Hawgsmoke 2010!! With Pics!!!

[Mad Dog 7.62]

SEE POST #34 FOR VIDEOS!!!!

 

I just had the opportunity to spend a couple of days covering Hawgsmoke 2010 at Gowen Field in Boise, Idaho. Hawgsmoke 2010 was hosted by the Idaho Air National Guards 190th Fighter Squadron, who were the winners of the 2008 competition and thus became the hosts of this years. Since the 190th won again this time, the second place winners will host Hawgsmoke 2012. On Wednesday Oct. 13 I spent a good part of the day on the ramp at Gowen taking shots of ramp activity and arriving A-10 teams. It was pretty much heaven for a Warthog fan!! It was a very busy place, with aircraft being serviced, readied for the following days competition, landing, taxiing, parking, running up engines, etc. There was only a very small contingent of media covering the event, and we were allowed to shoot pretty much anything we wanted on the ramp. I talked to a few of the maintainers a bit but they were extremely busy....the Idaho ANG crews were trying to take care of all the visiting planes to get them ready to go the next day.

 

The next day, Thursday October 14, I traveled to the Saylor Creek Range and spent about 4 hours watching A-10's bomb and strafe. Much has been said about the sound of the GAU-8/A cannon...I have heard it compared to a chainsaw in sound. I can tell you that words cannot really describe it, and video does not really capture the essence of the sound either. It is LOUD and very distinctive. When the aircraft fired from longer ranges, you would hear a popping or crackling sound much like a string of firecrackers...this was the sound of the supersonic rounds passing overhead...then a second or so later you would hear the actual ripping, roaring sound of the gun. Had you been on the receiving end, you wouldn't have heard anything, you would have dead before the sound got there!

 

There were 18 teams and 40+ A-10's at the competition. The overseas teams did not fly thier own A-10's, thier pilots flew in commercial and used "borrowed" A-10's for the event. Most teams brought 4 planes, a few brought a spare and a few brought less and used one or two borrowed birds.

 

At the range, the teams first performed a high altitide bomb drop using BDU-33 practice bombs. The A-10's flew the approach at about 17K feet and released at about 7K feet. From the ground, the A-10 is impossible to see at 17000 feet and even when they got down to 7000, you had to be looking in the right spot to get a visual on them. They then made a Maverick pass, no missle was fired, but they had to get a lock with thier Maverick. All aircraft were carrying two CATM-65 missles, one EO and one IR. In one case, I heard the pilot advise the range controller his missle would not activate in TRAIN mode and ask permission to make his pass in ARM, the range controllers denied the request. I am not sure if that was purely a safety issue as the CATM-65 has no actual motor and can't leave the rail, or if it was just protocol for the contest. The planes third pass was a low altitude bombing run with BDU-33 25 lb. practice bombs again. Thier fourth pass was a 30mm gun run at a strafing target. If they missed, they had to make another strafing run from a longer distance. After all the gun runs were complete, the planes had about three minutes to join back up in formation and make a formation pass over the range, and that ended their time.

 

A few things I found interesting....all the A-10's I saw were C models....as evidenced by the cockpit coaming and/or the presence of Sniper pods, or Litening pods on 2/10. All the planes arrived with the two CATM-65 Mavericks, two TER's, and usually two baggage pods. Some had the AIM-9 rails, some did not. The only difference was the Davis Monthan birds that arrived with ALQ-131 pods on station 11 and one CATM-9 on station 1.

 

The teams used a "degraded" gunsight reticule and bombing mode for the event. At one point I heard the statement they were bombing in HARS mode. I presume this means they were using the older electronics and not the IFFCC of the C model. Even at that, they were usually very accurate. We were probably 500 to 600 yards from the bomb target, but only 200 yards or so from the strafing pit. We were just slightly to the left of the gun line for the strafing pits, so we were very close...I was very surprised we were able to be that close, but its a testament to the confidence the Air Force has in the accuracy of the weapons system.

 

I hope you enjoy the pics! They are possible due to the hospitality of the 124th Fighter Wing Public Affairs Officer, Capt. Tony Vincelli, and his staff!

 

A 190th Fighter Squadron A-10 taxies in during Hawgsmoke 2010. Mavericks on 3 & 9, TER's on 5 & 7, and an AN/AAQ-28 Litening pod on station 10.

 

An Idaho ANG A-10C taxies past with the Boise foothills in the background.

 

 

 

 

 

The nose of a very dirty A-10C out of Nellis. The entire plane was sooty from gun residue, obviously this one gets shot a lot!!

 

 

 

Another Idaho A-10C taxis past the Boise Air Terminal.

 

A "Warthog" A-10C from Barksdale, tailcode "BD".

 

An A-10C from the Michigan "Red Devils" 107th Fighter Squadron with the speedbrakes open.

 

Michigan ANG A-10's taxi to thier spots on the ramp.

 

 

An enthusiastic A-10 pilot from the 23rd Operations Support Squadron, Moody AFB.

