Summary of Buck Wyndham's Hogs in the Sand

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 I was born in South Carolina in the 1970s, and when I was 11 years old, I saw a pair of menacing aerial shapes flying low over the beach. They looked like dinosaurs come to life. They were the A-10 Thunderbolt II fighter planes, and I was hooked on them.
#2 The A-10 Warthog is a plane designed to be pitted against a massive, hulking target like a battle tank. It is not sleek or fast, but it is extremely maneuverable. It’s a single-seat attitude and philosophy that means you are completely in charge of your destiny.
#3 When you’re alone in an A-10 cockpit, you feel like you’re a part of the plane. The plane is an extension of your body. You don’t just sit there, you strap the airplane on like a backpack. The airplane is now an extension of your body.
#4 The A-10 was designed to survive and bring its crew home safely, despite suffering severe battle damage. The ground-school instructors explained how the high-bypass turbofan engines ran cool and didn’t emit much hot exhaust.

Sujets

• Military

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 25 mars 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669364221
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on Buck Wyndham's Hogs in the Sand
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2 Insights from Chapter 3 Insights from Chapter 4 Insights from Chapter 5 Insights from Chapter 6 Insights from Chapter 7 Insights from Chapter 8 Insights from Chapter 9 Insights from Chapter 10
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

I was born in South Carolina in the 1970s, and when I was 11 years old, I saw a pair of menacing aerial shapes flying low over the beach. They looked like dinosaurs come to life. They were the A-10 Thunderbolt II fighter planes, and I was hooked on them.

#2

The A-10 Warthog is a plane designed to be pitted against a massive, hulking target like a battle tank. It is not sleek or fast, but it is extremely maneuverable. It’s a single-seat attitude and philosophy that means you are completely in charge of your destiny.

#3

When you’re alone in an A-10 cockpit, you feel like you’re a part of the plane. The plane is an extension of your body. You don’t just sit there, you strap the airplane on like a backpack. The airplane is now an extension of your body.

#4

The A-10 was designed to survive and bring its crew home safely, despite suffering severe battle damage. The ground-school instructors explained how the high-bypass turbofan engines ran cool and didn’t emit much hot exhaust.

#5

The electronic countermeasures pod was a wing-mounted defensive tool that could jam enemy radar signals. It was heavy, but it could save the plane from being hit by missiles.

#6

The A-10 was designed to drop and launch all kinds of conventional ordinance from under its wings, but its most common loads were Maverick missiles and several types of unguided, free-fall bombs. The HUD was the pilot’s optical aiming system, and it projected digital information floating in front of him.

#7

The A-10 is a legend because of its massive gun, which defines the plane and makes it a legend. The rules of thumb for bombing in an A-10 are steep, fast, or low: pickle early. Shallow, slow, or high: pickle late.

#8

The first time I fired the gun was during initial training in Arizona. I lined up my target using the fixed gun pipper, then squeezed the trigger to its first detent. As I squeezed, there was a short dead-zone in the trigger, and then all hell broke loose.
Insights from Chapter 2

#1

A universal truth about warfare is that one should always know your enemy. A-10 pilots did just that, studying Russian tactics, armament, and vehicles. They could identify a Soviet ZSU-23-4 radar-guided gun just from its fuzzy profile in a photograph flashed momentarily on a wall.

#2

The Vultures and the Pirates, being friendly rivals, often competed against each other in weapons-delivery contests called turkey shoots. These aerial shootouts were day-long contests of skill that involved flying at low altitude in four-ship formations to one of the numerous bombing and gunnery ranges along the east coast of England.

#3

The A-10s were the only two American fighter squadrons in England, and they built their camaraderie playing drinking games and singing fighter pilot songs. They heightened their sense of competition by participating in weekly violent games of Crud.

#4

The Vultures were the underdogs of the squadron, and as such, they stuck together. The LPA was an unofficial organization that served to insulate its members from the effects of the OFA, the Old Farts’ Association.

#5

I was friends with a woman named Sarah Price, who was the new assistant maintenance officer for the Vultures. I began to think she might be The One. She already had a boyfriend back in the States, but they had met the previous year in Arizona.

