The Best Century Series Fighter

[DAIRD]

Yes, the F-111. Impressive, expensive and dangerous....

[A10Mechanic]

Thud

F-105 Thunderchief. Hands down favorite. Got to work on them for 4 years at the start of my career. Awesome jet!

[Luka]

F-105 Thunderchief. Hands down favorite. Got to work on them for 4 years at the start of my career. Awesome jet!

Hey A10 Mechanic...Got a question. The A10 is getting on in years, seems like only yesterday. Are they still producing new A10s? Is there a replacement on the cards?
And what, if anything, would you do to improve what is already a seriously dangerous aircraft? (eg: more powerful engines, larger calibre gun)
Or is this aircraft going to be "unreplaceable" for its neiche and serve and serve and serve...? Wouldn't be too upset if it did, but with man-portable anti air missiles becoming more and more sophisticated, the close support aircraft could become a memory...

[Rick G]

If built, the North American F-108 Rapier could have been a "Century Series" craft.

Link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_XF-108_Rapier

Rick G.

[A10Mechanic]

Hey A10 Mechanic...Got a question. The A10 is getting on in years, seems like only yesterday. Are they still producing new A10s? Is there a replacement on the cards?
And what, if anything, would you do to improve what is already a seriously dangerous aircraft? (eg: more powerful engines, larger calibre gun)
Or is this aircraft going to be "unreplaceable" for its neiche and serve and serve and serve...? Wouldn't be too upset if it did, but with man-portable anti air missiles becoming more and more sophisticated, the close support aircraft could become a memory...

Still lots of A-10's around the world. No, they stopped making them about 20 years ago (give or take). They've been continously upgraded with better avionics, etc. I know our pilots would unamimously say "more thrust" . As long as there are grunts on the ground, there will be CAS. That's what our pilots do. I don't know a single warthawg driver that wouldn't drive his plane through a brick wall to protect troops in contact. It's an honor to fix their jets!

[DAIRD]

In summer 1979, when some of the first A-10 came from Myrtle Beach to Europe for trials, I watched two of them prowling around, while two French Mirage III pilots had the foolish idea of a dogfight. In short: it didn't worked. The first Mirage came down and its pilot set it behind the first A-10. This pilot suddenly turned to the right and the Mirage was in front of the second A-10....