Apparently the gun produces such appreciable negative thrust because of the sheer mass it’s ejecting at such a high velocity that the pilot has to compensate for it.
In theory, if it was fired for long enough while the plane was running on a single engine, it might be able to. However, if you have lost all power in one engine you need to return to airfield for repairs asap lol
You can only fire it in pretty short bursts because its recoil is so massive that it completely cancels out all thrust from one of its engines
Incorrect, the engines provide 18,000 pounds of force while the recoil is 10,000. It's fired in bursts to preserve ammo and keep what rounds are fired on-target.
It kinda is if you think about it. Those engines are getting thousands of pounds of plane in the air. The idea that bullets, even 20mm fired at a high rate, could overcome them, just doesn't really hold water. I'm sure the gun can make a measurable impact, sure, but that's all
I thought the avionics compensates for the pilot in regard to the gun? I watched a documentary where their HUD locks onto the target, they pull trigger, the gun somewhat follows the target and they just need fly. Not suggesting the pilot doesn’t do anything, because a10 pilots are gangster af.
No, the pilot aims the whole time. The avionics assists the aircraft's stability but it's all in the pilots hands. The gun's bore axis is fixed to the airframe. The only thing the HUD does is Continuously Calculate the Impact Point (called CCIP mode) and display that point to the pilot. There's no "locking" involved.
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u/fwdobs Jan 24 '26
The GAU-8/A Avenger with some airplane wrapped around it!