Academy 1/48 USAF A-10C Thunderbolt II "75th FS Flying Tigers" Plastic Model Kit

 

In 1967, the Air Force went to industry for the Attack-Experimental (A-X) program, a new close air support to replace the A-1 Skyraider. The two contenders were the Northrop YA-9 (which bore a strong resemblance to the Sukhoi Su-25 developed later) and the Fairchild Republic YA-10. The YA-10's winning design embodied survivability, boasting that it could fly with one engine shot out, one of the two tails blown off, and 1/3 of one wing missing, and still bring its pilot home. Throughout its early career, skeptics scoffed at these claims, but in combat over Iraq, this capability was not exaggerated!