 

 

 

The Flying Tigers have arrived!!!

 

 

 

The much cleaner of the two Nellis birds. Some planes still carry the AN/AAS-35V Pave Penny laser spot tracker along with the Sniper or Litening pods, and some do not.

 

 

 

A Blackhawk puts in an appearance. Blackhawks and Apaches are also stationed at Gowen Field. Most of us tried unsuccessfully to wrangle a ride in a Blackhawk, or better yet, an Apache!! We can dream can't we??

 

BDU-33's on a TER ready to go.

 

Another Idaho A-10 on the runway.

 

Warthog nose art on the Barksdale A-10C's of the 47th Fighter Squadron. This is my favorite Warthog nose art.

 

 

 

A Nellis A-10 pulls off after a pass over the Saylor Creek range.

 

 

 

A-10C aircraft from the Idaho ANG 190th Fighter Squadron in a tight four ship over the Saylor Creek range. I was not at all surprised to find out the 190th won again...thier flying and shooting was excellent.

 

An A-10 from the 303rd Fighter Squadron out of Whiteman AFB at Hawgsmoke.

 

A 190th FS A-10 pulls off target over the Saylor Creek range.

 

30mm rounds from the A-10's GAU-8/A Avenger cannon rip through the left panel of the strafe target at Saylor Creek range.

 

An A-10C from the 45th Fighter Squadron at Davis-Monthan AFB makes a strafing run during Hawgsmoke 2010.

Edited October 24, 2010 by Mad Dog 7.62
Added Video

[Deadman]

oh ya looks like it was a great Hawg smoke wish i could have been there great pics thanks

[104th_Crunch]

Thank you for taking the time to share!

[Steel Jaw]

Excellent pics, bud, thanx!

[StrongHarm]

Outstanding, Maddog. Thank you for taking the time to share!

+1

[arality]

Sweet pics man, sounds like a blast to be there in person!

[Echonomix]

Wow, very awesome! Great pictures, wish I coulda been there.

 

Gotta say those little bdu-33 look like a joke on the TER, lol. I mean, really? You want me to carry those little things around under my hog? really?! Are you serious? :lol:.

[MTFDarkEagle]

Cool pictures!!! Thanks for sharing!

[NotiA10]

great pics and thanks for the write up !!! rep in bound.

 

by the they way what camera did you use to take the pics ?

 

cheers,

 

NotiA10

[Python]

Brilliant pictures, looks like you had a whale of a time. Thank you for posting.

[Sticky]

I love the pictures, thanks for posting! And they say its an ugly plane... :cry: Beautiful pics of a beautiful plane IMO! :thumbup:

[dane48]

Fantastic, what an event to have seen and remember. Thank you

[ACUTech]

That's awesome mate, thanks for posting :)

[element1108]

Great pics man, thanks for sharing!

[power5]

Wow, lucky opportunity to be that close to that many hogs. That had to be an amazing event.

[mvsgas]

http://www.hawgsmoke.com/

[Ragtag]

Wow, not often that i get to be envious but now i am. Great pics... and i agree with some, it's not, by far, an ugly bird :)

[polygonpusher]

+1

[Mad Dog 7.62]

Thanks for the comments!! I am happy to be able to share some of the experience with my fellow Warthog fans. I have a lot more pics so if there is something in particular you guys want to see let me know. The only thing we were asked not to do was to not photograph open panels, and there were not really any open on the ramp anyway. (I didn't tell them that Jake Melampys book already has photos of about every open panel on the plane.)

[Mad Dog 7.62]

Fixed the bandwidth issue, and got the full results today...and here is one more pic I got today from the PAO....a nice aerial of a ramp full of Hawgs!! I will try to add more pics in a day or two.

 

Also, got the full results today.....the 190th FS from Gowen Field was 1st place, the 354th FS from Davis Monthan was second, and the 184th FS from Fort Smith was third.

 

Since the 190th cannot host the event two years in a row, Hawgsmoke 2012 should be at Davis-Monthan AFB in AZ.

 

 

[badaboom]

Outstanding!!!! THX!! :)

[Spectre_USA]

Warthog nose art on the Barksdale A-10C's of the 47th Fighter Squadron. This is my favorite Warthog nose art.

 

Agree wholeheartedly!

 

Never liked the Tigers, love the tusks, unless it is a P-40E.

 

As to the BDU-33's, of the hundreds of bombs I loaded, fully 90% were these, and more than half were on A-10s.

 

A staple of peace-time practice and those un-deployed.

 

Wonderful pics, wish I could have been there as it is only about a 5 hour drive.

 

Lastly, the Gau-8 noise is just hard to describe, but very distinct.

 

Avenger lust, yes!

 

:D

[MadDogMcQ]

Amazing pictures!!!!!! Thanks for posting.

[jelliott523]

Awesome pics!! I see the 190th A-10's flying every day and the flight path for Gowen Field is right over my house. All the activity last week was awesome.

[Mad Dog 7.62]

You must live next door to me!