The A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat, turbofan-powered gun with wings. Also referred to as the Warthog, it’s commonly used to support ground troops and execute ground attack missions.

But what is it like to fly?

Startup and Shutdown

When walking around the aircraft, there’s really nothing you can interact with except for the cockpit, which is labeled “door.” If you enter, the canopy stays up after your viewpoint moves to the cockpit, which is nice.

Starting the engine is fast if you know where everything is (around eight clicks). Alternator, battery etc. are on the right-hand side panel, the actual starter switches are somewhat hidden between the throttle and ejection control lock on the left. Parking brake is a yellow lever to the very right. To close the canopy, there’s a little grey switch on the forward-right side. Landing gear is a grey knob + lever on the forward-left panel. Taxiing is pleasant – the Thunderbolt is very maneuverable on the ground, but the steering can get very sluggish at higher speeds.

Flight and Handling

The attack airplane takes off comfortably at around 140 knots, which holds true to the 130-150 knots specified in real life. It’s quite maneuverable and gets up to speed quickly after takeoff, though if you’re looking for exhilarating high speed maneuvers, try the F-16 or F-22 instead. The engine noise is pretty spot-on.

Unfortunately, since this is MSFS and DCS, you can’t use the gatling gun.

And since it’s a turbofan with less power than contemporary fighters, it’s a little slower – be sure to watch your speed during landing.

The attention to detail in the cockpit and livery/texture is also pretty formidable.

Rating

An aggressive 8.5/10. Could be better if there was some sort of feature (or at least a muzzle flash effect) for the gun.