Fairchild A-10A 'Warthog Thunderbolt II'

[Rifleman]

Guys....this Gau-8 Avenger on the A-10 is not a .30mm cannon,.....its 30mm which if you put it in imperial terms for comparison, is more than one inch.....25.4mm = 1 in
Here is a good place with a little info for you to check out
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/equip/gau-8.htm

[Fozzer]

Hi Whitey...!
Fantastic pics.... ...!
For looks, I put it in the same catagory as the Apache AH 64 helicopter.
Both purposefull looking aircraft.
The A10 makes a very individual sound, I heard one pass over my garden at low level a few years ago.
They always sound as though they are flying much faster than they really are due to the unusual sound of the engines...they hum...!
(Love the runway textures).... ...!

Cheers...
Paul.
(England).

[Whitey]

Lucky old Fozzer...the only time I've ever saw a fighter plane outside of an airshow was someplace up North...I just heard a big rumble, then a Tornado  streaked past...LOL.  It could've been either an F3 from Leuchars or a GR4 from Lossiemouth...

My Uncle had a pretty cool encounter once, though...he was driving along a narrow road, lined with trees in the Highlands.  All of a sudden his car staring shaking and all he could hear was an almighty roar...then a Tornado belted by only 100 feet above him!

[Hagar]

This reminds me. Several years ago I visited Mold in North Wales for a RC (PSS Scale) slope soaring holiday. The flying site is on top of a steep hill, forget the name. Unbeknown to us the area is used for low-flying by the RAF. On the first day we were chased up the footpath to the hill by a couple of Tornados which crept up behind us. Wallop.................!  ???  ::)
Gave me quite a start I can tell you & we were looking straight up their jetpipes on full A/B as they continued on their way. I'm convinced they did it deliberately.
We had to keep a sharp lookout while flying as the RAF Hawks, Jaguars & Tornados flew through the valley & were often lower than our models.  ::)

[Squeek]

Speeking of storries mine has an A-10 in it. Ok here it is:

Well I was out camping last year at Sacandaga Lake. We had decied to get up early pack up then head out to Sand Island for the day. Anyway we where all out just jumping off the boat into the lake when I climb into the boat to make my next jump when i hear that tell tail noise. I look up and there are 2 A-10s at I would say around 2000'msl but my dad would say otherwise. They where in a desert camo type pait and in simi close formation. The one just dose this slow half roll, I though the guy a Salute and he returns to noninverted flight.

[Bonzonie]

The Russian Erkanoplans look a LOT worse.....

Talking about ugly, the X-34 and X-36s look like $hit. The boeing X-32 looks even $hittier.... lol

[planespotter]

Oh and another thing. .30mm is about the diameter of a full stop. so no. I do not think that that is heavy either.

The GAU-8 is a 30mm, 7 barrel gattling gun used primarily in the air to ground role as a soft target killer and tank buster. The Avenger is the only fighter gattling gun that retains its brass for recycle after the slugs are fired. The gun fires 3,900 rounds per minute, with a mix of both armored piercing incendiary (API) and high explosive incendiary (HEI). The entire front one- third of the A-10 consists of the gun

Have you seen what that gun can do to tanks? Believe me, it's a heavy hitter.

[Blade]

I went to an airshow once and a Hog Driver showed me one of the rounds from the GAU-8. Its about as long as a pencil, and about an inch wide. The bullet is a depleted uranium spear encased in tin. What happens is the cannon fires (only a 2-3 sec burst because thats all it needs). The bullet fires and a hits a tank. Next the tin crumples on the outer shell, and the depleted uranium spear drives in through the tanks hull. It goes out the other side and impacts the dirt, no big deal right? Well here comes the bad part. As the spear goes in, the tin from the incasing gets sucked in, and stays inside the tank. I guess you can imagine what happens to anything or anyone inside, pretty gruesome.