Personally, i don't like the design of this aircraft. At my 1st look, it looks like the stupid styrofoam airplane model that my father buy when i'm 5 years old. With its engine mounted above horizontal tail, it looks really ugly during its manouevre to bomb its target (if you don't believe, just watch Transformers movie. Besides, i might post video about this aircraft in the future)
However, if we evaluate it from point of view of practicallity and cost operating, this aircraft is the legend. (Thats why USAF still use it even though its age already more than 30 years old and it has a lot of sofistikated and much2 more beautiful aircraft). So here i like to share few information about this aircraft.
Overview
This jet fighter had been designed to give ground support during batlle. In the Vietnam War, large numbers of ground-attack aircraft were shot down by small arms, surface-to-air missiles, and low-level anti-aircraft gunfire, prompting the development of an aircraft better able to survive such weapons. In addition, the UH-1 Huey and AH-1 Cobra helicopters of the day, which USAF commanders had said should handle close air support, were ill-suited for use against armor, carrying only anti-personnel machine guns and unguided rockets meant for soft targets. The F-4 Phantom II was pressed into close air support, but usually in emergencies, as its high cruising speed and fuel consumption hindered its ability to loiter. The lack of a gun on most F-4 variants, coupled with the relative ineffectiveness of the standard 20mm Vulcan round on gun-equipped F-4Es against hard targets, made strafing runs either impossible or ineffective
On 6 March 1967, the U.S. Air Force released a Request for Information to 21 defense companies. Their objective was to create a design study for a low-cost attack aircraft designated A-X, or "Attack Experimental". The officer in charge of the project was Colonel Avery Kay. In 1969, the Secretary of the Air Force asked Pierre Sprey to write the detailed specifications for the proposed A-X project. Sprey's discussions with A-1 Skyraider pilots operating in Vietnam and analysis of the effectiveness of current aircraft used in the role indicated the ideal aircraft should have;
- Long loiter time,
- Low-speed maneuverability
- Massive cannon firepower
- Extreme survivability
- Cost less than $3 million
Design and Development
Straight, wide wings with downturned "droop" wing tips;
From design point of view, This feature allow The A-10 to have superior maneuverability at low speeds and altitude,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.
Engine exhaust passes over the aircraft's horizontal stabilizer and between the twin tails,
This decreasing the A-10's infrared signature and lowering the likelihood that the aircraft can be targeted by heat-seeking missiles. The placement of the engines behind the wings partially shields them from anti-aircraft fire.
integrally machined skin panels
The A-10 has integrally machined skin panels. Because the stringers are integral with the skin there are no join or seal problems. These panels, fabricated using computer controlled machining, reduce the time and hence the cost of manufacture. Combat experience has shown that this type of panel is more resistant. The skin is not load-bearing, so damaged skin sections can be easily replaced in the field, with makeshift materials if necessary.
Aileron design
The ailerons are at the far ends of the wings to gain greater rolling moment as with most aircraft but there are two distinguishing features. First, the ailerons are larger than is typical, almost 50% of the chord, providing improved control even at slow speeds. The aileron is also split, making it a deceleron.
Operation Flexibility
An unusual feature is that many of the aircraft's parts are interchangeable between the left and right sides, including the engines, main landing gear, and vertical stabilizers. The sturdy landing gear, low-pressure tires and large, straight wings allow operation from short rough strips even with a heavy ordnance load, allowing the aircraft to operate from damaged airbases. The aircraft is designed to be refueled, rearmed and serviced with minimal equipment.
Survivality in batlle field
Its strong airframe can survive direct hits from armor-piercing and high-explosive projectiles up to 23 mm.The aircraft has triple redundancy in its flight systems, with mechanical systems to back up double-redundant hydraulic systems. This permits pilots to fly and land when hydraulic power or part of a wing is lost. Flight without hydraulic power uses the manual reversion flight control system; this engages automatically for pitch and yaw control, and under pilot control (manual reversion switch) for roll control. In manual reversion mode, the A-10 is sufficiently controllable under favorable conditions to return to base and land, though control forces are much higher than normal. The aircraft is designed to fly with one engine, one tail, one elevator and half a wing torn off. Self-sealing fuel tanks are protected by fire-retardant foam. Additionally, the main landing gear is designed so that the wheels semi-protrude from their nacelles when the gear is retracted so as to make gear-up landings (belly landing) easier to control and less damaging to the aircraft's underside. They also are all hinged toward the rear of the aircraft, so if hydraulic power is lost the pilot can simply drop the gear and a combination of gravity and wind resistance will open and lock the gear in place.
