you purse your lips really loudly, and go 'bbbbtttt' at the same time you'll be pretty close... watch the YT video and you'll be amazed at how close it sounds!

I would think the F-35 is way too much airplane for the A-10 mission, and besides... the F-35 doesn't have the GAU-8 Avenger.

Cheers from snowy Denver!

Alan

46TCRFT wrote:Go to u-tube punch in A-10. Plan on waisting hours watching a wounderful aircraft in action.

ps. where at in mn?

Very interesting ... and time consuming
I'm in Cotton, Northeastern MN, about 4 miles west of the upcoming Long Lake flyin on Feb 18th. Yourself?

Mark J

Hi Mark, I'm just west of mpls. What can you tell me about the flyin? Skies are on but no snow and no place to go. If its public let me know.
Thanks 46tcrft

46TCRFT wrote:Hi Mark, I'm just west of mpls. What can you tell me about the flyin? Skies are on but no snow and no place to go. If its public let me know.
Thanks 46tcrft

gps coordinates: N 47* 09.454
W 92* 17.095

If you cant find it with gps, it is located 7 miles east of the town of Cotton MN, which is on highway 53 north of Duluth, MN.

11:00 Feb 18th on the lake, wheels or skis, over 40 aircraft some years.

Littlecub wrote:

."I am in charge now." Of course constitutionally he was wrong. But those were scary moments for our nation.

Just a tenny bit to Al's defense.....
NOBODY else (including the VP) was stepping up amid all of the ongoing terminal confusion, and SOMEBODY needed to 'step up'.....
Of course Al could have/should have thought a little more before he spoke, but I believe his intentions were good.
Of course the media, who always hated 'Vietnam Al', pilloried him.

Such things make life interesting,
lc

Little Cub,

Totally agree with you. I admired the General for filling the gap. My comment about "scary moment for our nation" was intended to imply that someone needed to step up and Al Haig did it. I failed to communicate that impression.

By the way...I watched the situation unfold on TV and all I could think about...... was being a 16 year old kid when word of Pres. Kennedy's murder was announced.

Bob

Bob,
I did completely miss your intent. Glad we see it the same.

I was in SAT when the Cuban missile crisis happened. SAT and all its MIL bases were (considered) within the range of those missiles in Cuba. The CIA didn't know how many were operational, but figured SAT MIL bases to be very high on the list of targets. (They were NUCLEAR missiles.)
I saw JFK the afternoon before he was assassinated (in SAT also). Yes, those WERE very scary times. It wasn't just scary for us kids/teens, it was scary as hell for the adults. During the missile crisis military men were packing up and sending their families considerably (2 or 3 states) inland. Rumor was it (evac) started with the high up officers who knew the situation as well as anybody anywhere. I really think the world dodged an awfully big 'bullet' when Russia/Nikita Khrushchev (and JFK-with our Greek missiles) backed down. NK was pretty erratic, so it could have been Nuclear Holocaust time.

lc

Littlecub,

That was the closest that the world ever came to nuclear war. I recall holding my breath and wondering if our world was about to end. It's been a long time but if I recall correctly the negotiations were all "back alley"...friends of friends of enemies. Also, again from distant memory.... in exchange didn't we agree to remove some old Jupiter missiles from Turkey that threatened the Soviet Union?

Seem like a long time ago and it was. But the cold war left a chill over my childhood. The thought of instant death and world destruction was ever on my mind. Living in quiet, rural Indiana, farm country....I recall lying in bed many nights, upon hearing a sonic boom and then the roar of jet engines, which was common in those days....I'd lay there breathing softly, wondering if the boom was that of an atomic bomb.

The world is still a scary place today and mass destruction is still possible. However total nuclear war....like we imagined for decades ....is highly unlikely.

Bob

A-10 vs. F-35 opinions...on a backcountry aviation site...?

OK...which one can haul in me n my other half to Fish Lake for a nice weekend?

From the sky looking down I guess the F-35 is pretty cool, but I am guessing if you are in the weeds the A-10 would be the choice.

Sorta like the ground pounders in Nam most probably would rather have seen an A-1 Skyraider than an F-4 show up on station when the fecal matter hit the fan.

Newer is not necessarily better when it comes to ground support.

Just my $0.02

$30,000 per flight hour? Makes my operating costs look downright affordable.

I guess I shouldn't be too happy about that, since my money is paying for both.

I read the article in the link. It is just crazy how much money our government spends (wastes). 3/4 TRILLION for ONE weapons system? Is there ever an end to this madness?

TomD wrote:From the sky looking down I guess the F-35 is pretty cool, but I am guessing if you are in the weeds the A-10 would be the choice.

The A-10 has had a very high fratricide rate. I wish I had the numbers in front of me to quote but I don't. It lacks some of the systems that gives the pilot SA over where the good guys are and where the bad guys are.

I still think the airplane is cool, and it absolutely has the ability to give a good "show of force". No enemy is going to stick there head up with the sound of that gun overhead.

Just food for thought.

The A-10 has a definite advantage over ANY weapons system out there as a CAS platform. Sure, it is slow, but it has much better loiter time than a 16 or what the 35 will have. Yes, it is purpose built, but it does that one job extremely well. When I was flying tac ISR in Afghanistan, the guys on the ground loved A-10s, and would specifically request them whenever they could. The flexibility of the aircraft is amazing. A 16 would have to drop a bomb to do what the A-10 can do in a strafing run. During Operation River Dance in 2010, the A-10s shot more pounds of 30mm rounds than F-15Es dropped pounds of bombs during the same time period. The gun gives them an accurate, low risk of collateral option that they just won't have with the 35. As for the A-10s having a high rate of frat, most of those instances were issues of poor communication. Any aircraft filling the role of the A-10 would see frat rates at a similar level. It is unfortunate, but sometimes that kind of stuff happens, whether it is an A-10 doing the shooting or a JDAM being dropped by a 15E. As long as we are in a low intensity, COIN operation, the A-10 has a job and should be kept around, even if it means the Army gets them(which as an Air Force guy almost makes me throw up in my mouth).

This article sounds like the F-35, and some of the top sticks from the various branches, are going nowhere fast.

Must be frustrating to be one of the select few F-35 jockeys, having to spend all your time doing nothing but sim training and taxi tests.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46539898/ns/us_news-security/

DBI wrote:Just two weeks ago I had the privilage of flying with the Air Force pilot who has logged the most hours ever in an A-10 (now retired). His custom license plate even read "A-10 Prof". He was one of two CFI's that helped me get my tail wheel endorsement. He was such a great guy and I had so many quesitons, so I will summarize it for you....."the A-10 is awesome" !

Ron Henry! Hes a great CFI. I know mikey quite well too. Fly around in 49K? Im supposed to go hang out with Mikey sometime soon and do some mountain flying.

As for the A10, i think it is one of those airplanes that cannot be replaced. It has such an amazing ability for close air support and incredible durability. Truly an airplane that fits its mission. I remember talking to Ron Henry about them and he thinks that they are one of those airplanes that for what the US is doing right now in the middle east, its a one of a kind thing. F35? cool airplane but i dont think it should phase out the hog.

Don't forget that during the Vietnam "conflict", the Air Force pulled a bunch of AD Skyraiders out of the boneyard at D-M to fulfill the role of mud mover, cause the Air Force really didn't have a mud mover at the time.

The A-10 was purpose built to kill Soviet tanks in a ground war in Europe initially, and like many other aircraft, found a somewhat different role as events unfolded.

So, in a few years, who knows? The AF may go shopping at D-M again for mud movers.

MTV