A-10C Firing the Avenger, 30mm
- Thread starter Retired W4
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The most beautiful ugly aircraft ever made.
A few dozen of those would work wonders against a 9 mile long column of Russian tanks, armor, and support vehicles.
The killer Hawg'...it's beyond my comprehension that the AF has tried to shelf this platform on several occasions but it has survived for (at least) 2022.
In the development stage of the A-10, those gun gases were so voluminous that they extinguished the engines and the test pilot had to bail out on at least one test flight.
Tom, I did some surfing and found that the drum magazine can hold 1350 rounds but they only load it to 1175 to cut down on jamming. I also read that the average destructive round cost is $130.00 per.
If so that's an expensive mag dump.
If so that's an expensive mag dump.
OP
They call the loader The Snake. It retrieves the spent cases while loading new live rounds into the drum. Quite an interesting operation to watch. I'm not sure how many times the could reload the spent "brass", or even if they do. The main reason the Avenger does not dump the empties is the hazard to the troops on the ground.
OP
It has recently been funded for a while more. Nothing says CAS like the A-10.
They call the loader The Snake. It retrieves the spent cases while loading new live rounds into the drum. Quite an interesting operation to watch. I'm not sure how many times the could reload the spent "brass", or even if they do. The main reason the Avenger does not dump the empties is the hazard to the troops on the ground.
Or, to keep the brass collectors from getting underfoot on the battlefield.
mckenney99
Member
HA, HA. Everywhere you go, there is that one guy that is like a hoover vacuum sucking up every piece of brass almost as fast as it hits the ground. On more than one occasion I've had to tell him to leave my stuff alone. I can just picture the dofus chasing an A10 around trying to catch the brass with his helmet.
OP
Yep, that's what they were designed to do. Stop the Soviets from coming in from the Fulda Gap.
DWalt
Member
Never saw an A-10 firing but I did see a static test firing of the gun at Eglin AFB some years ago. Very impressive. In this day of Manpads, the A-10 may have lost some of its effectiveness.
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I am lucky as the A-10s are based out of Selfridge Air Base about 35 miles south of me. Traveling that way, I periodically get to see them in flight.
Beautiful ugly.
Beautiful ugly.
LVSteve
Member
They call the loader The Snake. It retrieves the spent cases while loading new live rounds into the drum. Quite an interesting operation to watch. I'm not sure how many times the could reload the spent "brass", or even if they do. The main reason the Avenger does not dump the empties is the hazard to the troops on the ground.
IIRC the cases are alloy, so reloading may be out. The reason they keep the empties is to mitigate the Center of Gravity change when expending a lot of ammo.
40 years ago I used to fish Lake Kissimmee with my 1st wife's father. More than once the A10's would pass over the boat very low on their way to the Avon Park range. Musta been 15-20 miles south but you could hear them unload. I guess they still do but I haven't been down that way since the '80's. Joe
And did well in Iraq on the highway of death in Desert Storm.
That plane is nothing more than a 30MM cannon with 2-9000 LB thrust turbo fans attached to it. It can carry missiles and has short takeoff and landing capabilities.
It has the ability to take a lot of damage and keep flying. I have always liked that airplane. Certainly, no F-18 with over 40,000 LBS of thrust but still a great weapon.
It has the ability to take a lot of damage and keep flying. I have always liked that airplane. Certainly, no F-18 with over 40,000 LBS of thrust but still a great weapon.
The A-10 is a wonderful, purpose designed CAS aircraft. Ugly as sin, slow, but does it's job so very well. Seems to me the USAF has always leaned towards sleek, sexy, and fast aircraft, the A-10 is none of the aforementioned and the USAF has tried and tried to rid itself of the ugly duckling. Every time it looks like the A-10 will be retired, another reason for its very existence emerges somewhere in the world. Long live the A-10!
