Re: Selling my plane Mike Marra 01/16/26 09:18 PM
I joke around with my fighter buddies....
"Fighter pilots make movies....Attack aviators make history."
Joking of course but deepest respect! A guy I'm now working with just finished commanding the Aggressor Squadron at Nellis AFB...their mission in F-16's is to humble everyone else and they do a pretty good job!
The F-16 is the (free) world's most popular fighter...along with the F-15 and now the F-35 is replacing them slowly but steadily.
The AC-130 has been around since Vietnam and continues to be popular with ground parties as it has long loiter time, lots of ammo, can fire very close to friendlies, has all weather capability, and can talk to multiple ground and air elements simultaneously. It's basically flying artillery and does well in complex urban areas as well as out in the country...
The down sides are obvious...it's vulnerable to ever evolving advanced missiles....the air environment is rapidly becoming unsurvivable for older aircraft...thus our unpopular but necessary retirement of the A-10, another beautifully ugly killer.