I’ll Take Warthog Trivia for $100 Please
We Avgeeks all know how simply awesome the A-10 Warthog is. Here are some things you might not know about the Fairchild-Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II.
One
The Development of the Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne attack helicopter actually helped to expose the need for a dedicated ground attack aircraft for the Air Force. That first and still only dedicated designed and built for purpose ground attack aircraft became the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II.
Two
The design of the A-10 was developed during the time that the Cessna A-37 Dragonfly was replacing Douglas A-1 Skyraiders as the Air Force’s primary CSAR support and counter insurgency (COIN) platform. The Warthog, while obviously a much more capable close air support (CAS) aircraft than the Super Tweet, owes at least some of its design influences to the tiny but capable A-37.
Three
Republic Aircraft of Farmingdale, Long Island, New York, built the two YA-10 prototypes at their factory. The first flight of the YA-10 took place on 10 May 1972 at Republic’s airfield on Long Island. However, production of every one of the 715 A-10s built took place at Fairchild’s factory in outside Baltimore in Hagerstown in Maryland.
Four
The A-10’s General Electric GAU-8/A Avenger 30 millimeter rotary cannon is mounted in the fuselage of the Hog in such a way that the barrel firing is aligned with the centerline of the aircraft. This ensures that when the weapon is fired it does not cause the aircraft to yaw. This is also why the nose gear of the aircraft is offset to the starboard (right) side.
Five
When the GAU-8/A is removed from the Warthog for maintenance or replacement, the tail of the aircraft must be supported or it will come to rest on the ground when the jet’s nose tilts up.
Six
The PGU-14/B shells fired by the GAU-8 are only slightly radioactive, no more than most other stones or dirt, but the sub-caliber high-density penetrator inside is extremely dense- adding to the kinetic energy expended when one of the projectiles hits, and usually shreds, its target.
Seven
The General Electric TF-34-GE-100 high-bypass turbofan engines that power the A-10 have only been used on one other operational military aircraft- the Lockheed S-3 Viking carrier-based sub-hunter.
Eight
Those engines are mounted where they are on the airframe for two very good reasons- to protect them from debris raised from the ground during taxi, takeoff, and landing, and to place them above the horizontal tail surfaces, thereby better shielding them from infrared (IR) seeking weapons fired from the ground.
Nine
Although the A-10 is a close air support (CAS) star, it is not as fast as you might think. With a loaded never exceed speed (VNE) of 450 knots (518 miles per hour) at altitude the Warthog is not going to produce any sonic booms. A cleanly-configured A-10 can reach 381 knots (439 miles per hour) at sea level. Several World War II-era warbirds are just about capable of keeping up.
Ten
The roughly 220 A-10Cs still operational today (as of 2024) were originally A-10As built by Fairchild-Republic, maintained by Grumman after 1987, upgraded by Lockheed-Martin, and many of the A-10Cs in service have been re-winged by Boeing.
Damn KoOLest fighter around …has always been my favourite …Ahhhhh the A-10 …
Mr. Walton is in error that the A-10 was only built in Maryland. There was a full production line at the Fairchild-Republic, Farmindale, Long Island, New York facility. My father and many others built the A-10 in Farmingdale. I was witness to the line and the assembly jigs during Family Day visits. There was collaboration regarding completing them at the Hagerstown MD. plant.