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Desert Sands

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LittleSiss said:
Sorry Barb!
Hijacking again.

Maybe a F-117 would have lighten the chatter?

Or not! :D

Anyway! Isn't the A-10 still called by many "the flying tank"?
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Barbaria1 said:
"Flying Tank" ... cause they could take so much punishment? I thought I had done my homework, but apparently not on the A-10 line in the story. Embarrassing. Anyway, doesn't matter now....back to the story ....
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RacingRodent said:
In part but also because it is really heavily armoured for a plane...for example the armour around the pilot has been described as him (and more recently her) sitting in a titanium bath tub. They literally have as much armour over the vitals as many a light tank and the GAU-8 for example might be a 30mm cannon like the RARDEN in the Scimitar but its rounds are a lot bigger and it can fire a lot more of them and then there are the bombs and missiles. So basically it is a tank that flies.
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The title "Flying Tank" was originally bestowed by German soldiers on the Soviet Ilyushin IL-2 Sturmovik, because of it's seeming invulnerability to anti-aircraft fire.
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The Sturmovik pilot & engine were protected by an armored "bath tub". An idea later copied by the A-10 designers.

The one & only 2-seat A-10 N/AW (Night/Adverse Weather) currently resides in a museum at Edwards Air Force Base.
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The US deployed F-4 Phantom "Wild Weasel" aircraft during the Gulf War. Wild Weasels are specifically designed to knockout enemy radar. And the F-4 is, of course, a two seater. Although the second person is not a co-pilot.
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Neither an A-10 or an F-4 would have had female crew members during the Gulf War. But, where's the fun in that?
 
Although this whole A-10 with a co-pilot thing started with a typo by some low level clerk and we probably should focus on the story, I will through out one more thought on the A-10- the whole fucking plane was designed to carry this gun!!!
a 10 gun.jpg
I don't think the collective minds of CF could have come up with this ...
 
On a different note.

I remember when the Pope was here in Philadelphia just before going into the $ store and seeing


These overhead.

Name those!

One of biggest money pits ever ... Flying over a major city and with the Pope in one!?!
 
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LittleSiss said:
In a different note.

I remember when the Pope was here in Philadelphia just before going into the $ store and seeing


These overhead.

Name those!
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Biggest example of the "Military Industrial Complex"...

There is no reason (beyond to prove it can be done) for the Osprey beyond fulfilling a defense contractor's wallet. It fills a mission roll no one can name and costs more double if there was a FUCKING reason to exist...

We really need to give Barb her thread back in the next month or two, don't you think?

T
 
thehangingtree said:
Biggest example of the "Military Industrial Complex"...
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Biggest example of a statement regurgitated from the industrial bullshit complex, you probably got yours from Fox News but MSNBC is just as bad.

thehangingtree said:
There is no reason (beyond to prove it can be done) for the Osprey beyond fulfilling a defense contractor's wallet. It fills a mission roll no one can name and costs more double if there was a FUCKING reason to exist...
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Anyone who has ever depended on airlift will appreciate a plane that can fly fixed wing speeds and land vertically (btw did you know that in the helicopter industry they call helicopters planes...I always find that a bit jarring).

You cannot praise the A-10, fun plane though it is and then condemn any other for being a waste of resources. Its one job can be done, just as well, by loads of of other jets in US service. It is just that you don't get to see them...which actually means they can operate in threat environments the A-10 cannot because missiles have got nastier since it was a widdle baby tank-buster flying over the Fulda Gap.

Combat ops against low grade hick terrorists in Afghanistan V-22 and the A-10 are useful, operations against a peer opponent the South China Sea the v-22 is useful, disaster relief ops, the v-22 is useful.

Worried about money? cut the A-10, worried about the capability to do what needs to be done? keep the V-22.

Want a fancy, gold plated one job plane to show people the US just does not need to care about common sense? Keep the A-10.*


thehangingtree said:
We really need to give Barb her thread back in the next month or two, don't you think?

T
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And now back to regular broadcasting.


*btw anyone who tells you the USA is declining is full of shit, if they a running for office don't vote for them.
 
LittleSiss said:
I remember when the Pope was here in Philadelphia just before going into the $ store and seeing
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I am a little confused now?:confused: Will the Pope fly out in an Osprey, to Baghdad, to rescue Barb? Without doubt, an elite force as the Swiss Guard will deal with "the fourth largest army in the world", as the Iraqi armed forces were called in 1991?:D

Barbaria1 said:
I'm taking bets .... ;)
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If the Iraqis are not impressed by the Geneva Convention, why not betting on the Stockholm Syndrome?:)
 
Barbaria1 said:
5. I am ushered, along with the blonde girl from my unit, into a waiting Soviet-built Mi-4 "Hound" transport and command helicopter with the insignia of the dreaded Mukhabarat emblazoned on its hull.

