Comments on: Thunderbolt

By: David

David — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 18:21:09 +0000

Ah yes, that would be the application of EOD rule #7: There is no problem in the universe that cannot be solved with the proper application of high explosives.

Having said that, the problem becomes finding a commander that will allow the use of HE in such creative ways.

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 14:50:32 +0000

On the one hand, probably a lot easier to work on our own devices
where you have the manuals/schematics, etc. On the other, I wonder
about the following sort of conversation (from my imagination, in a Bob
Newhart sort of voice):

Well Colonel, I understand that the C-130 is a very expensive aircraft
but this one does have a lot of SAM damage and I’m afraid that my crew
and I don’t have much experience working on a daisy cutter twisted into
a pretzel. So, it’s my recommendation that it be taxied out to the end of
45R and we’ll remotely detonate it in place. Uh, we’ll be happy to help
the field maintenance crew clean up whatever is left.

By: David

David — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 04:26:05 +0000

Yeah, they call us in for emergencies dealing with ordnance, generally if something fails to fire/release or a jammed gun we get called. We also occasionally work on ejection seats if there is something wrong with the explosive components or there has been a crash or successful ejection (not all the components activate during an ejection). We also deal with malfunctioned counter measures when necessary.

By: Bill

Bill — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 21:27:09 +0000

“they’re really easy to work on from an EOD perspective”
Hmmm… I didn’t realize that was in your job spec. So, if
I understand correctly, when a combat aircraft lands with
unexploded (but damaged???) ordnance they call you to
get it off the airframe and get rid of it?

By: David

David — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 16:07:28 +0000

The Thunderbolt is definitely a cool plane. An interesting note, the A-10 Thunderbolt II
(commonly referred to as the Warthog) could pretty much fit Brett’s description. The A-10 is ugly as sin, but fulfills its roll as a close are support/tank hunter beautilfully, plus they’re really easy to work on from an EOD perspective.