A-10 76-0540 at KFIA
A-10 76-0540 from the New Orleans Air Force Reserve. Became the first
heavily damaged aircraft on January 31, 1991 suffering major damage when
struck by a surface-to-air missile. All hydraulic controls were lost.
The pilot, Major Jim Rose, managed to bring it home to us first landing at
KKMC and then limped back to KFIA using backup systems. 76-054o sat out the
rest of the war due to lack of parts. TSgt Runge and I (Patrick McGee) removed and replaced the entire empennage
on this thing. It did finally fly home, well to McClellen AFB anyway,
where it supplied parts for other A-10's for awhile until August 22, 1991
when we ended up putting her on static display at the
McClellan AFB Aviation Museum (now
Aerospace Museum of California), Sacramento (North Highlands) CA.
A-10 76-0540 on Display at the
Aerospace
Museum of California (formerly McClellan Aviation Museum), Sacramento CA
USAF S/N 76-540 is an A-10A was one of 713 A-10As built by
Fairchild-Republic at Hagerstown, Maryland. It was delivered to the
354th Tactical Fighter Wing (TAC), Myrtle Beach AFB, South Carolina in 1978.
In August, 1983 it was sent to the 706th Tac Fighter Squadron (AFRES), NAS
New Orleans, Louisiana. During an Operation Desert Storm mission on
before being retired to the museum.
Jun 2006:
76-0540 Restoration
Project - McClellan AFB, CA
