Warthog
- Thread starter oleblu72
- Start date
!
They almost look real don’t they!!
Video games now days look so good.
I was part of a group that worked to develop the ground support equipment & avionics test systems for the A-10. Discussion back then (when the A-10 was still in development) was that they had to raise the minimum speed for the aircraft when the gatling gun/cannon was engaged because the recoil was so huge that it could stall the aircraft. Great aircraft that could take a huge amount of damage and keep on flying.
Wasn't that just a big gun they built an airplane around?
Shaark92
Well Known Member
I appreciate your work on the Hawg.
Idk who told you the airplane would stall from shooting the gun but that is inaccurate.
The gases from the burnt kordite would coat the compressor blades of the engine and initially it caused flameouts (engine quit) … and of course THAT would result in losing airspeed
They put a gas diverter on the muzzle which worked. But it was about 70#. The torque applied to the frame with the extra weight on the end of the ~8’ long 7 barrel Gatling gun was cracking the spars
So the diverter was removed and AFAIK today the engine igniters fire with the gun’s trigger depressed.
The engines get a “wash” on a regular maintenance schedule. The left engine would get more gun gas than the right and when doing the runup before takeoff it wasn't hard to see that one was getting close to wash time from the split in the engines’ rpms.
Was your test equipment for the LASTE?
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Cool videos! Were you an A-10 pilot?
I got involved with the A-10 avionics test system development around 1980, first with the Air Force, then subsequently with Sperry Systems where we were developing the intermediate level test systems for the A-10 under the Modular Automatic Test Systems (MATE) project for the Air Force. As that was 40-45 years ago, my memory has faded about the specific pieces of avionics, but I thought it was the whole avionics suite. The intermediate level (base field maintenance level) test system would do troubleshooting down to the board level, which would then be swapped out and the bad board sent back to the depot for repair.
John
I got involved with the A-10 avionics test system development around 1980, first with the Air Force, then subsequently with Sperry Systems where we were developing the intermediate level test systems for the A-10 under the Modular Automatic Test Systems (MATE) project for the Air Force. As that was 40-45 years ago, my memory has faded about the specific pieces of avionics, but I thought it was the whole avionics suite. The intermediate level (base field maintenance level) test system would do troubleshooting down to the board level, which would then be swapped out and the bad board sent back to the depot for repair.
John
Shaark92
Well Known Member
yessir. I scrounged around and was led to the reserve outfit at Barksdale in '92 ... then got "BRAC'd" again in '95 ... but because the Active Duty can't manage its personnel for the mission but only "justifying muckity muck decisions", I was invited to "return" to EAD (was an ROTC grad who immediately went AFRES ... my nationwide class lost about 80% of the pilots slots awarded the year prior in the post Gulf-War draw down).
these videos aren't mine ... just wanted to help understanding ... the gun IS massive, but so is the jet.
28K# empty weight ...low-mid 40s for combat w/ fuel and ordnance. If all 1270 rounds fired at once ... 1.6# ea ... even with a muzzle velocity of 3900 fps, that's still less energy than, say 35K# at 320 KIAS. In theory, the gun's firing on the ground could push the jet backward on a level ramp. I am unaware if that has even been attempted. would be kinda dangerous as the 41 mil boresight would probably raise the nose. IDK... pure speculation. My fini flight in the Hawg was in Jan '98 ... I can recall those numbers with high level confidence ... but I can't remember what I did yesterday. LOL.
Wow ... you were EARLY in the Hawg's maturing. Cool! Pre LASTE. (IIRC, Low Altitude Safety and Targeting ... I forget the E's abbreviation.) ... maybe pre INS ... inertial navigation. I forget when they added the INS, but back then it was a "HARS-only" HUD. One step up from putting a grease pencil mark on the windscreen. azimuth wind correction at release altitude but adjustments for differences in airspeed/pitch angle had to be manually applied as the maneuver was executed. Twas definitely an art to dropping dumb bombs with "iron sights"