#6

In August 1990, I was at Eielson AFB in Fairbanks, Alaska, on a boar-swap deployment with an Air Force Reserve’s 47th Tactical Fighter Squadron from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. We were sent to Alaska to fly low and fast in the Alaskan wilderness, blowing up old trucks and tanks on the Air Force’s tactical bombing ranges.

#7

The A-10 is a plane that is designed to be deployed to dangerous areas. It is a traditional capstone of a military pilot’s career, and many spouses hated the thought of their husbands going to battle.
Insights from Chapter 3

#1

The A-10 was being prepared for a desert war, where the terrain was flat and the enemy could see us from far away. We knew that flying straight and level at higher altitudes would get us quickly and violently killed, so we constantly performed a maneuver called a jink.

#2

I was used to dive-bombing, but the prospect of climbing four miles into the air and flinging myself down at the ground at an angle seemed fun but daunting. I received detailed classroom training on the subject, then prepared to practice the techniques for real in the airplanes.

#3

The Iraqi government continued to play a deadly game of poker. They began doing some creepy things, such as posing with the families of oil contractors and trying to look like a kind grandfatherly type of guy.

#4

The Vultures were the alpha squadron, chosen because their aircraft maintenance performance was slightly better than the Pirates. However, some of the Vultures began showing stress because of the decision, most of which was brought on by their families.

#5

I was number four in the formation, and as such, I had to wait until the first three Hogs had finished their bomb passes before I could roll in. I waited patiently, enjoying the magnificent view and reviewing the dive parameters so I could do a perfect pass when it was my turn.

#6

We began flying and training at night, something we didn’t usually do. The Hog could fly at night, and every pilot received a certain amount of night-flying experience every year. But we were essentially day fighters. We couldn't see very well at night, and that meant there were many more hazards.

#7

We got some good ideas from one of the A-10 squadrons that had already deployed to the Persian Gulf. They had developed some interesting tactics involving the Infrared Maverick missile, and they were eager to share their knowledge.

#8

We learned that the airport was huge, among the largest commercial airports in the world. It was located about twenty-five miles west of a large coastal city called Dammam. We were under strict orders to only refer to the base as Somewhere in Eastern Saudi Arabia.

#9

We had a rock band in the squadron, and we were authorized an entire shipping pallet to take our equipment to the desert. We weren’t sure how often we’d get to play down there, but we thought it would be fun.

#10

The Air Force tried to camouflage the planes with a light gray paint scheme, but it was a huge liability in a light-brown desert environment. The Hog community was universally disgusted with this aspect of the Air Force’s planning and leadership.

#11

On 15 January, there was a new moon, which made it dark in the desert that night. The Pentagon planners seemed to be on a smart path as they planned this operation.

#12

The A-10s were fitted with external fuel tanks that allowed them to fly long distances without having to make frequent refueling stops. The tanks were extremely heavy when loaded with fuel, and they added a great deal of drag and therefore slowed the jets down.

#13

In peacetime, A-10 pilots are usually paired with someone of the same skill level. In wartime, it is best to fly with the same person most of the time. Pairing pilots as a team has a long history in military aviation, and it works well.

#14

The Vultures and Pirates switched airplanes mid-month. The Vultures’ planes were slightly newer and had fewer flying hours on them, so they were sent to the desert. The planespotters, who had traveled through muddy fields to see the planes, were shocked when they saw the new planes.

#15

The Vultures had a difficult time with their additional assigned duties. Those tasked with doing the initial flight planning soon found they could not get permission to fly over France. They planned to simply go around the country, flying over Spain instead.

#16

Our military orders were cut. We were deployed to the Gulf for a period of 179 days, although this could be lengthened if needed. The list of the lucky guys came out today: it was disappointing, but not a surprise, to learn that I would be riding in a C-5 cargo plane to Saudi Arabia.

#17

I spent the day packing my personal items. I loaded 300 blank pages into a three-ring notebook, and added it to my duffel bag. It will be my journal while I’m gone.

#18

All mothers’ sons will try to hollow out each other’s lives and hearts, and mix gore with glory.