A great story about my favorite airplane.
@andy58-in-nh There will always be a special place in my heart for fighter-bombers with propellers,and their pilots. We preferred the old A1 Skyraider over all other air support because they could fly low and slow,and put the bombs and cannon fire EXACTLY where we needed it when we were in danger of being overrun.
You could hear them coming in with cannons and MG's firing,and then zooming up and away right after they dropped the bombs or the napalm. Look up at them when your heard them hit the power to gain altitude,and half the time you would see the pilot smiling and waving at you because he had the canopy pushed back,and it seemed like they all wore leather helmets with goggles and had brightly colored scarves tied around their necks.
Hell,these guys would come in making gun runs after they were out of ammunition,just to keep the enemy from advancing on us. Usually the NVA would start hauling ass at the first sign of fighter-bombers coming in,even the jets. Anybody that isn't afraid of napalm isn't thinking clearly,and will soon think no more. I don't know about anyone else,but when I was on the radio and things were getting tight,I'd put in a request for Crispy Critters to let them know it was napalm time.
Loved,loved,LOVED me some Skyraiders! I can truthfully say that if it weren't for those guys,I wouldn't be here now to type these words.
I understand there is now and has been for years,a jet that is able to fly low and slow,and haul an insane amount of ordinance while doing so. I read a few years back about the AF wanting to declare it obsolete and to get rid of it,and the army screamed so loud about this even the Pentagram heard it and kept that in active service.
Fast jets are nice because they get there quickly,but when it comes time to drop ordinance or fire cannons at "danger close" range,you want something that can fly low and slow enough to see what they are doing and put it all in the right places.
