| Tango01 | 13 Oct 2014 11:10 a.m. PST |
"The A-10 has been the favorite plane of American grunts for decades. But it was one of America's most fearsome enemies who helped inspire the design of the so-called Warthog.The U.S. Air Force's A-10 is an ugly, low-flying, slow-moving beast of an aircraft known affectionately by the troops as the Warthog. But even as the flying tank gets ready to shred ISIS terrorists to pieces over Iraq and Syria with its massive 30mm cannon—firing depleted uranium shells the size of a Coke bottle—it hides a dark secret: an unrepentant Nazi fighter pilot helped to develop the ungainly warplane. Engineer Pierre Sprey, a former Pentagon procurement official who helped design the A-10, confirmed to The Daily Beast that none other than legendary Luftwaffe Colonel Hans-Ulrich Rudel was consulted to develop the Warthog. "While we were readying the airplane and gun for full scale production, the 30mm gun program manager, Col. Robert Dilger, invited Rudel to lead a symposium in DC attended by several hundred engineers, analysts, tacticians and intel types on all aspects of CAS [close air support] operations in combat," Sprey told the Daily Beast. "For lots of them it was eye-opening. I translated for Rudel who spoke very little English."…"
Full article here
link Amicalement
Armand |
| John the OFM | 13 Oct 2014 11:37 a.m. PST |
We're not giving the Moon back just because Werner von Braun was probably a prosecutable war criminal. |
| tberry7403 | 13 Oct 2014 11:58 a.m. PST |
And of course my favorite quote from Ice Station Zebra: "The Russians put our camera made by our German scientists and your film made by your German scientists into their satellite made by their German scientists." |
| tberry7403 | 13 Oct 2014 11:59 a.m. PST |
And I refuse to call the A-10 "…ugly…" |
| skippy0001 | 13 Oct 2014 2:46 p.m. PST |
If Udet didn't watch a US airshow, there wouldn't be Stuka's. I was able to look into a A-10 cockpit and talk to a pilot of one. Both were impressive. I watched a low flying attack run-I couldn't hear it until it was almost over us. The engines were so massive, I could crawl up one. The most secret part of the plane is how the 30mm is kept cool I read somewhere. We need to keep and improve these. |
 Saber6   | 13 Oct 2014 3:04 p.m. PST |
When an A-10 dives and cuts loose with the gun it appears to STOP in mid-air. So glad they are ours |
| Pete Melvin | 14 Oct 2014 3:14 a.m. PST |
Well he did have a massive amount of ground attack experience, certainly more so than any Allied pilot would ever have done, except maybe some of the Soviet pilots but they weren't really going to talk to the US after the war. |
| Raynman | 14 Oct 2014 8:21 a.m. PST |
Saber6, I worked with A-10 for 4 years, they do come to a slight stop when they fire the cannon for a long burst. That plane is very cool. They can get low on the deck and pop up anywhere. They have a bullet proof titanium tub protecting the pilot. It takes a beating and brings home its pilot. A very good aircraft! |
| Lion in the Stars | 15 Oct 2014 12:40 p.m. PST |
Rudel's book was required reading for everyone on the AX program. Not just the A10, the YA9 guys were also required to read it. You're an idiot if you think that not talking to the subject matter expert because of who he worked for is a good idea. |
| tuscaloosa | 15 Oct 2014 5:13 p.m. PST |
Only one person's claims that Rudel was consulted. I don't see how Rudel's experiences in the Stuka could contribute much to the A-10. |
| Lion in the Stars | 16 Oct 2014 11:06 a.m. PST |
Same mission, and some of his concerns about airframe survivability would be particularly applicable to the A10, Tuscaloosa. |
