military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker) (02/04/91)
From: att!ncr-sd!ncrcae!sauron!clodII!keith
Hi! I have 2 questions that I'm sure someone in this group can
answer for me. I am aware that the A10 Warthog jet is designed for
low-level attack runs over enemy armor and is therefore armor plated
to an extent. I know the pilot is pretty much surrounded by it but
what about the jet engine pods and the fuel tanks, are they armored
to? It is designed to withstand cannon fire up to 37mm I believe so
how thick does this require it to be? Thanks. Please reply by E-mail
as I don't read this group regularly.
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===============================================================================larmo@pro-odyssey.cts.com (System Administrator) (02/06/91)
From: larmo@pro-odyssey.cts.com (System Administrator) >I know the pilot is pretty much surrounded by it but >what about the jet engine pods and the fuel tanks, are they armored >to? It is designed to withstand cannon fire up to 37mm I believe so >how thick does this require it to be? The A-10 is NOT armour plated, The pilot sits in what is a titanium bathtub with about 6" thick walls. this forms the cockpit area that the pilot and all his flight cotrols/instruments aree in. the rest of the aircraft is designed to survive ground fire. the fuel tanks are non exploding, there are several flight surfaces that can sustain servere damage and still funtion. you could vertually loose an engine and still fly. Basically the pilot is proteckted in an aircraft that can survive heavy fire from the ground. ---- ---- ---- ---- ProLine: larmo@pro-odyssey AOL: ODYSSEY 1 Internet: larmo@pro-odyssey.cts.com Pro-Odyssey: 707/437-4734 ARPA: crash!pro-odyssey!larmo@nosc.mil UUCP: crash!pro-odyssey!larmo
nak%archie@att.att.com (Neil A Kirby) (02/07/91)
From: nak%archie@att.att.com (Neil A Kirby) In article <1991Feb6.024038.16048@cbnews.att.com> larmo@pro-odyssey.cts.com (System Administrator) writes: [stuff deleted] >The A-10 is NOT armour plated, The pilot sits in what is a titanium bathtub >with about 6" thick walls. Corrections here: The thickness of the armour is 8mm, not 6 inches. Six inches is about right for a heavy cruiser, not an airplane. The survivability of the aircraft is legendary. In particular, they even survive mid-air collisions with each other. I read of two incidents in 1980 where A10's mid-aired and flew home. One of the collisions was head on, and both aircraft flew home. Neil Kirby
eeyore@cs.qmw.ac.uk (Mark Anthony Brown) (02/08/91)
From: Mark Anthony Brown <eeyore@cs.qmw.ac.uk> Yeah, A10s are tough buggers, and are supposedly designed to soak up ground fire like a sponge. Also, I suppose, they are easily repairable in the event of damage. The last time I got a close look at one, the skin panels were fastened by what looked like pop rivets. So I assume that damage repair procedures simply involve fixing any internal damage, pop-riveting on a patch and away you go. They are also slow -- some say that they're the only aircraft to get birdstrikes on the trailing edge! It seems to me that the designers at Fairchild knew what they were doing with reference to making the plane less susceptable to "the golden bb", especially in the CAS/BAI role where there's going to be a lot of ground fire. Are these considereations taken into account with the proposed F-16 or A-12 CAS/BAI replacements? -- Mark A. Brown | Research Student | land line: +44 71 975 5220 Department of Computer Science | JANET: eeyore@uk.ac.qmw.cs Queen Mary & Westfield College | UUCP: eeyore@qmc-cs.UUCP
jb7m+@andrew.cmu.edu (Jon C. R. Bennett) (02/08/91)
From: "Jon C. R. Bennett" <jb7m+@andrew.cmu.edu> larmo@pro-odyssey.cts.com (System Administrator) writes: > > the rest of the aircraft is designed > to survive ground fire. the fuel tanks are non exploding, there are several > flight surfaces that can sustain servere damage and still funtion. you could > vertually loose an engine and still fly. there is a very good discription of the A-10's damage sustaining abilities in, i belive, "An illustrated guide to modern combat aircraft", which stated that, the A-10 can lose one engine, 1/2 of the horizonal stabilizer (and with that one of its two tail fins), 1/2 of one wing, and one of the three main wing spars (there are three and any two can take the load), and STILL BE ABLE TO FLY! given this and the degree of protection given the pilot it is clear that it should be very hard to down an A-10. jon
wade@gouda.ucs.ubc.ca (Doug Wade) (02/09/91)
From: wade@gouda.ucs.ubc.ca (Doug Wade) On the TV news tonight one report showed an A-10 that ran into some anti-aircraft fire. One wing had what looked like about 2/3rds of it's leading edge ripped and the upper skin pealed away. Bullet holes looked like they were "everywhere".