I am shown to a jump seat on one side of the fuselage. I tug self-consciously at my desert camouflage pants, which are open in front and have slipped precariously low on my hips before I sit down. My arms are immediately raised above my head and shackled there.

As a Mukhabarat chopper, the interior has clearly been equipped for the transport of prisoners. My blonde companion is taken to the rear of the machine, where there is a separate compartment. She disappears behind a closed door.

The engine revs and the rotors begin to turn. With a shudder, the chopper lifts off, struggles to gain altitude, swings to one side and banks sharply before leveling off and setting a course.

I crane my neck during the steep bank to look out the small porthole next to my head, and take in the smoldering wreckage of the base below. I wonder how many, if any, of the other prisoners from my unit survived the carnage.

At first we ride in silence. The head of the Mukhabarat who has made a special trip to fetch me seems lost in thought. I look away. Exhaustion has set in and the vibration of the chopper lulls the brain.

But after a while I stir, turn and lean forward as far as my shackled wrists will allow and ask where we are going.

The curt reply is simply "Baghdad."

I follow up by asking what is going to happen to us there.

He turns and regards me thoughtfully. For a moment his eyes lock on my bare chest, fascinated perhaps by the way the vibration of the engine and rotors cause my breasts to wobble and shake; then his gaze wanders down to the slope of my tummy where it plunges into the v-shaped gap of my open pants.

After what seems an awfully long pause, he straightens up, looks me straight in the eye, and answers my question.

"You are going to Section 7 headquarters in Baghdad, where we plan to stage a "show trial" in which you will be charged with bombing innocent civilians … a cowardly act of violence that killed dozens of families while they slept in their beds. The trial will be broadcast around the world as proof of the wanton barbarity of your country's unprovoked attack on the people of a peace-loving Iraq."

“That's crazy! I am just a lowly private ... an army reservist assigned to a transport company, not a pilot. And besides, women don't fly combat missions."

"No, THAT Barbara Moore died when her convoy was destroyed in the desert. Her body was never recovered. You are a different Barbara Moore, a U.S. pilot … a clever invention of our intelligence people, who will produce copies of your service record as proof. We also have your flight suit with your name on it, and pieces from the wreckage of your A-10, as well as video footage of the bomb damage, dead bodies, and mourning families."

"No one is going to buy that. My government will deny it as the fabrication it so obviously is."

"No Pvt. Moore, the world will believe it when you confess to your crimes on camera, and condemn the cowardly aggression of your country and its coalition."

"I will never do that."

"You may think so now, but when they are finished with you in the cellars of Muhabarat headquarters, I can assure you that you will confess to anything we say," he replies, his dark eyes flashing.

"Well, it won't work. The coalition will roll up the Iraqi army and be in Baghdad in no time. I will be rescued, and it will be you, not me, who will go on trial."

"Oh, our intelligence is very good, Pvt. Moore. Do not underestimate the Mukhabarat. As we speak your President is preparing to call a halt to his operation for fear world opinion will turn against him. We plan to use you to help make that happen anyway. You Americans are too soft, and too stupid. Rest assured. Baghdad is perfectly safe. No one is coming to your rescue!"

"Why put me, a woman on trial? Haven't you captured any men? Besides, women do not fly combat missions. Everyone knows that."

"Ah, but there is so much propaganda value in showing that they do. And, remember you will confess. The idea of a woman at the controls will enrage our people at home, and shock sensibilities abroad. Do you think your Arab coalition partners will approve of deploying women pilots to slaughter innocents in their beds?"

"And what if I am convicted?"

"You will be convicted. There is no ‘what if’. And after your trial you will be paraded on camera in the streets of the very town devastated by your cowardly attack and you will be publicly executed there, with worldwide media coverage.

"And what of her?" I ask, nodding toward the rear compartment, from which despite the noise of the rotors I can hear muffled thumps and screams.

"Oh her ... Ah, yes ... she will confess to being your co-pilot."

TO BE CONTINUED
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Love the detail.
 
Eulalia said:
congratulations on finding the story, Roberta
we thought it had gone irretrievably awol :D
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thehangingtree said:
View attachment 328986
Tree found a copy of the Arabic 'Crux Chronicle' with the first picture of Barb Moore in captivity. He has no clue what the caption says but doesn't think it bodes well for Private Moore....

T
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nude-woman-laptop.jpg Due to unforeseen distractions, there has been an unanticipated writing delay ... new episode should be ready by Sunday. Please be patient everyone. ;)
 
thehangingtree said:
View attachment 328986
Tree found a copy of the Arabic 'Crux Chronicle' with the first picture of Barb Moore in captivity. He has no clue what the caption says but doesn't think it bodes well for Private Moore....

T
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Sorry for the grainy picture but that's what happens when you are taking pictures with Kodachrome ISO 64 indoors with poor lighting and bombs dropping down...
 
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