Suprise Visitors

As I was waiting for the next ship, I heard the distinctive sound of a jet.

Fortunately, I had the right lens on my camera because I didn't have long to take pictures.  The jet sound was the first of a pair of A-10 Thunderbolts that were heading down the river.  They are based out of Selfridge Air National Guard Base.

 She was developed in the late 70's as a tank buster aircraft.  As you can see from this picutre, the plane can carry a bunch of weapons.  If you look just below the nose, you will see her 30mm cannon.  Because, tanks are pretty heavy, they have to make compromises on where their armor is placed, therefore they are fairly lightly armored on the top.  The 30mm cannon is very effective against that.  If the cannon doesn't work, the plane can carry plenty of other weapons.

 She is a subsonic aircraft and built with survivability in mind.  Many of her systems are redundant.  For instance, she can fly home with one engine.  I think she can look a chunk of wing and still fly.  The cockpit is encased in a titanium shell to protect the pilot.

 And then I saw another one.  This one was flying closer to the shot, so I had a chance to get better pictures.

 The Air Force has tried to kill the program several times even though it is a very lethal aicraft.  Every time the Air Force tries to kill it, the Army offers to fly it and the Air Force gives in.  Shame the F-22 doesn't get the same level of scrutiny.

 And the A-10 starts to head off.

She banks towards Selfridge.

In the upper left is the A-10, making this almost my dream shot.