Engine; General Electric TF34-GE-100 turbofan engines pivoted at strange location. Reason for this unusual location are;
- lowers the chance that sand or stones will enter the inlet(foreign object damage)
- allows engines to remain running, allowing for shorter servicing and rearming turn-around times by ground crew. (Servicing and rearming are further helped by having wings closer to the ground than would be possible if the engines were wing-mounted)
- reduces the IR signature, which starts low anyway due to the engines' 6:1 bypass ratio.
- engines are angled upward nine degrees to bring the combined thrust line closer to the aerodynamic center of the aircraft. This avoids trimming measures to counteract a nose-down pitching moment if the engines were parallel to the fuselage. (heavy engines require strong supports, so their pylons are connected to the airframe by four bolts)
Tanks
All four fuel tanks are near the center of the aircraft, reducing the likelihood that they will be hit or separated from the engines. The tanks are protected by several measures. The tanks are separate from the fuselage; thus, projectiles would need to penetrate the skin before reaching the tank. The refueling system is purged after use so that there is no fuel unprotected anywhere in the aircraft. All pipes self-seal if they are compromised. Most of the fuel system components are inside the tanks so that if a leak were to occur from the component the fuel would not be lost. If a tank does get damaged, check valves ensure that fuel does not flow into the compromised tank. Most importantly, reticulated polyurethane foam lines both the inner and outer sides of the fuel tanks, holding debris and restricting fuel spillage in the event of damage. The other source of possible combustionArmament
Guns: 1× 30 mm (1.18 in) GAU-8/A Avenger gatling cannon with 1,174 rounds. Hardpoints: 11 (8× under-wing and 3× under-fuselage pylon stations) with a capacity of 16,000 lb (7,260 kg)
Rockets:
4× LAU-61/LAU-68 rocket pods (each with 19× /7× Hydra 70 mm rockets, respectively)
4× LAU-5003 rocket pods (each with 19× CRV7 70 mm rockets)
6× LAU-10 rocket pods (each with 4× 127 mm (5.0 in) Zuni rockets)
Missiles:
2× AIM-9 Sidewinders air-to-air missiles for self-defense
8× AGM-65 Maverick air-to-surface missiles
Bombs:
Mark 80 series of unguided iron bombs or
Mk 77 incendiary bombs or
BLU-1, BLU-27/B Rockeye II, Mk20, BL-755[37] and CBU-52/58/71/87/89/97 cluster bombs or Paveway series of Laser-guided bombs or Joint Direct Attack Munition (A-10C)[38] or
Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (A-10C)*SUU-42A/A Flares/Infrared decoys dispenser pod and chaff pod or AN/ALQ-131 & AN/ALQ-184 ECM pods or Lockheed Martin Sniper XR & LITENING targeting pods (A-10C)
2× 600 US gallon Sargent Fletcher drop tanks for extended range/loitering time.
A-10 Specifications
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
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
Cruise speed: 300 knots (340 mph, 560 km/h)
Stall speed: 120 knots (220 km/h) [36]
Combat radius:
On
On anti-armor mission: 252 nmi (290 mi, 467 km), 40 nm (45 mi, 75 km) sea-level penetration and exit, 30 min combat
- 2,240 nmi (2,580 mi, 4,150 km) with 50 knot (55 mph, 90 km/h) headwinds, 20 minutes reserve
Rate of climb: 6,000 ft/min (30 m/s)
Wing loading: 99 lb/ft² (482 kg/m²)
Thrust/weight: 0.36 Video
coming soon............
