And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Friday, December 12, 2025
The A-10 Warthog's daddy. You can see the family resemblance. OV-1 MoHawk
OV-1 is an observation platform, essentially a flying 19-inch rack. The canopy bulges out on each side so the crew can look almost straight down. We had them tied down on the ramp at Love Field and when the wind blew the correct direction, the plane would lift.
As told by the original designers, the P47 & Douglas Skyraider were the inspirations for the A10. The OV10 Bronco was a different design for a different requirement. The OV1 is also a completely separate plane for a different requirement
Guess who's the only guy to ever torque off an engine mount bolt on one of those? ME!!! Little PV2 James Miller. 224th MI, Savannah, GA. I was attached to A Co, since B Co was mostly at Palmerola AB in Honduras. SPC Sparrow told little ol' me, straight out of U-21 school, to torque the bolt to 690 foot pounds. I went to the tool crib, (609th TC) got a torque wrench...a bit big I thought, but SPC outranks PV2. 1" drive torque wrench, 1 to 3/4" adapter, 3/4" to 1/2" adapter and a 5/8 socket out of my toolbox. Twistclickclickclicktwistclickclicktwistclick....ping as the washer from behind the nut hit the hanger floor. SSG Harry Ford was our TI at the time, and I remember the look on his face when I told him. Followed quickly by Maj Phillips. I took up smoking for that afternoon. I think everyone else took up drinking as well. That bird was scheduled to go back to Honduras that week to replace a 'overdue for inspection' bird that needed to come back. Grumman took a few months to get that spider web like 'bolt' out and a new one installed. I was solidly monitored by several people, handed TM's to read and work from daily until I ended up in Honduras a few months later, with the birds (RU-21's) I was trained on. Hey, I was an U-21 guy, not a Mohawk guy. Someone tells me what to do, I did it. Even if it was supposed to be inch pounds and not foot pounds.
Oh, and the bird I broke the bolt off of in 84 was still flying in 1991 for Desert Shield/Storm. I met one of the pilots while I was there (saw the patch) and asked if 'XXX was still flying'. He said she's on the ramp right now. LOL, told him the story and got 'oh, shit, YOU'RE the guy!'. Yeah, that was me. Glory days.
Ya gotta admire the guy who can handle three pieces of tail at the same time.
ReplyDeleteOV-1 is an observation platform, essentially a flying 19-inch rack. The canopy bulges out on each side so the crew can look almost straight down. We had them tied down on the ramp at Love Field and when the wind blew the correct direction, the plane would lift.
ReplyDeleteI'd say that would be it's grandaddy and the OV-10 Bronco would be it's daddy.
ReplyDeletehttps://pimaair.org/museum-aircraft/north-american-ov-10d/
As told by the original designers, the P47 & Douglas Skyraider were the inspirations for the A10.
ReplyDeleteThe OV10 Bronco was a different design for a different requirement.
The OV1 is also a completely separate plane for a different requirement
The three are not really related at all
Oh, Thomas. Please relax.
DeleteGrumman?
ReplyDeleteGuess who's the only guy to ever torque off an engine mount bolt on one of those? ME!!! Little PV2 James Miller. 224th MI, Savannah, GA. I was attached to A Co, since B Co was mostly at Palmerola AB in Honduras. SPC Sparrow told little ol' me, straight out of U-21 school, to torque the bolt to 690 foot pounds. I went to the tool crib, (609th TC) got a torque wrench...a bit big I thought, but SPC outranks PV2. 1" drive torque wrench, 1 to 3/4" adapter, 3/4" to 1/2" adapter and a 5/8 socket out of my toolbox. Twistclickclickclicktwistclickclicktwistclick....ping as the washer from behind the nut hit the hanger floor. SSG Harry Ford was our TI at the time, and I remember the look on his face when I told him. Followed quickly by Maj Phillips. I took up smoking for that afternoon. I think everyone else took up drinking as well.
ReplyDeleteThat bird was scheduled to go back to Honduras that week to replace a 'overdue for inspection' bird that needed to come back. Grumman took a few months to get that spider web like 'bolt' out and a new one installed. I was solidly monitored by several people, handed TM's to read and work from daily until I ended up in Honduras a few months later, with the birds (RU-21's) I was trained on.
Hey, I was an U-21 guy, not a Mohawk guy. Someone tells me what to do, I did it. Even if it was supposed to be inch pounds and not foot pounds.
Oh, and the bird I broke the bolt off of in 84 was still flying in 1991 for Desert Shield/Storm. I met one of the pilots while I was there (saw the patch) and asked if 'XXX was still flying'. He said she's on the ramp right now. LOL, told him the story and got 'oh, shit, YOU'RE the guy!'. Yeah, that was me. Glory days.
DeleteOpted out of a job as a TO on a Mohawk. Dumbest thing I ever did.
ReplyDelete