7 Responses to “A-10 nearly takes out Brit patrol”

1. drillanwr, on January 5th, 2008 at 3:50 pm Said:

   CRIKEY!

   That could have been one bloody mess! Darned yank pilots!

   Hey, is that the plane “growling” I hear?

2. Double Tap, on January 5th, 2008 at 5:33 pm Said:

   The growling sound is the A-10’s 30mm cannon firing. It spits out rounds at something like 4,200 rounds per second. It was originally designed to take out armored vehicles.

3. drillanwr, on January 5th, 2008 at 8:56 pm Said:

   D.T. -

   Just an ignorant civie here, but wouldn’t it have been wise for whichever Brit on the ground was in charge to shout a demand for someone to [get on the horn] and inform someone THEY were in the plane’s line-o-fire?

   Just sayin’ … I mean, cripes! They were damn lucky there.

4. drillanwr, on January 5th, 2008 at 9:03 pm Said:

   D.T.

   PS … Is the “growl” of the guns a delay after the “hits”, or the sound precedes the “hits” in that much of a delay?

   Either way, the time span between is weird!

5. Double Tap, on January 6th, 2008 at 8:58 am Said:

   You’re hearing the difference in time it takes for the sound to travel from the gun to the camera. You’ll note that after they are shot at, it took a few seconds to hear the sound of the gun. That’s because the A-10 was likely half a mile a way from them when it fired and the bullets fly faster than the speed of sound. It’s not like in the movies.

6. Double Tap, on January 6th, 2008 at 9:04 am Said:

   Regarding the question as to whether someone was getting on the radio to say they were getting shot at, likely, someone was. You just didn’t hear it in the video. They were barely recovering from the first near-miss when the second, much close one, came in.

7. drillanwr, on January 6th, 2008 at 9:42 am Said:

   Thanks, D. T.

   Cool! Scary, but cool!

   Wouldn’t you love to hear the tape of the pilots in the A10? Wonder that they thought the Brits were some band of “insurgents” hiding from them in that dusty sandbox. And then to possibly here them called off that they had friendlies in their cross hairs …

   My cousin was a Tech Sgt. in the Air Force. Would brief and debrief the pilots about their aircraft in the first Gulf War. Then, while in the reserves here in Ohio, he was with a supply / air lift wing that flew all over the current war(s) and Germany … until upon failing health and testing he was found to have a very advanced brain tumor that eventually took him from us a just couple years ago (at too young an age) … and took him from the Air Force he so loved. My cousin Dave was HUGE. Weight lifter. The guys on base just loved him and called him “Tiny” … Every one of them cried at his funeral … (Sorry to get so personal.) He loved flying … and every chance the pilots got they would take him up and along.

   Anyhow, Dave always said the A10 was one of the best aircraft he knew of. “Ugly as hell, but damn effective!” It was one of his favorites.

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