Posted on 12/17/2014 8:16:56 PM PST by DUMBGRUNT
The U.S. Air Force has a complicated relationship with its low- and slow-flying A-10 Warthog attack jet. And that's putting it mildly. The flying branch has tried more than once to retire the ungainly A-10 in favor of speedier planes, only for ...
Hell yeah!
The A-10’s 30mm gun is overkill for 99.999% of targets on the battlefield. With only a few seconds worth of shooting, it also means it isn’t going to loiter for very long.
Also, the A-10 is easily shot down by first world adversaries. This is why the A-10 wasn’t a first choice consideration by the AF; it has a very short life expectancy on a real battlefield, and you don’t need an A-10 to kill ragheads.
The Harrier for the Marines was a good pick, but they need something to replace it as it is aging. The F-35 VTOL was a good choice for a design, it just has a lousy program management that is causing it problems. The vast majority of engineering projects in America are run by the MBA/PMP crowd that has no idea what the hell it is doing. The F-35 program is no different.
That one took me down the rabbits hole!
I just had to wonder what the fuel consumption rate was for the F22 going vertical?
Just as I was getting into SFC, wet thrust, dry thrust, Temperature lapse rate...
That Pratt & Whitney F119 is a thing of beauty!
Luckily the phone rang; my morning was gone!
And built to take a hit.
Legend has it, that a lucky shot with a bow and arrow can bring down a rotary wing craft!
I have been on them when hit(very lightly) and yet to this day have not totally un puckered.
The rate of fire for the GAU-8 is 4,200 rounds /min.
M-2 .50 cal 500-1200 r/m. The old M-1919 .30 about the same.
Not something you want to cut too close!
Perhaps one barrel, not seven?
A rule of thumb.
Extend your arm with thumb out, like an artist.
Sight your thumb over the aircraft.
If your thumb covers the aircraft, save your ammo. If it appears larger than the thumb, go for it!
Small arms only.
There is also a thing called the big sky theory.
Not too different from the old "bring your own bomb theory.'
The odds of two unrelated bombs on the same aircraft would be astronomical.
Therefore having your own bomb would insure against a second one; keeping you safe.
The double Mustang was a cool idea.
Warthogs are what is needed in the middle east to wipe out those idiot ISIS clowns riding around in the back of pickup trucks waving rifles!!!!
Somebody told me his dad watched a twin cockpit Mustang go inverted on final approach when the student pilot panicked & gunned the throttle. Remembers sparks shooting off the runway from the plane’s antenna. The IP recovered the aircraft, landed, and was beating the cr@p out of the student when ground crews intervened. That’s his story, anyway.
The twin Mustang had a range of over 2,000 miles. Too bad someone didn’t think of the idea sooner.
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