Gulf War Battle Damage A-10 76-0540 (Repaired)

A-10 76-0540 from the New Orleans Air Force Reserve. Became the first heavily damaged aircraft on January 31, 1991 suffering major damage when struck by a surface-to-air missile. All hydraulic controls were lost. The pilot, Major Jim Rose, managed to bring it home to us first landing at KKMC and then limped back to KFIA using backup systems. 76-0540 sat out the rest of the war due to lack of parts. TSgt Runge and TSgt Patrick McGee (me) removed and replaced the entire empennage on this thing.

It did finally fly home, well to McClellen AFB anyway, where it supplied parts for other A-10's for awhile until August 22, 1991 when we ended up putting her on static display at the McClellan AFB Aviation Museum (now Aerospace Museum of California), Sacramento (North Highlands) CA.