Future of the A-10 Warthog

I know how manual reversion works in a 707 or 727 with aerodynamic balance panels and I have tried to find out how the A-10 is setup . Does anyone know? Gatorarri?

 

I don't know what manual reversion means, but the Hog isn't FBW so maybe its hydro-assist normally and Kim had no assist?

Maybe it's a double dutch rudder kinda thing...

 

Manual Reversion is an assist to move the control surfaces by tabs and air pressure. I have some sketches that I did for a class that I will dig up. On the 727 the surfaces were moved by 3500 PSI hydraulic system provided by three systems working in concert. If one went out there were two others and if everything went out there was MR. Briefly, when a tab is displaced, the control surface moves in the opposite direction. The air pressure increases on the concave side of the surface and is bled through the slot at the hinge and into a chamber where the pressure is applied to a panel that is connected to a hinge on the forward end of the the control surface. It translates downward and applies a force to the front end of the surface to help move it in the desired direction. It worked very well on the 727. Sorry for the dissertation, I used to direct tours of the 727 and 747 and teach aircraft familiarization and I'm wondering if the A-10 has the same system.

 

The A-10 has two independent hydraulic circuits, one powered by each engine. There is also a manual, back-up flight control system in case all hydraulics are lost. Good enough to land the aircraft.

 

That sounds like one truly great airplane.

Certainly not the "prettiest", but that's not the point.......

Cheers,
Ian

 

I understand the high threat environment (I flew the A-10) but my question is what are the chances we would go to war with a country that had these capabitues? I mean as an example would China do something that would require us to go to battle against them or are all modern countries (maybe first world would be a better description) to economically interdependent?

 

The argument that we're too economically interdependent is an old one that has great allure. It was proudly proclaimed by, among others, Norman Angell in 1909/1910 ("The Great Illusion"). We heard it yet again in the 1920s/30s, as people celebrated the great economic conferences and saw Atlantic trade return after the disruption of World War I.

We all know how those predictions fared.

While I'm avoiding actual productive work this morning, and pretty much for sh*ts and giggles, I'll offer a caveat to Taz' statement above: "The "go simple" theory just does not work in modern air warfare." The caveat: it doesn't work in the American vision of modern air warfare. I'm thinking here about the Chinese take on AA/AD, which relies greatly on the disruption of C4ISD, but isn't necessarily very high-tech on the aircraft/fighter end of the spectrum because it can't be - at least for now.

 

True I only have my Dad to reference, he still loves the B 24/25 that he flew in WW II and Korea, modern tech confuses him .... and me
Guess we are both showing our age.

 

That it is, and I believe she got a Distinguished Flying Cross for that one.

 

Tomy- My father flew P-47Ds in WW-II with the 86 FBG. Family trade and I am probably older than you are since I retired from the USAF 24 years ago.

 

Excellent observations. Moreover, the cost of a modern ADS is not that high, we could face a surrogate with modern equipment in lots of situations that we can't anticipate now in addition to the ones where we could see something happening (Iran, Syria, N. Korea and the list goes on). Russian equipment in Bosnia was capable of killing an F-117 so it is entirely possible that we could again face a very well equipped ADS even if we weren't trying to penetrate Russia or China. To not be able to clean out a state of the art ADS totally gives up our ability to project force.

 

Only very dumb tactics on our part let an SA-6 take out an F-117. Very similar tactics to what the SAC planners did in Linebacker II.

 

While the probability of a loss increased with each mission, American structured thinking played a big part in allowing it to happen sooner rather than later. Same with the A-6 over Syria in late 83'.

 

A-10's under the Aurora Borealis by Estonian photographer Gen Vagula

Stunning images of A-10 Warthogs ender the Northern Lights in Estonia - Business Insider
.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

A-10's were flying touch and goes nonstop Wednesday PM at Davis-Monthan AFB.

Three 30 mm cannons-- 4500 rounds a minute. iIRC
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Mark- The A-10 only carries one 7 barrel GAU-8 cannon because it is large and very heavy. With ammunition and feed mechanisms, the GAU-8 weighs over 4000 lbs. The A-10 fuselage was designed around the gun.


Davis-Monthan AFB's host unit is the 355th Fighter Wing, which operationally flies the A-10C and provides the AF's schoolhouse for the A-10C with the 355th Training Squadron.

 

The gun is powered by both hydraulic systems. If one of the systems is not working the gun fires at 1/2 speed.

 

That's what the info placard said-- how it's built around that ONE cannon in the nose.

I assumed it could carry two more since they were there on display. They DID look heavy.

Thanks for correction.

 

Jim- Only firing 1950 rpm instead of 3900 rpm, eh? That would still do some real damage. Nice thing about those A-10 hydraulic systems is they were pretty much completely independent with little danger of cross-contamination. On my F-111s, if you lost a hydraulic pump you wanted to get her on the ground asap because you could get cross-contamination that would trash the good pump.

 

Hmmm...
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Remembering the father of the A-10 Warthog - CNNPolitics.com


<<The unmistakable roar of the A-10's powerful engines echoed throughout Arlington National Cemetery this month as four aircraft saluted retired Col. Avery Kay for the last time with a rare flyover of the historic burial site.

Kay, 96, died on October 29 and was buried with full military honors.

A highly decorated navigator who led some of the most dangerous bombing raids against Germany during World War II, Kay was also credited with launching the concept of the A-10 Thunderbolt, better known as the Warthog.>>>

 

The smoke used to flameout out the engines from the GAU-8, we worked on re design ducting and cowling and to mitigate...

 

The gun is 2 tons. Each shell is almost a foot long and about 1.5 lb..
It's mounted so the firing barrel is exactly on centerline of the plane so the recoil doesn't jerk the plane off target. So the nose gear is off-center.

To keep the engines from flaming out, the engine ignitors fire when the gun fires. Gun exhaust has no O2 in it.

 

Calling the A-10 engines powerful may be stretching it. They always sound like small airliner engines to me, but with no quiet kit.

 

yep, see post #15