[Veritas_est]

I think entirely too much was made of "luck" in this story. It seems to me that the success of this mission had much more to do with awesome flying skills, and apparently an awesome piece of equipment (the A-10).

[OXENinFLA]

A-10 Ping.........

[avg_freeper]

Luck is often a synonym for multi-component redundant load paths.

[AngryJawa]

"These guys on the ground needed our help," said the captain. "That's our job -- to bring fire down on the enemy when our Army and Marine brothers request our assistance."

Maybe it's just me, but I think that being an A-10 driver has got to be the most gratifying job in the military.

Gotta love the Hog.

[anonymous_user]

A true American heroine. Little girls (and everyone) should have role models like this!

[trebb]

A-10s are awesome. I was stationed at Myrtle Beach, SC, when they transitioned from A-7s to A-10s. Got to see some awesome shows and demonstrations.

[Gefreiter]

I believe pics exist of this aircraft, taken soon after return to Kuwait. The aft section was, for all intents and purposes, shredded.

This pilot did a great job, and these jets are certainly built to take alot of abuse.

I always wonder why the USAF is so eager to get rid of them.

[Rummyfan]

Luck is the residue of good design!

[norton]

Amen to your post.

Too bad that "the plane has since found a nice resting place amongst the heroes of days gone by -- in the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz." means the bird will soon enough become scrap ...
I was hoping that the Captain's presence at Smithsonian meant the A-10 and it's trophy tail section had a home there.

[NormsRevenge]

"Warthog Gal" Ping

[Jonx6]

Some good pics here
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Stories1/001-100/0016_A-10-battle-damage/story0016.htm

[Moonman62]

We aren't building the A-10's anymore, are we?

[DuncanWaring]

Note that the A-10 was originally designed to do battle with the full might of the Soviet Union. It was designed to lose a lot of parts and still fly. The pilot sits in a "bathtub" of titanium armor.

On an editorial note, the many occurrences of the word "inversion" in this story should probably have been "reversion".

[Fierce Allegiance]

[aviator]

Captain Campbell did a great job of landing the aircraft. Manual reversion approaches are not easy. The flight manual recommends bailout.

[r9etb]

Plus which, the pilot's also a babe....

[TomB]

Yea, but can it fly without a wing?

[cynicom]

Risk??? What the hell does she think the grunts were doing? Risking nothing????

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

Thanks for that great article and links on my favorite plane!

[Blood of Tyrants]

And Capt. Campbell is pretty easy on the eyes, too.

[Veritas_est]

"I guess we all think we are invincible and it won't happen to us," she said. "I hadn't been shot at -- at all -- in all of my other missions. This was the first. Thank God for the Warthog, because it took some damage but it got me home." (Captain Kim Campbell)

This quote is from the linked site at post #11, this thread, byJonx6. There are some great pictures of THIS particular aircraft after Capt. Campbell brought it home.

Link to Warthog Pictures