Thank you for your service

While one might think the A–10 and the pilots who fly them have nothing in common with general aviation, AOPA Pilot found that not to be the case. In fact, at this ANG base, located at Martin State Airport (MTN)—a joint civil-military public use airport in Baltimore, Maryland—military aviation, general aviation, and commercial aviation intersect in unexpected ways.

Meet Nick Sand (call sign “Rock”), a major in the Maryland ANG and an A–10 attack pilot. Sand began his aviation career in GA, earning his private pilot certificate in a Piper Warrior. He became a flight instructor in college and was later hired by a regional airline. Today, Sand flies Boeing 737s for United Airlines and owns a 1992 American Champion Super Decathlon hangared across the field from the guard base.

Sand began flying the A–10 about 10 years ago, after he was a fully rated airline transport pilot. He knew a friend from college who had joined the ANG, and it intrigued him. He applied and was hired by the 104th Fighter Squadron. His military training included undergraduate pilot training in the Beechcraft T–6 Texan II, introduction to fighter fundamentals in the Northrop T–38 Talon, and finally A–10 specific training.

“I’m so fortunate to be able to go sneak over [to my hangar] and fly [my Decathlon] at 90 knots and rip around doing some acrobatics or go hit a grass strip and do some touch and goes and then come back here, change out of the flip flops, put this flight suit on, and fly 300 knots at 100 feet and shoot the gun or throw on night vision goggles and practice working in close proximity to friendly troops on the range and practicing what we do best with the A–10.”

When asked if his GA or commercial pilot experience has made him a better military pilot, Sand said his stick and rudder and flight instructor activity in the general aviation world and his commercial and instrument experience in the airline world gave him strong foundational knowledge to go into military flying. The big difference, he said, is that “the military puts a big emphasis on emergency procedures. Military training is designed to be a little bit stressful. So, you have that additional strain and stress so that you’re able to handle a combat situation emergency environment.”

Sand describes flying the A–10 as similar to an American Champion Decathlon or Piper Super Cub. “Kind of heavy on the controls, but still very agile near the ground,” said Sand. “The A–10 has a big, thick, straight wing, which is kind of nontraditional for most jets. But with two big turbofan engines it handles really, really well down low. It can turn on a dime to do all the primary mission sets.”

“The A–10 was purpose-built, mission-specific to do close air support,” said Sand. “It was conceived from the lessons learned in World War II and the Korean War and Vietnam: You need to have firepower. The reason for its existence was the Soviet tank rolling through Europe during the Cold War. So, massive firepower to be able to kill a tank—which the 30-millimeter cannon was specifically built to do.”

The General Dynamics GAU-8A Gatling gun is powered by engine-driven hydraulic systems that rotate seven nine-foot-long barrels, enabling the gun system to fire 70 rounds per second. The A–10 carries 1,170 rounds of ammunition.

Maryland ANG A–10Cs feature upgraded glass panel avionics and a digital weapons station management system that can deploy GPS laser guided bombs, missiles, and rockets. “Almost any weapon that falls from an aircraft in the Air Force inventory, you can strap on this thing,” said Sand.

Twin General Electric TF34 turbofan engines have 9,200 pounds of thrust each, which propel the A–10 to speeds of 350 knots down low where—on a cool day—the aircraft can pull 7.3 Gs. The relatively low fuel consumption allows the A–10s to provide armed overwatch and close air support coverage on station for two and a half to three hours. And its short takeoff and landing capability enables the A–10 to land on highways in case the pilot’s primary airfield is attacked by the enemy.

“The most rewarding part about flying the A–10 is actually not when you’re flying it, but when you’re on the ground talking to somebody that comes up to you and says this airplane saved my life,” said Sand. “Whether it was Iraq or Afghanistan at any point in the last 20-some years, to have somebody come up to you and say you guys saved our lives when we were pinned down by the Taliban or the Revolutionary Guard; that is the most rewarding part of flying this aircraft is to hear the stories of the people who you helped at their greatest time of need.”

Sand’s wingman for AOPA Pilot’s air-to-air photo mission is Jack “Queen” Ingber, a lieutenant colonel who joined the Maryland ANG after leaving United States Air Force active duty in 2022. Ingber earned his private pilot certificate during college in a Cessna 172, and as he progressed in his military career flying T–6s and T–38s, he continued to scratch his GA itch by flying Cessna 172s, Diamond DA20s, and Piper J–3 Cubs. He’s currently building a Van’s Aircraft RV–8 and keeping his wife and two daughters involved in GA. Ingber also flies a Boeing 777 for United Airlines. “The 777 is a fabulous airplane. It does everything well, and I love flying it. But it is not flying a J–3—or this,” he says as he points to the A–10.

“What I think endears flying the A–10 to a GA pilot is that big Hershey bar wing,” said Ingber. “The wide stance of the landing gear, it’s incredibly stable. It’s not a rocket ship. And that’s by design.

“Every A–10 guy, if you asked anybody here, our only mission is to ensure that an 18-year-old with a rifle outlives their parents. That’s it. So that’s what this airplane is designed for. I can assess what’s happening on the ground, and I can make informed decisions to positively affect a battlespace. And I can do it with 11 hard points where we can shoot or drop almost anything in the inventory. Which makes us a Swiss Army knife of problem solving.”

Ingber says the A–10 also excels at combat search and rescue. “Nobody else trains to combat search and rescue like we do. This asset was made for it. The whole reason we train to that sortie is if an American airman, sailor, soldier, marine, whatever is on the ground and they need to get picked up, we will come find them and we will orchestrate getting them out.”

175th Operations Group Commander Col. Christopher “Slug” Palmer is responsible for the 104th A–10 Fighter Squadron and also the operations support squadron that encompasses aircrew flight equipment, intelligence, and flight records.

Palmer graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy but only began flying afterward, earning his private pilot certificate in Destin, Florida. He later flew Cessna T–37 “Tweets” and T–38s until 2010, when he was selected to fly the A–10 and deployed several times to Afghanistan. In 2016, he transitioned off active duty and joined the Maryland ANG. Palmer also is an airline pilot.

“If you look at the A–10,” said Palmer, “it’s got a rugged design. You’ve heard about the titanium bathtub to protect against light triple-A, and we have a variety of other self-protection: flares, chaff, self-sealing fuel tanks. The airplane was designed to take some punishment and continue flying. I’m certainly sad to see it go, but I’ve been really blessed to be able to fly this airplane for almost 16 years and several deployments. I’m very proud of our maintainers and very proud of our attack pilots and the mission that we’ve had.”

When AOPA Pilot visited the Maryland ANG, its 20 A–10s were slated for divestment at the end of September 2025, with the aircraft either backfilling other A–10 units or flying into storage at the Air Force Materiel Command’s 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (commonly referred to as the aircraft boneyard), located at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona.

“We all knew there was a pretty high chance that one day [the retirement of the A–10] would come,” said Sand, “and it’s been an emotional roller coaster. You know, the reason that we have Decathlons and Aztecs and Bonanzas flying around is because of the freedom that we have guaranteed by this machine, and many similar to it, ensuring that we have the freedom to fly here at home.”

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