Forty years of Warthog demos

The A-10 demonstration tradition ran for more than 40 years, with dozens of pilots at hundreds of air shows. For much of that time there were two teams, East and West, both deactivated in 2011. The Warthog then appeared only in heritage flights in 2012 and 2017 before the team was reactivated as a single-ship demonstration in 2018 with the 355th Wing at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, where the first A-10A had arrived on 2 March 1976. The routine stressed low simulated gun runs and tight turns, and the team also flew Heritage Flight formations with warbirds.

One jet, ten airmen

The team was small: one jet and about ten airmen including the pilot, with three A-10Cs assigned through the 357th Fighter Squadron. Maj. Cody “ShIV” Wilton flew the 2020 season, Maj. Haden “Gator” Fullam the 2021 and 2022 seasons and Maj. Lindsay “Mad” Johnson, an instructor pilot with 431 combat hours, the last two. Two jets were repainted in Vietnam-era Southeast Asia camouflage honouring the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing’s F-105s: 81-0962 in 2021 and 78-0651 “Memphis Belle III” in 2023.

Final season

On 20 March 2024 the 355th Wing announced that 2024 would be the final season, as part of the A-10 divestment that saw Davis-Monthan’s first jet go to the boneyard in February and the 354th Fighter Squadron close in June. The team flew a home farewell at Davis-Monthan on 1 November and its last show at Stuart, Florida, on 10 November 2024, in Memphis Belle III.