Warthog 087 returns to Hagerstown, Maryland. [Credit: Austin Colby]
Key Takeaways:
An A-10C Warthog (tail number 79-0087), which saw combat with the Maryland Air National Guard in Iraq and Afghanistan, made its emotional final flight back to Hagerstown, Maryland, its birthplace.
The aircraft was donated to the Hagerstown Aviation Museum for permanent display as the Maryland ANG transitions its focus to cybersecurity.
Hundreds of people, including former Fairchild Republic employees who built the plane, gathered to give the Warthog a hero's welcome with a water cannon salute and emotional ceremonies.
Homecomings tend to be emotional, and that certainly was the case last week at Hagerstown Regional Airport (KHGR) in Maryland when an A-10C, tail number 79-0087, made its final flight, returning to the place where it was built.
The aircraft rolled out of the Fairchild Republic factory in 1979.
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Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.
![Warthog 087 returns to Hagerstown, Maryland. [Credit: Austin Colby]](https://www.flyingmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/A-10-Austin-Colby-Large.jpeg)
