Fighter Pilots Reveal Why You Don't Want To Mess With The A-10 Warthog In A Dogfight

The Drive ^ | 26 Jan 2021 | Jamie Hunter

[Hulka]

Disagree.

A-10 v A-4; been there, done that, never lost.

A-10’s have sidewinders, too. It has an edge because its engines are “cooler” than the A-4 so that makes the A-4 a target further than the A-4 can engage A-10s with their sidewinders.

Turning fights, easy. Think three dimensionally, speed, turn radius, and range of the gun.

[Hulka]

Disagree.

Obviously you have not studied the jet, the A/A environment, missile specs, tactics, been exposed to info behind the “green door,” or flown the jet, let alone flown the jet at Red Flag or Maple Flag.

[Hulka]

Post 62, please.

[Hulka]

MacDow. . .ring a bell?

[Hot Tabasco]

It’s not worth squat against a first tier opponent.

It's not meant to, that's why they usually fly with F-15s, or other Defensive Counter Air jets, keeping all that stuff out of their way.

[Hot Tabasco]

There’s a squadron of A-10s 7 miles from me at Selfridge ANG base that I occasionally see flying....

[BwanaNdege]

Do ya got a link to the original article

There was no "article". My post was recounting a conversation I had with the pilot who actually flew the trials at "Top Gun" (or maybe just China Lake). He was a friend of mine in the squadron.

He was the total antithesis of the Tom Cruise character. He was calm, even headed, a methodical teacher. Top Gun was (is) about sending a pilot from your squadron to learn techniques (not just buzz the tower) and be able to return to teach those techniques to rest of the pilots in the squadron.

I flew with a hot dog pilot like " Maverick", who later led a flight of two helos into "cumulogranite", a granite-filled cloud, killing himself and four others, injuring several and destroying two very expensive aircraft.

Full disclosure: I have the mindset of a Helo Pilot, hot a Jet Jock.

One correction to Harry reasoner. Helicopters actually CAN glide, at about a 4:1 slope. It is called "Autorotation". I've done hundreds of practice autorotations, including Full Autos (no engine power recovery) to the ground in Bell Jet Rangers and even in a UH-1L Huey.

[DUMBGRUNT]

“He was the total antithesis of the Tom Cruise character. He was calm, even headed, a methodical teacher.”

I had two friends that had been military pilots one a former US Navy pilot, not some high-performance jet, more like the mail plane with propellers, the other Career Air Force that piloted “Puff the Magic Dragon” in RVN, later he spent much of his time chauffeuring brass, it was a job, he said.

One quiet and studious, if you wanted to know about Puff you almost had to pry it out, the other more loquacious on aviation. Both VERY smart.

Both gone now, I wish I could still ask about the A-10 and pilot personality types.

Once we had a discussion on how high birds can fly, they put out some big numbers, which I did not accept.

This was pre-internet, but I knew that the Chicago Tribune had an answer desk.
The answer was (to me) crazy high, sighting from planes, from mountains, and radar!
I miss them.

[taterjay]

A former Marine moved into the area and he saw them training one day and could not believe how low they were flying. He told me that was not legal. I said they do it all the time. I have read how terrified the enemy is of this weapon. Keep the A10 going forever.

[OwenKellogg]

I met the chopper popper as he was crosstraining into C-130s after the war. Great story.

[Hulka]

Agree.

[BwanaNdege]

I was grunt in Vietnam. Got a commission and into Aviation later.

We had “Spooky” (Puff) save our bacon one night.

Your “mail plane with propellers” was probably a C-1 Trader (COD), an S-2F, “Stoof” ASW plane or the Airborne Command version, the “Willy Fudd” (E-1 Tracer). It may have been a later, larger, turboprop version, the C-2 Greyhound. The C-1 and the C-2 both flew the “COD” Carrier Onboard Delivery missions... “mail planes with propellers”

Whatever their missions, these pilots still had to land on aircraft carriers, day or night, in any weather.

My wife & I once hopped a “Liberty Run” on a C-1 COD from Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico to St Thomas, Virgin Islands. It was running parts over to the radar station on St Thomas and had “Space Available”. My wife got a kick out of it!

FWIW, the engines on the C1/E1/S2F were the Wright Cyclone R-1820. This engine powered the B-17, several versions of the DC-3/C-47, the Sikorsky H-34 helicopter and the second airplane I ever flew, the T-28 B/C Trojan. Up to 1425hp on the right grade of AvGas!

[linMcHlp]

bttt