Jumping back to the Grand Junction Airshow last month and this way cool airplane so let’s call it #ThunderboltTuesday. More affectionately called the Warthog, the A-10 is the United States’ primary Close Air Support (CAS) plane. Its exploits (and its 30mm autocannon) are legendary and they hold a special place in the heart of troops on the ground, oftentimes called in to support soldiers and Marines under attack.
You will notice two different paint schemes in these pics. The Air Force A-10C Thunderbolt II Demonstration Team brought two jets with the traditional gray paint being flown in practice and the heritage camo scheme flying during the official airshow.
The patch you see me holding is part of a fun story. At the airshow my wife and I were sitting right next to the A-10 demo team’s publicity tent. Before the show started, I had mounted up my solar filter on my camera to take pictures of the solar eclipse that was going on. The team’s photographer kept looking at me, taking a keen interest in what I was seeing. That prompted a conversation and I then let him borrow my solar filter to take pictures of the celestial event, something which they shared on their social media page.
He and I had a great time chatting about the eclipse, photography, aviation and, of course, a bit of Navy versus Air Force banter. 😉 In the end, he gave me a team patch which now sits proudly among other pieces of military memorabilia from when I served.
