Can we discuss how cool A10's are?

[Carbon]

Or has it been done alreadly?

The Salinas AirShow is coming up, featuring: Blue angles, Canadian Snowbirds but most of all a small demo by an A10.

The last time i saw an a10 in flight was about 16 years ago, as a wee boy. I rember it being one of the quiter planes in flight. In anycase, they had one grounded and remeber seein the ridiculiously enormous 7 barrel Gau. In anycase i certainly hope they don't put it out of service and opt to continue upgrading the avionics and fire control systems.

[RoadDawg]

They definatly are cool. I still love watching F-16's do their stuff. Like recently on a day of play we had a WWII fly over with just about every WWII era warbird including B-25's and B-17. That was cool.

[Carbon]

Yeah defenitely cool, especially the bombers, that engine sound is so distinct.

[Steelrat]

I think a lot of that push to ditch the A10 was because it would have been hard pressed to survive in the traditional USSR vs. US battle environment. The US military seemed to be leaning towards high speed delivery systems for stand-off precision munitions, and the A10 is more of a knife fighter, especially with the big "Avenger" cannon up front.

However, the A10 thrives in the counter-insurgency (COIN) role that the US seems to keep finding itself in. The US learned the same lesson in Vietnam, where one of the most valued air support aircraft was the humble A-1 Skyraider prop plane, which could fly slow enough, and loiter long enough, to provide better close-air support than the F-4 Phantoms.

[Chojin Man]

a10's are sweet. those and the sr71. I like blackbirds a lot. just the shape of them is so cool.

[xsiled]

to bad they are being phased out...

i see them fly over daily, alot of them are stationed at DM

[bornl33t]

mmmmmmmmmhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ....... GAU 8

according to my step granddad I heard that made a vers of the a-10 with a bigger gun then the GAU8 According to him it was discontinued because the gun was so powerfull it bent the frame of the a-10 with it's recoil.... now that's a BIG gun...

if you guys want some info on the a-10 I have a little info on it including scematics and material tests. I'm sure I can dig it up again if I really wanted to....

[jpdgas]

I read that they are planned to be active untill 2030...hope it was accurate. If there was ever a plan I wanted to fly, it's the A-10. It may be old school, especially with the f-22 out there, but I doubt any other plane will hold such a long service record. This is my fav A-10 pic:

[shatter_storm]

I've got one of the GAU-8 30mm rounds sitting on my bookshelf. It's big, heavy, and means business... I wouldn't want to be anywhere near where an A10 was strafing.

[Blennidae]

It is my understanding the A-10 will be undergoing some upgrades to keep it in service. They are extensive enough that I have heard they will designate the upgrades version A-10C (all currently flying are A-10A). A LANTIRN type system is supposed to be one of those upgrades, to give it a real night attack capability.

The A-10 has never had a larger gun flown in it. The prototypes flew with an M-61 20mm cannon until the GAU-8 was ready.

A-10s are quieter than other "fighter" type jets as it uses airliner engines, which are designed to be quiet in operation.

As for a long service life, I think its hard to beat the B-52 in that respect.

Found this after a brief search...

http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/a-10/

[RoadDawg]

I have heard the recoil/concussion can damage the airframe. I know that with the cannon on the bottom of an Apache, they have to check the airframe for cracks etc, due to it being so forceful and powerful.

[ryanshep]

A-10 is by far one of the sweetest planes ever....plus that giant gun on it is AMAZING anyone got any vids of this thing doing manuevers or something?

[vf-xx]

IIRC a sustained burst from that cannon can stall the plane.

Other things I think I remember correctly:

3 hits from the GAU-8 is considered a tank kill, a 1/4 second burst puts out 15 rounds.

The plane will still fly with over 1/2 it's wing area missing, one engine gone most of the tail section missing.

The pilot's area is a titanium bathtub.

The low tech flight gear was actually an asset in Desert Storm because some of the high tech equipment didn't work with all the smoke from the oil fields burning, but the A-10 pilots were trained to visually aquire their targets. Very old-school.

[logamus]

I've got one of the GAU-8 30mm rounds sitting on my bookshelf. It's big, heavy, and means business... I wouldn't want to be anywhere near where an A10 was strafing.

holy lord thats a big gun.

[AGD]

Depleted Uranium Bullets......ummmm.... goooood.....

AGD