The A-10 Saved My *** More Than Once...

polara66hardtop said:
They were there, as when in Oct 70' at Sheppard AFB a staged F-15 was in the hangar, and Mechanics were being trained to work on it. It was chosen in in 67'. I was in Helicopters,(43130B) and really wanted to work on the new Fighter. and I remember sitting at a squadron commanders call in Minot AFB showing the F-15 flying, and setting a climb rate record not ever seen(.JUly 1972) It joined the fleet in 76'.
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It appears we are both partially right. According to a couple of sources I've researched, the F-15 went into service in 1976, and first flew in 1972. The design was chosen in 1967. It could not have been in Vietnam, because it was not yet in service. Perhaps the year you saw the F-15 in the hangar, staged, was not the year you are thinking. It did not exist in 1969.

There is plenty of evidence of F-4, -104, -102, -101 and -106 involvement in Vietnam, but you are not going to find an F-15 there.
 
1978 NYB said:
I sure hope the Pentagon/Congress doesn't ax the A-10 Thunderbolt (Warthog). In my opinion it is the most lethal close air support us guys on the ground have when the **** is hitting the fan. Anyone that has been on the battlefield and needed A-10 support will agree with me on how important these birds are to us. They are fearless and will take a beating to support us on the ground. Getting rid of the A-10 fleet to meet budget cuts is piss poor management by the pussies that will never be on the battlefield to understand how important the A-10 really is. Watch the video to see the A-10 work out....
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Bob There is a discussion about the plane over at WAB. Unfortunately I can only link the last page as all other pages are unavailable. A software update took down the entire site for 3 days over a week ago and most functions are still not up and running. Only a few threads are and only their last pages.

http://www.worldaffairsboard.com/showthread.php?t=64683&page=16
 
patrick66 said:
It appears we are both partially right. According to a couple of sources I've researched, the F-15 went into service in 1976, and first flew in 1972. The design was chosen in 1967. It could not have been in Vietnam, because it was not yet in service. Perhaps the year you saw the F-15 in the hangar, staged, was not the year you are thinking. It did not exist in 1969.

There is plenty of evidence of F-4, -104, -102, -101 and -106 involvement in Vietnam, but you are not going to find an F-15 there.
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Of course you are right and here is further proof as to first flight and introduction to service.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_F-15_Eagle
 
67Monaco said:
Just for you Bob some MD A10's

8944-fairchild-republic-a-10-thunderbolt-ii-1920x1080-aircraft-wallpaper.jpg
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Thanks!

Martin State Airport....just a few miles down the road.
 
I was stationed at Ft. Bliss, Texas with the 3rd Armored Calvary Regiment during the mid-1970's and we would conduct Emergency Deployment Exercises all the damn time and we never knew if it was for real or not until we were up in the air. We would land at Holloman AFB, New Mexico and road march the 90 miles back to Ft. Bliss through the desert.

I remember seeing F105 Thunderchief's and F-86 Super Sabre's at Holloman AFB.
 
polara66hardtop said:
True, the F-15 was new when the 69 roadrunner came out. But, the F-22 outperforms any Russian plane, as well as the Human flying it.
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I was at an airshow this past weekend and the F22 flew a demo flight. We only saw a fraction of its ability and I can tell you, that thing does things a plane shouldn't be able to do. I feel sorry for any Mig pilot that would come across an F22. They have NO shot. Truly amazing.
 
rexus31 said:
I was at an airshow this past weekend and the F22 flew a demo flight. We only saw a fraction of its ability and I can tell you, that thing does things a plane shouldn't be able to do. I feel sorry for any Mig pilot that would come across an F22. They have NO shot. Truly amazing.
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An amazing plane but can it do a Cobra .
 
The 174th Attack wing of the Air National Guard here in Syracuse flew A-10's for a while. F-16's after that... and now they just have MQ-9 unmanned drones.
 
Sorry, I never said they were in Vietnam, I only said the airplane was designed at the same time the69 Roadrunner was designed, trying to compare the time frame from a technology stand point. If I did it was my mistake. The aircraft was tested, and chosen in 1969. The first F-15A had tail number 71-xxxx. They were not complete squadrons complete with all the required crews until 76'. But that airplane was in that hangar in 1971, and crews were being trained to operate and work on it. The start-up time for a new airframe is considerable. I was first assigned to a UH-1N unit in Sept 72. The aircraft had 40 Hours on it, but the tail number and build date was 1969. So crews are trained, airplanes are built, and assembled far ahead of a chosen in service date. That is all I was saying. The airplane's existence was common knowledge in 71', and many guys were trying to cross train to get to them. There were more guys wanting to work on them than there were training slots available. In 1974 I was offered a slot, but I would have had to re-enlist for four more years to get the slot.
patrick66 said:
It appears we are both partially right. According to a couple of sources I've researched, the F-15 went into service in 1976, and first flew in 1972. The design was chosen in 1967. It could not have been in Vietnam, because it was not yet in service. Perhaps the year you saw the F-15 in the hangar, staged, was not the year you are thinking. It did not exist in 1969.

There is plenty of evidence of F-4, -104, -102, -101 and -106 involvement in Vietnam, but you are not going to find an F-15 there.
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That stuka was scarey, until the Germans sent them to England, and ran into spitfires. The stukas were withdrawn after suffering horrendous losses. The Brits weren't the Poles or defenseless French.
Fratzog said:
My father's stories about his experiences in the German army in WW2 often involved the value of close air support in France and Russia. These demons terrorized the opposition and were a huge boost for the grunts on the ground.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC9Lmr5mjJQ
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