Posted on 12/01/2005 4:06:47 PM PST by SandRat
It was cool to see, but I was shaking for the next 30 miles. ;~))
Hey, pretty good.
Ha!
Article I read on it several years ago claimed that the gun was driven by two hydraulic motors. If one motor was selected, the rate was about 2700 rounds per minute, with both motors, the rate was 4500 rounds per minute. It empties the full load of 30 mm ammo in about 30 seconds if it is just fired continuously.
I've seen it just decimate an old tank carcass with a good burst.
Even better?
Go to a gunnery range and watch them perform there!
They are an amazingly deadly airplane!
God! Everytime I see warthogs I think 1) could they be any uglier, and 2) I guess you really can fly a barn door if you put a big enough engine on it!
What a story! If Hollywood was smart, they'd make a few movies detailing incidents like this.
Oh, and after reading your post, I was sitting on the edge of my seat! clicking into your bio, I thought you may have been speaking from experience!! But fear not! You're still cooool in my book...
Never flown an A-10 - but have a few cool things in my hangar.
;-)
DD
(blush)...
Lord have mercy...
Just think what the bad guys feel when the Gattling gun is firing at 'em...
Do we also thank God for the electrical failure?
General Characteristics
Primary Function: A-10 -- close air support, OA-10 - airborne forward air control
Contractor: Fairchild Republic Co.
Power Plant: Two General Electric TF34-GE-100 turbofans
Thrust: 9,065 pounds each engine
Length: 53 feet, 4 inches (16.16 meters)
Height: 14 feet, 8 inches (4.42 meters)
Wingspan: 57 feet, 6 inches (17.42 meters)
Speed: 420 miles per hour (Mach 0.56)
Ceiling: 45,000 feet (13,636 meters)
Maximum Takeoff Weight: 51,000 pounds (22,950 kilograms)
Range: 800 miles (695 nautical miles)
Armament: One 30 mm GAU-8/A seven-barrel Gatling gun; up to 16,000 pounds (7,200 kilograms) of mixed ordnance on eight under-wing and three under-fuselage pylon stations, including 500 pound (225 kilograms) Mk-82 and 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms) Mk-84 series low/high drag bombs, incendiary cluster bombs, combined effects munitions, mine dispensing munitions, AGM-65 Maverick missiles and laser-guided/electro-optically guided bombs; infrared countermeasure flares; electronic countermeasure chaff; jammer pods; 2.75-inch (6.99 centimeters) rockets; illumination flares and AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles.
Crew: One
Date Deployed: March 1976
Unit Cost: $9.8 million (fiscal 98 constant dollars)
Inventory: Active force, A-10, 143 and OA-10, 70; Reserve, A-10, 46 and OA-10, 6; ANG, A-10, 84 and OA-10, 18
Some of the coolest things about the Warthog are it's speed envelope, slow almost to a crawl, and the sound of the Pratt and Whitney engines. Nearly silent on slow approach and addictive on departure. The fans are just music to me.
BTTT
ping!
Thanks for the ping!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.