Long-time readers know how much I enjoy airplanes and aviation history. For newer reader, let it be said that I spent most of my first nine summers in an around a recycled World War II Quonset hut in West Virginia. It served as the hub of the small fixed base operation known as Baker's Air Park. After that experience, I never saw an airplane I didn't like. Any hint of sound in the air or sight of a contrail and my eyes were skyward. That's what happened earlier this week when I thought I spotted an A-10 Warthog, one of the most innovative aircraft flying in today's Air Force. After some research it seemed more likely to be a small business jet. Don't mind waiting to see one here as they are around for several regional airshows. I can always enjoy Atlanta's air traffic and its almost endless opportunities for looking up.
When we lived on the great salt marshes east of Savannah and under a magnificent sky dome, it was great fun watching the endless air traffic on the Northeast to Florida jet route. Closer to sea level, we saw any number of military aircraft, but watching the training flights of A-10s was always an air show. That aircraft was the A-10 Thunderbolt, fondly known as the Warthog. For 45 years it is still above the battlefront as an essential close air support weapon.
The Warthog is quiet, nimble and deadly. The aircraft was developed because the military tacticins wanted a Gatling gun in the sky. General Electric built the gun (GUA-8/A Avenger rotary cannon) and Fairchild-Republic built the airplane around it. Beautiful in its own way, it's loved by pilots and mechanics alike as a reliable flying cannon that almost always returns to base, even when missing parts and filled with holes.
For the aviation enthusiasts among us, here's a video on the aircraft's history.
And here's one for fun.
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