A-10 Thunderbolt Video Documentary "Part 2"

The A-10 has superior maneuverability at low speeds and altitude, thanks to straight, wide wings with downturned "droop" wing tips. These also allow short takeoffs and landings, permitting operations from rugged, forward airfields near front lines. The aircraft can loiter for extended periods of time and operate under 1,000 feet (300 m) ceilings with 1.5-mile (2.4 km) visibility. It typically flies at a relatively slow speed of 300 knots (345 mph or 555 km/h), which makes it a much better candidate for the ground-attack role than fast fighter-bombers, which often have difficulty targeting small and slow-moving targets


General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 53 ft 4 in (16.26 m)
Wingspan: 57 ft 6 in (17.53 m)
Height: 14 ft 8 in (4.47 m)
Wing area: 506 ft² (47.0 m²)
Airfoil: NACA 6716 root, NACA 6713 tip
Empty weight: 24,959 lb (11,321 kg)
Loaded weight:

Standard: 30,384 lb (13,782 kg)
On CAS mission: 47,094 lb (21,361 kg)
On anti-armor mission: 42,071 lb (19,083 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 50,000 lb (23,000 kg)
Powerplant: 2× General Electric TF34-GE-100A turbofans, 9,065 lbf (40.32 kN) each
Performance

Never exceed speed: 450 knots (518 mph, 833 km/h)
Maximum speed: 450 knots (518 mph, 833 km/h) at 5,000 ft (1,500 m) with 18 Mk 82 bombs[35]
Cruise speed: 300 knots (340 mph, 560 km/h)
Stall speed: 120 knots (220 km/h) [36]
Combat radius:

On CAS mission: 250 nmi (288 mi, 460 km) at 1.88 hour single-engine loiter at 5,000 ft (1,500 m), 10 min combat
On anti-armor mission: 252 nmi (290 mi, 467 km), 40 nm (45 mi, 75 km) sea-level penetration and exit, 30 min combat
Ferry range: 2,240 nmi (2,580 mi, 4,150 km) with 50 knot (55 mph, 90 km/h) headwinds, 20 minutes reserve
Service ceiling: 45,000 ft (13,700 m)
Rate of climb: 6,000 ft/min (30 m/s)
Wing loading: 99 lb/ft² (482 kg/m²)
Thrust/weight: 0.36

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• A-10
• Thunderbolt

[elwoodblues173]

little piss bags that the pilots have with their gear. I'm not kidding at all

[macuss87]

I've always wondered why A-10s are painted in olive drab, wouldn't they be harder to see in gray or something light?

[taylorade08]

@macuss87 same with the ah 64

[Dangerbean]

@AwDeOh Most modern fighters are equiped with these. There called "flares"

[demonbre]

Where's part 3 ?

[demonbre]

@macuss87 Earlier they used a green camouflage scheme so the enemy aircraft had a more difficult time seeing them FROM ABOVE. Nowadays, the USAF, having realized that American planes would not encounter a significant fighter threat in any conflict, the A-10 is painted gray, so that it blends better with the sky.

[chanrobi]

@AwDeOh f18 carries a decoy like that

[123pvprogue]

@elwoodblues173 but what if they had to do number 2,,,,,

[AwDeOh]

Guessing the users of these platforms have already thought of this, but could these aircraft have a deployable kind of heat source, almost like a submarine's towed sonar array, so that the aircraft can let out a trailing heat source that would attract a heat seeking missle?

[TheXexxo]

where iz the next part !????

[UltraSlutmobile]

@macuss87

I think its so they blend in with forest canopies, since they operate at lower altitudes

[joshjanelletaz]

@seroyer2 that seems like quite a few good things