A-10 Thunderbolts fly over Ann Arbor on way back to Selfridge

Posted on Fri, Sep 14, 2012 : 4:21 p.m.

A-10 Thunderbolts fly over Ann Arbor on way back to Selfridge

By Cindy Heflin

The A-10 Thunderbolt II

Air Force photo

Those military aircraft flying low over the Ann Arbor area Friday afternoon were A-10 Thunderbolt II planes.

They flew low over Ann Arbor area about 2:30 p.m. on their way back to Selfridge Air National Guard Base from Lansing, said Penny Carroll, spokeswoman for the 127th Fighter Squadron of the Michigan Air National Guard.

Carroll said the planes were practicing low-altitude tactical navigation, meaning they were spotting landmarks on the ground to find their way back home.

Thunderbolts also are known as warthogs “because they’re ugly,” Carroll said.

The military planes’ flight over Ann Arbor follows a flyover of Michigan Stadium by a B2 Stealth bomber before the game with Air Force Saturday.

Comments

PineyWoodsGuy

Sat, Sep 15, 2012 : 2:54 a.m.

Warthogs are Really Awesome War Birds. We need them now, more than ever!

Nunya

Sat, Sep 15, 2012 : 2:02 a.m.

nerds

RRinAA

Sat, Sep 15, 2012 : 1:04 p.m.

Guilty as charged. Wish I wasn't reading this after the fact or I'd been out scanning the skies! I would even have braved the FF's (football fanatics) to see the B2 flyover.

tdw

Sat, Sep 15, 2012 : 1:17 a.m.

And to think they almost retired them, until they started eating Iraq's tanks

braggslaw

Sat, Sep 15, 2012 : 1:13 a.m.

What's not to like? 30 MM cannon with depleted uranium shells. Titanium bathtub for pilot. Can fly with one engine out. Long loiter times. The best ground attack aircraft ever designed.

f4phantomII

Sat, Sep 15, 2012 : 3:42 p.m.

Since the A-1 Skyraider.

Dog Guy

Sat, Sep 15, 2012 : 1:06 a.m.

A warthog is a bit tougher than it possibly can be. A warthog attack would leave Daleks awestruck. A warthog is beautiful to combat riflemen.

Tru2Blu76

Fri, Sep 14, 2012 : 11:39 p.m.

I'm glad they're on our side. ;-)

tdw

Fri, Sep 14, 2012 : 8:50 p.m.

Saw them a few hours ago.They were flying north above Carpentder

MRunner73

Fri, Sep 14, 2012 : 8:46 p.m.

Too bad I missed the show. Would have been a nice fly over for the U-Mass game Saturday. Thought the Stealth fly over was awesome last Saturday.