New Wings for the Warthog

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 03/29/2018 at 11:27 • Filed to: Planelopnik

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(US Air Force)

As part of the gargantuan $1.3 trillion spending bill, the Air Force will get money to replace the wings on its aging Warthogs to keep them flying for at least another 10 years. Boeing has already replaced the wings on 170 of the Air Force’s 280 A-10s, but the replacements for the rest will have to await a competitive bidding process.

Also coming up this fall is what the Air Force is calling a “comparative evaluation” of the A-1o and its intended successor, the F-35A. However, regardless of the results, the Warthog will be around until about 2030 at least. Maybe even longer than the F-35.

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Edit: Which reminds me, I haven’t seen !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! around in a long time. Looks like his last post was back in 2016.

GTRZILLAR32-Now saving for Godzilla and a condo > ttyymmnn 03/29/2018 at 11:38

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I wish A-10s were still stationed here in CT I miss seeing them every now and again especially since I moved closer to Bradley.

Party-vi > ttyymmnn 03/29/2018 at 11:41

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Good. This is basically two engines strapped to a rotary cannon and I love everything about it.

Mercedes Streeter > ttyymmnn 03/29/2018 at 11:43

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I still love those little adorable engines. My first or second thought when I see a CRJ or an ERJ is the A-10. :)

user314 > ttyymmnn 03/29/2018 at 11:43

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I’m still waiting for them to add the third engine and VTOL wings...

ttyymmnn > Party-vi 03/29/2018 at 11:45

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It’s worth noting that the man who designed the P-47, Alexander Kartveli , also had a hand in the Thunderbolt II. That explains an awful lot, I think.

ttyymmnn > user314 03/29/2018 at 11:46

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I sure hope there’s an interrupter on that turret.....

Chariotoflove > ttyymmnn 03/29/2018 at 11:57

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I am surprised to hear that the A-10 successor is supposed to be the F-35

Spaceball-Two > ttyymmnn 03/29/2018 at 11:59

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I’ve seen Dukie comment now and again. I’ve met the guy, super nice. He has a busy job at FEMA here in WA and a gaggle of kids.

ttyymmnn > Spaceball-Two 03/29/2018 at 12:04

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Thanks. He often commented on my aviation posts, and the sight of the A-10s this morning just reminded me that I hadn’t heard from him in a while.

ttyymmnn > Chariotoflove 03/29/2018 at 12:08

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I talked to an F-35A driver at an air show a few months ago. He said he wished he had more bullets. Thing is, the A-10 was designed for one thing and, as such, it does it very well. The F-35 was designed to do lots of things, CAS one of them. But one burp from its gun and it’s done. That said, with the A-10 sticking around for a while, the F-35 will be a dynamite asset to get those A-10s on target.

Decay buys too many beaters > ttyymmnn 03/29/2018 at 12:09

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Good, the A-10 is a piece of engineering high art. The intended replacement aircraft is an ugly overgeneralized boondoggle.

user314 > ttyymmnn 03/29/2018 at 12:09

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“I’m sorry son, they got us.”

user314 > ttyymmnn 03/29/2018 at 12:22

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Trouble is, if we ever go up against a peer state (or someone supplied by one), the Hogs would get demolished by a modern air defense system. Boondoggle it may be, I think an F-35 with a belly full of GBU-53 s is the better option.

HammerheadFistpunch > ttyymmnn 03/29/2018 at 12:22

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I have a buddy thats working on this program right now. They are tearing them down and reverse engineering all the parts because there are no cad models and very limited actual draft documents for the engineering of this plane. The are essentially recreating the plans digitally so they can do stuff like this. Interesting work. I suspect they will be bidding on the wings too.

ttyymmnn > HammerheadFistpunch 03/29/2018 at 12:30

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That sounds like fun.

ttyymmnn > user314 03/29/2018 at 12:31

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My first thought. That’s such a good movie.

HammerheadFistpunch > ttyymmnn 03/29/2018 at 12:31

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its a dream come true for him, he’s a huge Av geek and a heck of a model plane builder. Kind of a perfect fit for him really.

Chariotoflove > ttyymmnn 03/29/2018 at 13:00

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That would make more sense.

AfromanGTO > ttyymmnn 03/29/2018 at 13:37

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Scrap the F35 keep the A10 forever. Then find a way to mount the surplus Tomcat engines in/on them. lol

diplodicus > HammerheadFistpunch 03/29/2018 at 15:01

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Are they using 3d scanners? Or measuring everything by hand?

HammerheadFistpunch > diplodicus 03/29/2018 at 15:02

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Don’t know. I suspect its probably a little of column A and B plus just having standardized stuff like bolts, fittings, etc.

Frank Grimes > diplodicus 03/29/2018 at 15:32

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I bet they aren’t tracing things with a dull sharpie onto cereal boxes and cutting it out with an angle grinder like me.

diplodicus > Frank Grimes 03/29/2018 at 15:37

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You’re right, I bet they have extra fine sharpies.

sn4cktimes > HammerheadFistpunch 03/29/2018 at 22:02

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Very cool job.

Axial > Mercedes Streeter 03/30/2018 at 23:18

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Little?

Guuuuuurl...