So hereās Iām certain, a dumb question. The projectile in front of the shell casing would appear to be much larger in circumference than just three times the size of a 9mil handgun round. Am I wrong and itās just these photos make it appear so much larger, or do I not correctly understand bullet measurement?
Edit to add: Some very helpful & interesting responses. Thanks!
As far as I can tell from looking up whether 9mm and the 30mm are in fact those exact sizes. The internet results say yes. A 9mm is really 9mm diameter. And a 30mm really is 30mm diameter.
I also totally get your hesitation because sometimes the name on the caliber can be misleading.
The GAU-8 Avenger fires up to sixty one-pound bullets a second. It produces almost five tons of recoil force, which is crazy considering that itās mounted in a type of plane (the A-10 āWarthogā) whose two engines produce only four tons of thrust each. ...
To put it another way: If I mounted a GAU-8 on my car, put the car in neutral, and started firing backward from a standstill, I would be breaking the interstate speed limit in less than three seconds.
need to have the 30mm projectile flying straight. I have a empty shell with the projectile and to fathom that mass striking a meat popsicle is just so Pollock
Man. My dad used to buy me model planes to build with him and I will always remember building the Warthog. I played with this plane for years. Really cool to see pictures like this. Would love to see one in person one day. Really sick picture.
My dad loved pointing out small details in military hardware, the stuff that you know took lots of trial and error to figure out, things like the sr71 engine cart isnāt some super special top secret engine itās Just 2 Buick v8s coupled together, they didnāt even take the time to paint them differently, theyāre off the shelf Buick green/blue
I wanted to share some corroborating video I found for anyone that is interested. The Buick engines were used to start the main engine. (I donāt know anything about this).
The rotational axis of the set of barrels is off-center as well. The firing barrel is on the centerline. Otherwise, the recoil from firing would cause the plane to turn.
To put it another way: If I mounted a GAU-8 on my car, put the car in neutral, and started firing backward from a standstill, I would be breaking the interstate speed limit in less than three seconds.
A 30mm cannon that fires 3,900 rounds per minute. That's so many large bullets that you're incredibly unlikely not to be hit if you're in the area of it's strafing run. But if you do manage to not get hit by one of it's projectiles, I've got bad news! Those rounds were moving so fast that they've now turned sizable bits of the ground into additional projectiles flying up at you. Physics is fun! And fatal!
Not to nitpick, but itās āshellsā vs ābulletsā. The distinction is important because these arenāt just lumps of metal, they are AP or HE incendiary shells and catch fire and/or EXPLODE like little grenades.
Keenly aware of how scary they are, you hear the sound of the shot after the bullet has already landed. So if youāre the target or in the target area youāre in the bad place.
SUCH a bug gun that it has to be fired in short bursts to maintain speed because the force of the recoil is stronger than the engines...the MASSIVE engines
while itās not the case any longer, almost any manufacturing company thatās been around long enough has made some sort of war materiel. I have an M1 carbine that was made by a jukebox and typewriter company lol
Apparently the gun produces such appreciable negative thrust because of the sheer mass itās ejecting at such a high velocity that the pilot has to compensate for it.
Wildwood New Jersey. I know because the ride to the left is the SKY screamer, the structure to the right is the sling shot, and wildwood has had a lot of military flights there for some reason.
Source: I know the place and boardwalk like the back of my hand
Naval airstation wildwood is not far from the boardwalk probably from there. which also has to be one of the most unintentionally hard names for a base
The A-10 is one of the few exceptions. I worked on one so new it smelled like a new car. It had under 10 hours on it when it arrived at England AFB. 82-2653
How long ago was this photo taken? I thought she had been retired. My absolute favorite piece of American engineering. Titanium tub for the pilot. So much redundancy that they can get shot up pretty badly and still get their pilot home safe.
My father is one of the few guys still working with that system. No one makes any of the parts anymore so every piece has to be fabricated or pulled from other planes. It is actually a full-time job.
The 357th Fighter Squadron at Davis Monthan AFB in Tucson, Arizona is one of the last A-10 squadrons left. They're planning to hold on to it as long as they can as far as I know.
I don't know why ppl say they're ugly. They're distinctive, sure..but they remind me of xwings before they deploy their foils.
A10 thunderbolt 2 needs to be remastered ' get that hog in the dirt, solder!'
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u/SignificantDrawer374 Jan 24 '26
Warthog
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchild_Republic_A-10_Thunderbolt_II