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[Passenger Mark]

Captain... I was reading your bio that you sent, and saw you flew the warthog. This is not FoFing related... but I was wondering... since it flies relatively slow, if it had any control issues?

[Captain Hutch]

Mark,

Well, mostly to the contrary, the A-10 is very easy to handle. It is what we call a "fat wing", as opposed to a delta wing, so it is a very forgiving aircraft in most cases. However, it is slightly underpowered, in that you must keep your speed up, which usually means above 300 knots, otherwise slower than that and you will not have much energy to maneuver with and it will take you forever to climb or increase your speed up to around 320-330 knots. Most fighters have an afterburner, or "reheat" as I remember the Brits calling it, which is raw fuel poured into the afterburner can and burned directly, giving you a great energy boost. However, afterburner gives a great signature for a heat-seeking missile, which is just what you don't want when you are tooling around enemy territory. It really is a super airplane to fly--I flew it for 12 1/2 years in the Air National Guard. We deployed to many places, including Hawaii and Germany, flying to both places from Baltimore. It is not, however, in the comfort department, made for long flights!

Hutch