A quartet of A-10 pilots from Air Force Reserve Command’s 47th Fighter Squadron at Barksdale AFB, La., broke 20,000 combined Warthog flight hours during a formation sortie from the base. That’s a feat never before accomplished by any four A-10 fliers. During their July 15 flight, Lt. Col. David Deaton, Lt. Col. Brady Glick, then Lt. Col. James Macaulay, and Lt. Col. Marc Olson shattered the previous record of 17,742 combined hours that they set in 2008. “I’m grateful that God has blessed me by allowing me to serve my country for this long,” said Deaton after the flight. “This milestone is really a testament to the professionalism of the maintainers and the durability of the ‘Hawg,” added Macaulay, who leads the group with 5,200 flight hours. “In 20,000 hours, none of us have punched out or had a major mishap,” he noted. Upon landing, Macaulay was promoted to the rank of full colonel. (Barksdale report by TSgt. Jeff Walston)
The crash of a T-38 trainer jet this May—which caused a weekslong pause in flights across the fleet—was caused by an improperly installed pin for one of the jet’s horizontal stabilizers, according to a new accident report released Oct. 30. When the pin disengaged midflight, it created the slightest amount…