Ask an A-10 Pilot: The 476th Podcast

Folks,

Coming up, the 476th Podcast will have the honor of hosting a real A-10 pilot, with a tremendous amount of experience, and willingness to share. Olie, who some of you may have heard speak previously during the awesome Teamspeak session arranged/hosted by DaBomb and the 1st Cav, has agreed to come on the podcast to allow us to further get to know him, and of course ask more questions!

This is just too great of an opportunity for us to keep to ourselves. I would encourage anyone who hasn't heard him speak before to check out the original event, which has the audio and transcript of previous questions asked, found here:

http://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=2637329&postcount=70

If you have questions you'd like me to ask, please ask them here, as I'd hate to make this a "476th only" fest! But I will if I must ;) We're going to attempt to record this week, so if you have them, get your questions in soon-ish.

Looking forward to this. The first session was excellent!

(1) Interested in how the various aviation communities within the AF "see"/perceive each other?

E.g., what do the A-10 folks think or the F-16 folks? Or the F-15 folks? Or the C-17 folks? Or rotorheads? Or vice versa? I'm sure there is rivalry coupled with respect? But is there a place where one outweighs the other? E.g., are the F-16 folks generally seen as jerks while the F-15 folks as heroes? Of course, regardless of what anyone thinks, everyone KNOWS that the A-10 folks are the true superstars ;)

(2) Also, very interested in the unique subcultures that might be there in each subcommunity. Curious as to if these different communities can be characterized by particular characters? E.g., are the A-10 people generally younger than the F-15 people? In one group more "geeky" than another, while another is more "jocky"? Is one group more generally East Coast or South for whatever reason? Religious or non-religious?

Maybe an odd technical question, but interested in the way navigation is done and thought about in the attack community and A-10 specifically. In civil GA we have the constant debate over how much we should use the automation/GPS/glass cockpit etc and how much nav should be done with a paper map looking out the window. I'd be interested in how much the A-10 guys do of each and how they plan.

Did he had time to try DCS ? Last time he told us that he hasn't played it.

Q : I've a question about the Preflight Bit : When it must be done during the checklist ? and what kind of errors can be find ?

Q : If he had tried DCS, what are the difference in systems between the DCS' Hog, and the real one (Armement systems, start-up procedure, CMS, LASTE...)

Sorry for my english, and thank you very much for this kind of events, really great

My question is this:

The Air Force wants to replace the A-10. A stupid stupid but persistent idea. If we didn't spend the money on a replacement and instead used the money to improve the A-10C, in his opinion what would be the best / most necessary improvements to the A-10C?

Can you ask him if he wants to join the 132nd, and if not, why not?

Jokes aside, this is awesome news can't wait for the podcast!!

E.g., are the F-16 folks generally seen as jerks

:glare::shocking::harhar::D

1) What is the average training after PCSing to you operational squadron? After leaving training in Davis Mountain. Is it mission specific training, systems, etc.

2) What is the most common training? CAS, Interdictions, AFAC, etc.

Olie was kind enough to answer almost all of my questions during his previous talk, and I don't think I actually have any follow-ups. But I'll definitely listen to this one as well because he's a great guy and has such an incredible wealth of information that he likes to share in a very informative and entertaining way. :thumbup:

:glare::shocking::harhar::D

Sorry, didn't mean to offend!

Example was hypothetical.

Mostly ;)

About Mission Planing:

- How much care is put for fuel consumption and ETAs?

- Do you use the data from flight planning and adhere to the parameters during the flight? Do you reference some sort of Lineup Card during cruise?

- How do you prepare, fuel-wise and time-wise, your flight plan if AAR is to be done? How often do you top off the tanks in AAR?

- When a DTOT is set, do you plan for a "buffer" time in between legs of the flight?

- For short flights, like maybe homestation flights, do you take off with less than 100% fuel?

-What squadrons did he serve with during his career?

-How long did his transition from A to C model take?

