A10s

autofinder · 08-21-2010, 02:19 PM

A10's out of Westfield Ma, Barnes Air National gaurd unit. Train with 157th Air refueling wing out of Pease. Simulated Air strike passes over us , kind of just for fun. Real training mission is air refueling with KC-135R out of Pease.
Sometimes if clear you can see them refueling. Best shot weekends. Have training misson every year.

sky_nh · 08-21-2010, 05:09 PM

Sounds like Yankee One MOA was hot.

Lakegeezer · 08-25-2010, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sky_nh

Sounds like Yankee One MOA was hot.

I stopped by the Moultonborough airport this morning to check the sectional. MOA Yankee 1 does not extend into the area the A10's were flying. They are sure fun to watch, but perhaps the pilot was having a bit of a joy ride in illegal territory, especially if below 500 feet or over 180 mph.

LIforrelaxin · 08-25-2010, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lakegeezer

I stopped by the Moultonborough airport this morning to check the sectional. MOA Yankee 1 does not extend into the area the A10's were flying. They are sure fun to watch, but perhaps the pilot was having a bit of a joy ride in illegal territory, especially if below 500 feet or over 180 mph.

They where not below 500 feet that I would feel fairly confident in.... I watched them come in and out of my view as we where in the NWZ by trexlers.... I could always see blue between the horizon and the planes... my guess is that they where in the 1500 -- 2000 ft elevation ..... as for speed...
The 180 mph, is not really realistic for a wart hog, after doing so looking around it looks like they can slow down to around 200mph for short periods of time but nominal cruise speed is 300+ mph.... with a max speed of 500+ mph....

ApS · 08-25-2010, 12:39 PM

One way to estimate height is by a white-pine tree along the shore, below the object.

A mature white pine will be about 100' tall.

When I last saw A-10 "Warthogs" over Long Island, they may have been flying into a strong headwind. They appeared to hover in the air, but making sideways corrections of 20 or 30 feet in a split second. Very impressive.

Also seen over Center Harbor in 2008.

This is what they look like as one could see it from below:

PHDIII · 08-26-2010, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LIforrelaxin

They where not below 500 feet that I would feel fairly confident in.... I watched them come in and out of my view as we where in the NWZ by trexlers.... I could always see blue between the horizon and the planes... my guess is that they where in the 1500 -- 2000 ft elevation ..... as for speed...
The 180 mph, is not really realistic for a wart hog, after doing so looking around it looks like they can slow down to around 200mph for short periods of time but nominal cruise speed is 300+ mph.... with a max speed of 500+ mph....

We live about 1 mile South of Trexlers on the East side of LI. When they passed our place the second time they were, IMO, below min. altitude since I saw them at such a low angle from my deck which is about 160' above the lake. I'm thinking 300-400'. Regardless, with so much uninhabited terrain just minutes North I'm not sure they should be making low passes where there are so many people. I suspect if their Wing Commander learned of this, they'd have some 'splaining to do.

Having said this, I remain a huge supporter of our military. With our son, an Army Capt., deploying to Afg'stan next month my daily prayer for all our military members is to: "Be with them, Guide them, Keep them safe..."

NoBozo · 08-27-2010, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LIforrelaxin

The 180 mph, is not really realistic for a wart hog, after doing so looking around it looks like they can slow down to around 200mph for short periods of time but nominal cruise speed is 300+ mph.... with a max speed of 500+ mph....

Actually, the A-10 can slow down to 130 mph or so.. "Clean"...Clean means without deploying flaps. With flaps deployed for landing.. OR other Slow Flight the Min Speed will be lower. The weight of Fuel and Armament on board is a BIG factor. Cruise speed is about 335.... and Max "DO NOT EXCEED" is 450.

AGAIN: Numbers will vary according to WEIGHT...ie..Fuel and Armament on board at the time.

As a pilot and avaition observer, I have noticed A-10s appear to almost Hover...hanging on the thrust of the engines...while doing turns... at speeds not much above what a Cessna would be doing.

NB

EDIT: A older Cessna 172 will cruise at 105..and Stall at 38 or so.

WeirsGuard · 08-27-2010, 10:25 PM

Maybe some of you pilots out there can correct a former KC-135 Nav on this, but as I wrote in reply to the post on the C-130's, under VFR rules I remember being able to go down to 500' over unpopulated areas and 1500' over populated areas. I remember this from having done "flybys" in our Tanker for a number of airshows. Over water; low population, you can go right down to just above the water. Circumstances and airspace restrictions come into play, but as a general rule, military aircraft are certainly allowed to go pretty low. I bet those low flying A-10's are fully complying with the rules. To someone on the ground it may seem like they are just playing - and you're probably right - but it is all legal and it may just be the Squadron Commander yankin' and bankn' down low.

