A-10 Warthog Airplanes Manuevering Above Me

[bordin34]

About two years ago one day there were three A-10's doing rolls and other fancy stuff above me over Lake Wallenpaupack in NE PA which is near Scranton. On tuesday, I was on my waverunner when two A-10's came from the North East  and circled above me for a minute or two then departed to the South West. They were low enough that I could see the pilots fairly well. Today, on my boat, two A-10's showed up again and flew around a bit. Does anybody know where they are coming from? Occasionally I see a C-130 Hercules or military helicopter but these A-10's are not common.

[bull]

I thought the military wasn't using A-10s any more.

[bordin34]

They may still train with them. I think that they practice some stuff over the lake so if they crash they crash on water. I thought they also may be practicing for an airshow, but I don't think there is an airshow anytime soon around here.

[BigBlackDodge]

Moody AFB in Georgia has a bunch of them................they fly over my house everyday and night you can hear them target shooting. That gun is loud.......you can hear it for miles........WHHHOOOMMMMMPPPP!



BBD

[Troy]

The Air National Guard, 111th Fighter Wing, 103d Fighter Squadron - Willow Grove ARS, Pennsylvania is ~140 miles away.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/111th_Fighter_Wing

Troy

[Charger74]

Davis Monathan AFB in Tucson still has a squadron that I'm pretty sure is still active.

[runningman]

Yes Davis-Monthan still has them.  When I was there they had three training squadrons and an active squadron as well.  The ANG base in Battle Creek, Mi uses them as well.  They are suppose to be moving to Selfridge ANG base north of Detroit in the near future.  Did you see the markings on the tail?  That will tell you what base they are coming from.

[bordin34]

No I didn't see the markings, but today when I go on the lake I am going to take my camera. That 111th tail sign seems kinda familiar.
Edit- It doesn't seem that there are any other bases with A-10's close to me so they probably were from the 111th.

[Mike DC]

 
Those A-10s are appropriately named.  Those things are badass.  They're not some pansy-ass fragile billion-dollar fighter jet with carbon fiber everywhere, they're brutes. 

It's like comparing a modern Ferarri against a primered '71 Monte Carlo with a blower sticking through the hood. 
 

[runningman]

They are awesome, I saw some pics of our planes that were damaged in Desert Storm, I couldn't believe some of them made it back.  I wasn't happy when I got the orders to D-M but it didn't take long for the A-10 and it's pilots to gain my utmost respect..........not that they cared 

[BigBlackDodge]

 
Those A-10s are appropriately named.  Those things are badass.  They're not some pansy-ass fragile billion-dollar fighter jet with carbon fiber everywhere, they're brutes. 

It's like comparing a modern Ferarri against a primered '71 Monte Carlo with a blower sticking through the hood. 
 

I agree........the plane is built around the nose gun............bad ass and all business.

BBD

[mikepmcs]

They are coming from the Grave(willow grove)  Got a squadron at the end of the runway at the turnaround(depending on wind direction of course) 
It's opposite the sub shop before you get to the main gate... I guess you could say they are on the T...ie bar side.  Never been there before.
Man, I hated the circling we had to do to get in there due to Philly air traffic.

Don't worry they will be gone in late 2010 or early 2011, ask me how I know.
I was on the BRAC(Base Realignment and Closure) committee when the last miltary base destruction came around... Last 2 on the list to close(Brunswick ME and Willow grove PA)

Those are some bad planes, enjoy it while you can.

The C-130's are VR 64(used to be a P-3 squadron called the "VP-64 Condors")
v/r
Mike

[71ChallengeHer]

The Air National Guard, 111th Fighter Wing, 103d Fighter Squadron - Willow Grove ARS, Pennsylvania is ~140 miles away.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/111th_Fighter_Wing

Troy

My brother went to Iraq with a helicopter unit from Willow Grove.  When the came home , they had a welcome home party. And they flew some of the Wart Hogs.

[mikepmcs]

Probably HMH-772, but don't hold me to that cause the Marines like to play with unit names quite a bit.
They like to use the "MAG" thing a lot, like Mag 29 in this case, etc.....

How ya doin Jackie?? Shel has some nice tats on the other thread by the way.

v/r
Mike

[bordin34]

Cool it's pretty sweet seeing them doing all this cool stuff above us on the lake. Literally everybody stops their boat while they are flying. The first time I saw them this year I could clearly make out the pilots. They were only two tree lengths high.

[mikepmcs]

shhhhh don't be spreadin' that around and gettin' them boys/gals in trouble..    (500 feet from any dwelling)

[bordin34]

That's according to my guestimation which could be totally and way off.

[71ChallengeHer]

Probably HMH-772, but don't hold me to that cause the Marines like to play with unit names quite a bit.
They like to use the "MAG" thing a lot, like Mag 29 in this case, etc.....

How ya doin Jackie?? Shel has some nice tats on the other thread by the way.

v/r
Mike

The helicopter looked like a big flying bus. LOL I'm still tired from Carlisle. Plus I'm having a charity car show on Sunday. You can barely walk thru my living room. Shelby needs to knock it off with the tats. But thanks I'll tell her. And how are you doing ?

[Brock Samson]

 Hey Bordin, here's a tip:

lose the turban.. 

[472 R/T SE]

We continue to down size our military while at the same time we're funding China's continuing growth of theirs.  All those Wal Mart trips aren't funding health care. 

We're losing our fly boys across the river here any time now, it takes away some sense of security.  Every day at noon you can count on them blasting out of PDX heading to the coast for games.

Just an observation.   

[Lowprofile]

I guess the A-10 is going the way of the F-14's......so sad. But I guess an Airframe has only so much life in it. 

[Troy]

They aren't due to be phased out until at least 2028 so we'll get to see them for a while yet. They're too cheap and durable!

Troy

[Brock Samson]

Yeah how old are those BUF B-52s - What are they now?.. Rs?  50 years in service? that's freakin Awesome!

[hemi68charger]

I thought the military wasn't using A-10s any more.

A-10's are very much part of the Air Force arsenal...... I'm a Tech. Sgt. in the Air Force, both active duty and reserve time.............. That's one plane I haven't worked on yet.... A weapons loaders dream, or nightmare depending on how you look at it....................

Troy

[squeakfinder]

It was impressive to watch them back in the early 80's when I was in Natl Guard. Built to make swiss cheese out of Russian tanks.