Here are a few pics I took yesterday after finishing my work at the AFA.

WHAT?!!! No glider pics???

j/k

Ah, the memories.

I didn't like the new paint the A-10. The colors looked much better, but then they changed it some time last year, but it just doesn't seem right any more.

Actually, one of the gliders was just landing as I was walking back from the T-38 to my jeep. I only got to the crest of the hill right as he touched down.

How are things? Are you at VN yet?

I'm at Altus for a while before my class date starts at Vance.


8 months to be exact

[QUOTE]Originally posted by IguanaKing:
[URL=http://img132.imageshack.us/my.php?image=chopperpopper7au.jpg][IMG]

[QUOTE]

looks like US birds learned how to read?

Apparently the F-4 has a new paint job as well.

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2005/10_06-46/TOP

quote:

Originally posted by Pilotasso:

looks like US birds learned how to read?

LOL. Nah...they're just expressing their disdain for the fact that we need engines to fly.

I photographed that A-10 rt after it got back from the gulf in 91, at Dobbins AFB. it was all green back then, and has (had) quite a kill score talley on the opposite side.

Now if I can jsut find those things to scan them......

Ok, I found them. This is the way the A-10 should look, as it did in 91 at an airshow at Dobbins AFB/NAS Atlanta. Note the Iraqi flag, not to mention the correct paint scheme.


This was the right side, with the significant kill score of this AC. Note the helicopter kill at top. I wonder if any of this is still there.


The tail had "follow me to Kuwait" on it. I thought that was a neat touch.

That's what I remember it used to look like when they first put it up. Then they changed it a year or two ago to this new paint (which looks pretty ugly). I'm not sure why that was...

Great pics, Enforcer! Now that I can see what real European I camo looks like again (it has been a while ), the new paint job on it DOES look like ****. I know why the current paint is glossy, but I have no idea why they changed the color, especially the lighter green.

BTW...that other flag is a Saudi flag, not Iraqi.

quote:

Originally posted by IguanaKing:
BTW...that other flag is a Saudi flag, not Iraqi.

Look above the two flags. There's an Iraqi flag.

DOH!!! Didn't see the kill flag. Thanks, K_Grape!

Yeh, is the kill tally on the starboard side still there? I see why they have a gloss finish, but that scheme is awful....you could see it miles away. Might camoflage it while flying over an ocean of guacamoley.

The gate guards they used to have at Dobbins AFB still had thier original paint schemes, but seem to have had a glossy coat of some sort applied over them. Looked great, and withstood weather pretty good, whatever it was.

Then one day they all disapeared....the F-100D, the F-105G (my fav), F-4D, F-84E, they just disapeared. I hope to god theyre on display somewhere...I miss my thud (coolest jet ever).They do have a B-29 totally restored that was at the pima museum in Az until they put it there....its accessable to the public i think. I just wonder sometimes about the paintjobs the military puts on some display planes. THe markings and artwork on chopper popper were worthy of preserving for a indoor display at the af museum or somewhere. Outdoor display is always tuff on a bird. I was curious if they had preserved the machine. The access ladder door is cool to.

quote:

Yeh, is the kill tally on the starboard side still there?

They used to, but it was hard to see because of the angle of the aircraft. I don't know if its on there any more. I never looked at it after the repaint.

thanks cadet....they can always restore it someday i guess. Ill spare you the agony of telling you how envious I am of where you are.

Course, I was born when the F-100D was the most common AF fighter. Well I digress.....

Heres a couple of shots of anohter A-10 at the same airshow; the hardstand was packed wiht planes from the gulf, there and at every show i went to that year. It was great. I especially liked the access ladder door art on all the A-10s I saw.


Here the plane to go along wiht the above door...its got a good tally on it to, and the best name i think i saw...at teh same airshow as chopper popper. these guys had some great stories they were telling mesmorized civies like myself.


A closer look.....this guy was earning his pay bigtime over there.

the glare made it kinda hard to get detailed photos...it says "desert storm 91" on the lower rt. Lighting at airdisplays is always a pain, as youve no doubt seen from some of the airshow pics that grace this site. Some good stuff on here. Sorry about the dust on the scans, they were done yrs ago and ive not seen them this magnified.

quote:

Originally posted by Enforcer572005:
Yeh, is the kill tally on the starboard side still there?

I'm not sure about that one either. It was so high up in the air and at such an angle that I couldn't see the starboard side of the fuselage. The flags on the nose gear door aren't there anymore though. I'll have to see if I can get another look at that starboard side from maybe a different viewing location next time I go down there.

thanks.....i was kinda afraid of that. this is the reason restorers at museums have to spend so much time researching the original markings on historical planes. I guarentee you that if that thing were to be in the AF museum itself, it would be painted correctly and have all the original stuff applied.

I was pretty sure that i saw a pic of htis plane a few yrs ago still in service after it had been repainted grey wiht the rest of them.
The photo I saw (could have been another plane I guess) had a green star painted on the right side to signify a helicopter kill. Wasnt there another A-10 that nailed a chopper, or am I just getting old and misintrepreting stuff?

I thought it was a mistake to repaint the A-10s grey....that was the color they were originally when they entered service, And nato pilots pointed out that in excercises they could spot them far away because it stood out so well. They repainted them all lizard green at that point.

Cool shots, Enforcer - a real piece of history with the nose art and kill markings.

quote:

LOL!