All that ductwork was a joy to clean after it has ingested a big buzzard who had a full belly of yuk stuff. Happened in Texas when I was at Hondo. The rest of the bird was baked on the engine but it wasn't like anything my mom ever baked.
Haa. My wifes first husband was an A10 Warthog driver.........He is actually a pretty cool guy. I have not spoken to him about the A10 days. Fact is, we hardly ever hear from him or run across him. He is a senior captain for A/A now........Cool plane though.....
Tough to make it off a carrier deck, probably not impossible... was 7-8 tons... no US carrier Cats in those days, not until the 50's when jets arrived. Was heavier than the Navy/Marine Hellcat or Corsair, about 2 tons more at full weight, with similar engines. Yes, most Corsairs ended up being land-based, but a lot of that was the long high nose relative to the cockpit location making carrier landing difficult, I've heard. And the Jug was an AAF (Army Air Force) plane, not a Navy (Marine) plane. There was very little interservice sharing in those days.
Here's my new A-10 during the early hours and late winter of 1984. I was the first Crew Chief of 82-0651. Image Unavailable, Please Login
P-47s flew off of carriers more than once in the war: Stock Footage - US Army Air Force P-47 aircraft take off from USS Manila Bay, underway off the coast of Saipan, during World War II. As you can see they had catapults then too!
As former 1st Air-Div Officer and OOD we launched many varieties even without cats to include CODs, albeit a different animal but can be done. Get up enough cross bow wind and can be done. I agree, USMC took little interest in the A-10, but seemed a good fit.
I cannot understand why the F-47D/N, was not used in Korea. The radial engine was a much better option on the deck with the AAA, when compared to the in-line Merlin used in the F-51D. At the time, some ANG units in the U.S., were flying the F-47. ___ AFAIK, everyone in the USAF/Guard/USAFR calls the airplane - the Hog. The Air Force never liked the Hog. No burner. It goes against the trend, from the silk-scarf crowd . Today, I think it is a little different ? USMC use ? All of the services hate to buy the other guy's platforms. On the Phantom, the Navy/USAF placed the national emblem in different locations. Why did the Navy's F-4J, not incorporate the 20mm internal cannon from the F-4E ? Why did the USMC buy the updated AH-1 Cobra over the AH-64 Apache ? The USN and ARMY have different names for the bathroom. on and on. Today, they cannot afford to avoid sharing some major weapons platforms.
And the P51's they did send they had to have Cavalier run around the country buying up Civilian planes and reinstalling all the stuff they just took out. The 47 was a very underated airplane.
My father flew P-47Ds with the 86th FBG in WW-II. He said the Mustang was more fun to fly, but the Jug was more likely to get you home. The 56th FG refused to give up their P-47Ds and flew them until the end of the war. Once the paddle blade propellers were introduced to soak up all the power of the R-2800, it was like a new airplane, especially in climb and acceleration. Plus nothing out-rolled or out-dived a Jug, big advantages in combat. Several of Dad's friends brought Jugs home with two or three cylinders knocked out. Ran rough, but still ran well enough to get them home. That big engine acted like armor plate on dive bomb attacks. Crouch down behind it and not much was getting through. The Jug also had heavier armor plating from the rear. Would even stop cannon shells.
When I was little, one of my grandfather's (and, occasionally, my) fishing partners was a former P-47 pilot in the ETO. He always said he'd take the Jug over the Mustang in a fight. I believe the quote was something akin to "Yeah, it's a pretty airplane. But 8 .50s will change that" He told some pretty funny and occasionally harrowing stories of strafing attacks (and just what those .50 cals would to to anything that got in their way) and of standing at the end of the runway watching heavily-laden aircraft waddle into the air. Max load takeoffs were truly white-knuckle affairs
Chris- Affirmative, Dad said you could actually watch the pierced steel planking ripple and roll under the Jug on take-off. Since the FBGs were air to mud primarily, they usually flew very close to max gross weight. That, and all the rudder required to keep them lined up on the runway because of all the torque, made for interesting take-offs and aborts.
Amazing aircraft. Even more amazing men. If memory serves, it held the title of the largest, most expensive single-engine fighter of its day. Hard to believe so many of them [the pilots] were ~20 at the time.
Right after I took this picture the pilot called an IFE for a jammed gun. Upon landing it was revealed that the front gun barrel retainer had separated and the barrel tips had bent away from each other due to the centrifugal force. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Here are some more A-10 pictures. 1. My class at DM. The pylon that extends below the cockpit is for mounting a pave penny pod. Back on the fuselage just ahead of the wing you can see the strake that Bob was talking about for the gun gas. Also, you can see the inboard slat that auto deployed at high AOA to keep a smooth airflow going into the engines, whenever the slats went out you knew you were bleeding energy at a high rate! A good hog driver was well aware of his energy state, it took a long time to get it back once it was gone! 2. The reason the A-10 exists! 3. Getting some gas, little did I know at the time I'd be flying that same KC-135 a couple of years later, and continue to fly the tanker for 20 years, yes I'm old! haha Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Jim- What altitude and airspeed did you use for refueling? F-111s had really high wing loading and we needed to be fairly low and fast or it got uncomfortable quickly.
Chopper Popper. This is the only A-10, to score an air to air victory. NAS New Orleans, just after Gulf War I. 704 TFS, 'Cajuns,' AFRES. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Taz, we would AR in the teens to low (very low) 20s at around 210-220 KIAS. Depended on what kind of stuff was hanging on the wings. On cross country flights we would fly higher and then descend to get gas. Interestingly enough my longest flight until just a few years ago was in the hog. It was from Little Rock to Eielson, a 12.8! If I had to do that now I don't know what would happen! Mule, yes, the tanker did in fact have an airspeed indicator and not a calendar like the hog. Bob, I guess you have me beat in the age department. I hope we can cross paths someday, actually it would be pretty cool of we could have an aviator chat get together!
I would like that very much. I would like to meet all you guys. You all have done things that I have only dreamed of. I think that the A-10 is one of the most remarkable airplanes ever done.I find it difficult to believe that Rudel had a hand in the design. he flew a JU-87 that had some big guns on it and tank busting hasn't changed much, I don't think.
this has to be one of the funniest and scary clips involving a A10...... [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuYmn_xYB78]A-10 close call - YouTube[/ame]
