It’s not sleek or fancy. But this Warthog is ready to shock you at Water Follies air show

HAPO’s Over the River Air Show this Water Follies weekend guarantees to shock skywatchers with a familiar sight.

The headlining aircraft this year is an Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II — more commonly known as the Warthog.

The 2018 air show also features U.S. Special Operations Command’s Parachute Team, a B-25D Mitchell bomber, Pitts S-1-11B stunt plane, an Edge 540 stunt plane, and a T-33 trainer jet.

Shows will start at about 11 a.m. and 1:45 p.m. each day.

The A-10, first flown in 1972, is favored by ground troops across the U.S. military.

“She is the people’s aircraft,” said Senior Airman Betty Chevalier. “She’s not afraid to get down dirty. She’s protects the troops on the ground that is her main mission.”

Chevalier said the A-10 may ride low and slow with ugly cosmetics, but it also can survive damage and dish it out unlike any other U.S aircraft.

The Warthog’s main armament is its 15-foot-long Gatling autocannon that fires 30-millimeter rounds hard and fast enough to obliterate enemy tanks and positions in seconds.

“You’ll talk to people who have been deployed overseas in hostile situations and the A-10 is the aircraft they want to see,” Chevalier said.

The Warthog will start off around 2:10 p.m. in a vertical run as fast as it will go, then do quick and slow rolls, Split-S maneuvers and everything in between, Chevalier said.

Chevalier is one of the nine airmen in the Air Force’s A-10 Demonstration Team and its as public affairs lead.

Based out of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, the team is on their 13th show this season.

Chevalier said the team gets a big local response from people interested in the show and aircraft.

“We have a really good feel for it now,” Chevalier said. “We’re excited to be here. Everybody is really excited to see us.”

This story was originally published July 26, 2018 at 7:58 PM.