Forum: Mishaps

Parrot`, that is ridiculously huge! TC mentioned it but I had to actually see it! Thanks.

I had no idea of the scale, just seeing the end of the gun poking out from the forward fuselage.
Kind of like an iceberg. Any idea of the GAU-8 weight? A ballpark figure would be nice if possible.

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The complete cannon assembly, with no armament is over 2200 lbs. Fully loaded, it's over 4000 lbs. That's 2 tons!

The entire cannon is also about 21 feet long.

Yep, it's sure big and so is the ammo Shocked

!!!

Gotta love it when the gun makes up 16% of the weight of the aircraft Thumb

!

Caption for last pic:

Quote:

The most prominent feature of the A-10 Thunderbolt II is the 30-millimeter GAU-8/A Avenger Gatling-gun cannon. Designed before the aircraft that carries it, this weapon is capable of firing 3,900 rounds a minute and can defeat an array of ground targets to include tanks. Both the A-10 and GAU-8 entered service in 1977 and the gun represents 16 percent of the aircraft's weight. Aircraft number 164 is one of 24 A-10s assigned to the 442nd Fighter Wing, an Air Force Reserve Command unit at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo. (US Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Bill Huntington)

Link to hi-res version of last pic:

http://www.442fw.afrc.af.mil/shared/med ... 0H-001.jpg

That`s what you would call a big honking gun! 2 Tons!
It was designed to rip up Tanks and armoured vehicles of the Soviet hordes, I bet it would have done it at that!
A fearsome weapon. I would love to actually hear it let rip Laughing

*****War Story*****
At George we had a Su Pod blow up like that on a F-4C. When the barrels spread it stitched 20MM up underneath the cockpits. One ended up right under the WSO seat. Everyone with a blue suit came out to look and the crew took pictures of themselves pointing at the holes. Us crew chiefs just stood around thinking "Stupid/Lucky F***s".
******************

Were you there Snake?

Apparently this happens a lot in the A-10 community.

I remember a picture in a book of mine somewhere that shows the GAU-8 gun assembly, ammo feed sysem, and ammo drum sideways in front of a Cessna 172 or 174 maybe. The whole thing was the same length of the plane! Laughing

Imagine an SPAA like the M163A1 20mm Vulcan only with a GAU-8, it would probably need an M1A2 Abrams chassis for it! Now THAT would be a nasty air defense/ground fire support piece! Twisted Evil

snypa777 wrote:

It was designed to rip up Tanks and armoured vehicles of the Soviet hordes, I bet it would have done it at that!

Remember the footage from the "Highway of Death" in Gulf War 1? A lot of that was thanks in no small part to A-10s and their firepower!

snypa777 wrote:

I would love to actually hear it let rip

It puts out a helluva "growl". It's a much deeper sound than the M-61. Here's a clip for you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6itQfUwF1o&NR=1

I've actually been on Eglin when they've made a sustained burst from the cannon. We could hear it from one of the ranges. That was pretty impressive. Then, I've also been a couple of blocks down the road when they cooked off one single shot. I thought the dead would rise from the grave with that blast! Holy $h*t!! Shocked

It's weird, the sustained burst wasn't nearly as loud as the one single shot. Nevertheless, it's definitely a real bada$$!

GAU-8/A Avenger: Bring the Pain! Twisted Evil

Thanks for that TC Wink

I turned the volume RIGHT up!

One of the comments on Youtube read..

"yah man sounds like my pa when he has enchaladas,when the mini fires"

Still laughing at that one

The gun actually sounds like the Devil`s own Buzz Saw from hell Twisted Evil

Oooh! Imagine being on the wrong end of that. Glad its on our side Salute

I think the A-10 would have earned the same rep` the Mustang and Typhoon tankbusters earned towards the end of WWII in France. Very much feared by enemy armour.

snypa777 wrote:

I think the A-10 would have earned the same rep` the Mustang and Typhoon tankbusters earned towards the end of WWII in France. Very much feared by enemy armour.

It has. Arabs refer to it as "The Devil's Cross".

I read that Iraqis during Gulf War I also called the A-10 "Silent Thunder", in Arabic. Surrendering Republican Guard troops said that the A-10 would be almost silent when flying near, and by the time it closed into gun range, it was too late. You'd never hear the plane, because you'd already be dead.

Hog Wild

maddog2840 wrote:

Apparently this happens a lot in the A-10 community.

Back around '98, the U-2's were deployed to Rosy Roads. There were also some Hogs there. The U-2 chase cars (called "mobiles") had just been required to get rid of the the standard UHF radio like you found in most older jets (like the T-38A). You know, the one where you could switch to Guard Frequency in about a millisecond. The new radios cost a fortune, and of course you had to go through a bit more to change freqs.
So the U-2 mobile is sitting at the approach end of the runway, waiting for the Deuce to arrive. A flight of three Hogs is on final to land, and the mobile looks up to see that #3 has his gear up! He scrambles to punch in the Guard Freq,... you have to type it in manually, including trailing edge zeros, and if you make a mistake, you have to do a Clear to reset it. Bottom line: before he could switch to Guard and send the Hog around or warn him, it was too late. The Hog bellied in. No one was injured, but had we had the old radio, it probably wouldn't have happened.

Here's another really good video, with plenty of GAU-8 action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwC0irAbYdk&NR=1

huggy wrote:

You know, the one where you could switch to Guard Frequency in about a millisecond.

I remember those!

I accidentally tried to call the tower for run clearance in a F-111 (preset 3) however the knob was in guard. The reply I got back literally scared the crap out of me.

Never again

Forum: Mishaps

A-10 makes wheels-up landing at Edwards