As an aside, the Warthog sure is slow. Dragging them across the Atlantic on a deployment seemed to take twice as long as when we refueled the go-fast jets. It was amazing how quickly those fighter pilots became your best friend over the middle of the pond when you have all the gas!

TOAD · 08-25-2010, 06:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by autofinder

A10's out of Westfield Ma, Barnes Air National gaurd unit. Train with 157th Air refueling wing out of Pease. Simulated Air strike passes over us , kind of just for fun. Real training mission is air refueling with KC-135R out of Pease.
Sometimes if clear you can see them refueling. Best shot weekends. Have training misson every year.

Barnes no longer has the A-10. They were replaced a couple of years ago with F-16's. They might have been out of the Connecticut Air Guard at Bradley but I'm not sure if they even have them any more.

jmen24 · 08-25-2010, 08:53 AM

They fly out of Fort Drum, in upstate NY. Home to the 10th Mountain Division.

They fly in over my office in New London once a week.

A-10's are an aircraft used by the Army as tank busters and bunker busters.

Spend some time mid-week up around Newfound lake, Tenney Mountain and any other peak in that area if you really want a show. They dogfight in and around the peaks and valleys, it is one of the coolest things I have been able to see, that close up. They were there almost every week of a 3 month condo renovation on Tenney Mountain.

08-21-2010, 02:19 PM	#1
autofinder Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 1 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	A10's A10's out of Westfield Ma, Barnes Air National gaurd unit. Train with 157th Air refueling wing out of Pease. Simulated Air strike passes over us , kind of just for fun. Real training mission is air refueling with KC-135R out of Pease. Sometimes if clear you can see them refueling. Best shot weekends. Have training misson every year.

08-27-2010, 10:25 PM	#8
WeirsGuard Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 39 Thanks: 0 Thanked 12 Times in 8 Posts	A-10's Maybe some of you pilots out there can correct a former KC-135 Nav on this, but as I wrote in reply to the post on the C-130's, under VFR rules I remember being able to go down to 500' over unpopulated areas and 1500' over populated areas. I remember this from having done "flybys" in our Tanker for a number of airshows. Over water; low population, you can go right down to just above the water. Circumstances and airspace restrictions come into play, but as a general rule, military aircraft are certainly allowed to go pretty low. I bet those low flying A-10's are fully complying with the rules. To someone on the ground it may seem like they are just playing - and you're probably right - but it is all legal and it may just be the Squadron Commander yankin' and bankn' down low. As an aside, the Warthog sure is slow. Dragging them across the Atlantic on a deployment seemed to take twice as long as when we refueled the go-fast jets. It was amazing how quickly those fighter pilots became your best friend over the middle of the pond when you have all the gas!

08-21-2010, 05:09 PM	#2
sky_nh Senior Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Gilford Posts: 76 Thanks: 4 Thanked 15 Times in 5 Posts	Sounds like Yankee One MOA was hot.

08-25-2010, 12:39 PM	#5
ApS Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Florida (Sebring & Keys), Wolfeboro Posts: 5,942 Thanks: 2,215 Thanked 778 Times in 554 Posts	One way to estimate height is by a white-pine tree along the shore, below the object. A mature white pine will be about 100' tall. When I last saw A-10 "Warthogs" over Long Island, they may have been flying into a strong headwind. They appeared to hover in the air, but making sideways corrections of 20 or 30 feet in a split second. Very impressive. Also seen over Center Harbor in 2008. This is what they look like as one could see it from below:

The Following User Says Thank You to PHDIII For This Useful Post:
ApS (08-27-2010)

08-25-2010, 08:53 AM	#10
jmen24 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 1,139 Thanks: 223 Thanked 319 Times in 181 Posts	They fly out of Fort Drum, in upstate NY. Home to the 10th Mountain Division. They fly in over my office in New London once a week. A-10's are an aircraft used by the Army as tank busters and bunker busters. Spend some time mid-week up around Newfound lake, Tenney Mountain and any other peak in that area if you really want a show. They dogfight in and around the peaks and valleys, it is one of the coolest things I have been able to see, that close up. They were there almost every week of a 3 month condo renovation on Tenney Mountain.