By the looks of this A-1J, truer words were never said.
Posted on 03/10/2016 12:11:46 PM PST by Kartographer
Two vintage planes used in Vietnam were brought out of retirement to help US special forces in Iraq.
A pair of OV-10 Broncos completed 120 combat missions over the Middle East between May and September last year, it has been revealed.
They are believed to have been used for 82 days as cover for troops who were on the ground fighting ISIS militants.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
First time viewer.
Lots of pics and vids
The Amazing OV-10 Bronco Was Never Allowed To Meet Its Full Potential
http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/the-amazing-ov-10-bronco-was-never-allowed-to-meet-its-1695837367
Super Tucano. Two .50 cal machine guns and 3300 lbs on 5 hardpoints. 800 mile range.
Skyraider. Four 20mm cannons, 8000 pounds on 15 hardpoints, 1300 mile range.
Not even close to a substitute.
And for extra fun, the good ol’ Warthog. A 30mm gun from hell, 16,000 lbs on 11 hardpoints, and super long legs and loiter. With refueling, it can get ridiculous.
The obvious conclusion, the government does not care about effective CAS.
Snake and Nape would be perfect for the muzz.
...Already posted...
Yesterday. Not many of us are here 24/7.
“OK, but that radial engine sound can really inspire that last minute freeze in the open and crap-in-your-pants moment when they know they’re going to die.”
And even more important, one rifle bullet can take out that PT-6 turboprop. That radial can lose a jug or two and keep ticking. Also its a -big- chunk of iron to protect a pilot frontally. But still even the beloved Skyraider should bow before the power speed and survivability of a Warthog.
Let see:
Different title
Different authors
Different source
Different day of publication
Posted to FR on different day
You are right it was so obvious I don’t see how I could have missed it.
By the looks of this A-1J, truer words were never said.
If you can re-engine a DC-3 or a Bonanza or a Cessna 210 to a turboprop, you ought to be able to convert an A-1. The original engine was about 2700 horsepower with a weight of just under 2700 pounds. A T-56 weighs 1940 pounds and produces 4300 horsepower. Even with a re-designed nose and some extra fuel, it should have more power for the weight and be able to overcome any loss of aerodynamics caused by the conversion. Slap on a modern 6 or 8 bladed prop while you are at it. And some extra armor.
That’s why we have the “Boneyard” here at Davis-Monthan. BTW it also runs at a profit.
The USAF has been about “boom and zoom” since well.. there has been a USAF.
COIN aircraft are low cost low impact and not beloved by the USAF by and large.
A modern choice could be The T6 Texan-2 stable mate the AT-6 Wolverine. Which would make learning curve nearly flat and support fairly easy compared to a new or very old aircraft.
http://defense.txtav.com/en/at-6
Sky Raiders use pretty much the same engine as the B-29 (FIFI is using Sky Raider engines now) and are not exactly low cost low maintenance.
Two words: ARC LIGHT.
I supported a squadron of OV-10’s for a while in the late 80’s.
It’s a pretty neat plane with a canopy that lets you see everything. The only things we put on them were 2.75 inch rockets and chaff&flare countermeasures. It could hold more and was being fitted for Aim 9’s before I got out. Rumor had it they were going to try out AGM 65’s on them.
The size of the engines always surprised me as they were just about the same size the jets they used on ground equipment. Much smaller than the Isuzu strait 4 in the Chevy Luv I owned at the time.
You would think the pilot’s of this craft would be more humble the fighter jokey’s on base but they tended to act like prima donas.
One great memory I have is when they did some formation flying for us during a TDY / Exercise. It looked like they were having fun but were made to look silly when the Thunderbird’s did their weekly training a couple of hours later.
I liked the little plane. It was pretty quiet and could loiter for a long time.
This whole discussion falls right into Trumps plans, build the factories to build better planes. What on earth is wrong with that! Or is it because too many special interest groups cannot decide how best to rob Uncle Sam?
“With refueling, it can get ridiculous”
ROFL! I’d love to see that in the official specs!
Specifications:
Range: With refueling, it can get ridiculous.
Biggest problem with putting the A-10 back into production; Most if not all the jigs have been scrapped, and the workers who built them have been doing something else for the last 25 (?) years.
Still probably worth doing the estimate for building another 100+ even if the new E model would be able to only have a few parts in common with older models. (Can the marines get one with folding wings and a tailhook painted marine blue?)
Now days with the advance in 3-D printers I would say the jigs shouldn’t be a problem.
All true - I posted Skyraiders because another poster commented that CAS birds are getting lighter and smaller - A-1 max takeoff 25,000 lb vs 6,500 lb for the AT-6 with less than half as many hardpoints.
As self appointed FR Duplicate Gestapo agent #3851, I wish to announce that each of your firing squads has been cancelled.
You are free to return to your usual activities.
As for me, I will hang my head in shame for being such a nitpicking &*^$*^%$#%.
Pole sana
Gomen Oh sai
Lo Siento
Je suis désolé et je vous prie de me pardonner.
Ten thousand pardons
I will try to play nice with others for the remainder of the day.
Y’all have a good ‘un, ya hear!
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