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Elephant Walk


Tex Jones, SASS 2263

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Posted

32 turbofan engines, 16 Avenger cannons, 10 tons of armor: This is an A-10 elephant walk

Warfield Air National Guard Base, Maryland, 104th Fighter Squadron A-10C Thunderbolt II attack planes .  November 3, 2021.  The lead plane sporting colors of the 104 Observation Squadron formed in 1921.

Posted

Air Force is still trying to get rid of A-10's and other "legacy" aircraft (C-130H's, et al) because they "aren't useful in the Indo-Pacific theater".  Not enough range, payload, cost too much to maintain, etc.  Very true...until they found out they need them, especially the A-10's! :angry:  Why don't they turn them over to the Army or the Marines? 

Posted
2 hours ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

Exposing my ignorance, but why "elephant walk?"

 

The term elephant walk dates to World War II when large fleets of allied bombers would conduct attacks in missions containing 1,000 aircraft. Those who observed this said that the taxiing of these large numbers of aircraft to takeoff in single file in nose-to-tail formations said that they looked like elephants walking to the next watering hole. Over time, it was incorporated into the lexicon of the United States Air Force to identify a "maximum sortie surge".

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