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Mar 14 10 tweets 11 min read
A 10 tweet thread on the indomitable Fairchild Republic A-10 Warthog, the "flying tank". Enjoy! 1/10 #avgeeks #aviation #aviationdaily #USAF #Warthog
A Warthog pilot sits in a "bathtub" of titanium armour, at places up to 38 mm thick and weighing 544 kg. This is proof against direct hits from 23-mm cannon. 2/10 #avgeeks #aviation #USAF #Warthog
The GAU-8/A's barrel is some 80 calibres long, resulting in a length of nearly 2.5 meters. It's one of the largest weapons of its type in the world. 3/10 #avgeeks #aviation #USAF #Warthog
The GAU-8/A is a seven barrel rotary cannon. Each of the barrels has its own independent breech block and firing pin. 4/10 #avgeeks #aviation #USAF #Warthog
1,350 linkless rounds are held in the massive ammunition drum. This has a Helix arrangement inside, with the rounds mounted around a central core. 5/10 #avgeeks #aviation #USAF #Warthog
A-10's survivability is further enhanced by the carriage of ECM pods such as the ALQ-131 and countermeasure dispensers. Four antennae provide 360° coverage for the ALR-69 RWR, which monitors enemy radar activity, providing the pilot with situation awareness. 6/10 #avgeeks #USAF
The A-10's flight controls are not only duplicated but spatially separated, so a hit disabling one of the systems is unlikely to affect the other. 7/10 #avgeeks #aviation #USAF #Warthog
A-10s fuel is carried in the wing and in the central fuselage area. Wing fuel is used first as it is vulnerable. 8/10 #avgeeks #aviation #USAF #Warthog
The A-10 is designed to fly with many of its airframe sub-assemblies shot away. For instance, it can sustain the complete loss of one engine, one side if the twin-fin assembly, one set of flaps/ailerons or one wingtip. 9/10 #avgeeks #aviation #USAF #Warthog
The GE TF34-GE-100A turbofans are mounted in such a way that they are shielded from most angles by the wings, tailplane or fin. This makes them less vulnerable to direct fire as well as from IR-homing missiles. 10/10 #avgeeks #aviation #USAF #Warthog

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More from @RealAirPower1

Mar 7
Tomcat musing: a short thread on the "dowdy" parts of one of the most glamours interceptors of the world. 1/6 #avgeeks #aviation #aviationdaily #Tomcat #TopGun #USNavy
Did you know that when the F-14 stretches its wings fully forward, the fuselage slots into which the wings retracted are sealed with inflatable airbags? The airbags use bleed air from the TF30s to inflation! 2/6
#avgeeks #aviation #TopGun #Tomcat
The F-14's variable-geometry outer wings carry full-span leading-edge slats and almost full-span trailing-edge flaps. In addition, four-section spoilers augment the differential movement of the tailrons in roll control. 3/6
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Feb 5
Aardvarks and the dawn of tank-plinking, a thread. 1/8
#avgeeks #aviation #USAF #DesertStorm #History
On the night of Feb 5, 1991, Col. Tom Lennon, commander of #USAF's 48th FW, led a pair of F-111s on an experimental mission against dug-in units of the #Iraqi Republican Guard in the deserts north of Kuwait. 2/8 #avgeeks #aviation #DesertStorm #History
For the experiment, each F-111 was armed with a Pave Track pod and four GBU-12 500 lb LGBs. The crews were to see if LGBs could be guided accurately enough to hit targets as small as an AFV. 3/8 #avgeeks #aviation #USAF #DesertStorm #History
Read 8 tweets

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