Thursday, July 7, 2011

From the archives: The OIF story of "Killer Chick"

At first, just the known pictures:



Right horizontal stabilizer and aft fuselage.



Right horizontal stabilizer.



Right vertical stabilizer.



Rear view of both right horizontal and vertical stabilizers.







Right wing. Note the other A-10s on the flightline.





Right engine nacelle.





She's happy...

Please tell me: Who took these important pictures at Ahmed Al Jaber AB, Kuwait, published on Aircraft Resource Center? I need the photographer's full ID for photo credits, and I would like to get related hi-res versions.

Other related pictures:



Warthog out of battle. OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM -- Capt. Kim, an A-10 Thunderbolt II pilot deployed with the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, surveys the battle damage to her airplane. Kim's A-10 was hit over Baghdad during a close air support mission on April 7. (Courtesy photo)






Recovery at Ahmed Al Jaber AB:



OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM -- Tech. Sgt. Mike Emmendorfer drills out rivets while repairing battle damage on an A-10 Thunderbolt II that was shot by enemy fire over Iraq. Emmendorfer is a depot aircraft structural maintenance craftsman with the 649th Combat Logistics Support Squadron from Hill Air Force Base, Utah. He is deployed to a desert base in Southwest Asia. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Stefan Alford) Hi-res



OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM -- Tech. Sgt. Jeff McElhoe guides the crane operator to place an A-10 fuselage in position so the shipping cradle can be moved underneath. The aircraft received severe battle damage during a combat mission over Iraq in April and will be shipped back to the United States for repair. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Dave Buttner)



OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM -- Staff Sgt. Scott Long and Tech. Sgt. Jeff McElhoe remove the gun faring from the nose of an A-10 to prevent damage while it is loaded on its shipping cradle. The aircraft received severe battle damage during a combat mission over Iraq in April and will be shipped back to the United States for repair. Scott and McElhoe are part of an aircraft battle damage repair team from the 469th CLSS, Hill Air Force Base, Utah who specialize in battle and crash damage repair on A-10 aircraft. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Dave Buttner)



OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM -- Master Sgt. Mark Kellie guides in a flatbed truck in preparation for loading an A-10 fuselage. The aircraft received severe battle damage during a combat mission over Iraq in April and will be shipped back to the United States for repair. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Dave Buttner)


From Airman Magazine, May 2004:



Tech. Sgt. Michael Emmendorfen patches the holes of A-10 aircraft 81-987 days after it was riddled with antiaircraft fire over Baghdad. The Hill repair team couldn't save the jet, so it was dismantled and shipped to Davis-Monthan.



An A-10 that was severely wounded over the skies of Baghdad during the height of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The A-10's existence lies in the balance at the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. (U.S. Air Force photo by Terry Vanden-Heuvel)



Members of an aircraft battle damage repair team fine-tune their skills on the rear fuselage of a decommissioned Warthog at Hill. To make the training realistic, explosive ordnance teams use C-4 explosives to blow holes in the aircraft to simulate antiaircraft artillery damage.


Drawing of A-10 81-0987:



Artwork by Warthog News contributor Barry Munden from the United States.

1 comment:

  1. I don't know who took the pictures but I was there! I will have to check, I think I have more.

    ReplyDelete