-Personally it appears to be an increase of red balls and code 3's with C model's over A's, from the ops perspective do you agree?

Q: have you ever done an Alantic crossing in the Hog; was it as bad as it seems like it would be?

What does A2A training consist of in a real Hawg's pilot learning experience...? As we love to call our baby F/A-10C due to numerous air victories against F-15C & SU-27, who dared to go low & dirty in simulated campaigns...

What does A2A training consist of in a real Hawg's pilot learning experience...? As we love to call our baby F/A-10C due to numerous air victories against F-15C & SU-27, who dared to go low & dirty in simulated campaigns...

More like RFOA-10G. XD

My question is this:

 

The Air Force wants to replace the A-10. A stupid stupid but persistent idea. If we didn't spend the money on a replacement and instead used the money to improve the A-10C, in his opinion what would be the best / most necessary improvements to the A-10C?

he talked about this, and also about the F-35 in his previous teamspeak session

(1) Interested in how the various aviation communities within the AF "see"/perceive each other?

 

E.g., what do the A-10 folks think or the F-16 folks? Or the F-15 folks? Or the C-17 folks? Or rotorheads? Or vice versa? I'm sure there is rivalry coupled with respect? But is there a place where one outweighs the other? E.g., are the F-16 folks generally seen as jerks while the F-15 folks as heroes? Of course, regardless of what anyone thinks, everyone KNOWS that the A-10 folks are the true superstars ;)

From my own experience from when I was in the service, the F-16 pilots referred to people flying the F-5 (used as a research platform by the Norwegian defense industry) as flying mopeds (scooters), and the one time we had the distinct displeasure of having Twin Otter pilots doing morning inspections, it was hell. They found EVERYTHING to be unsatisfactory, because they HATED everything to do with the F-16. They even wore patches on their flight-suits that said "I hate fighter pilots!"...

'nuff said. ;)

Can we please try to leave this thread as questions only to allow Dojo an easier time looking through he questions?

Thanks!

That first session was fantastic. We're truly grateful that Olie gave generously of his time.

My questions are....

1. Given that there ain't any 2 seater A10's - how much time was devoted to familiarisation with aircraft systems before the first flight?

2. How much simulator time did this entail?

3. Was detailed weapons/avionics training excluded until after 'hands-on' familiarisation, or were you expected to know 'the whole show' at the earliest stage?

Many thanks

JCK

Is the session going to be recorded again as last time in case people can't join ?

Reaper, for shame! Of course, I shouldn't expect much of an Airbus pilot ;)

This won't be a live session at all, it will be an upcoming episode of the podcast. See here: http://www.476vfightergroup.com/content.php?257-podcast

Question about Nellis, NTTR

1. What (if any) would be a typical training mission from Nellis. Time.

2. What kind of targets did you train against, AAA, Trucks, Armor, Tanks.

3. Did they use simulated enemy radar.

4. What were the ground targets used at NTTR. Were they real Russian

tanks, armor or retired US vehicles or wooded targets to look like them.

5. Were you allowed to change the flight plan given for that day. We can

create a new flight plan from IPs put in the games mission editor.

6. To my under standing A10 were parked at the East side of Nellis the Y

shape of the parking area. After a mission where did you park at. Was it

at the same place you started from. Were you put at a different spot

and did it make a difference if you came back with ordinance that was

not used.

What inspired him to get involved with aviation?

What was his funniest moment in the air? (besides that expensive, one of only 17 bombs on the base story he already told us)

Thanks everyone for jumping on the thread! I'm going to need to organize/group these a bit so that we're not jumping all over the place subject wise during the interview. This may make it difficult to give credit individually to each of you for your questions, but I'll make an attempt somehow. Please forgive me if I don't ask all of them, as some were answered in the previous recording, although a few I do believe are worth re-asking in a different manner.

Thanks again for your participation, and I'll try to get the episode out as soon as I can manage!

-dojo

Did you find yourself changing your MAV slew rate often?