A-10 + F-16 =

[Aircav]

Ace pic Toad, the gun is great.

:zz
ummmmmm.......been thinking of doing a streched F-16, maybe 3 or 6ft

[Ollie]

Toad, looks killer, but I don't like the engines so close to a single tail, there might be an issue with the nacelles playing with the airflow on the tail.  I'll check about that.

But it looks good!

Can we see it in colour?

:-/  :t  :pl

[Captain Canada]

I just thought of an idea to ease the boredom and ensuing insanity of seeing to many plastic 'Vipers' and an A-10.......

[John Howling Mouse]

It's all good, baby!

[Captain Canada]

rabootabeetabegah

[Captain Canada]

It's funny how the old posts get all screwed up, with the replies out of order and such, and the pics and smileys aren't viewable !

Wierd

[Ollie]

Good show Toad!

I remember it now!

   


What markings will it be in, eh?

 

[Keith Diamond]

I like it Toad!  Great combination of two of my favorite ac.  Throw in a F-4 and then it'll be perfect. :f16:  

[Tophe]

It's funny how the old posts get all screwed up, with the replies out of order and such, and the pics and smileys aren't viewable !
Wierd

Maybe the trouble was weird, but the drawing is not, just wonderful ... Thanks for sharing...

[nev]

Holy thread revival batman!

[Patrick H]

Great stuff
I like the placing of the gun but maybe you could move the gunpod(ex airintake) a bit forward?  Would make for a better look I think. but even this way, great idea.


cheers

Patrick

[AeroplaneDriver]

Nice concept and pic, but a few observations;

Blast from the cannon would probably play havoc with the fuselage below the cockpit.

Possible aerodynamic issues with the engines interfering with airflow over the H-stab.

Engine nacelles will likely make the rudder ineffective at high AOA.

Cannon would interfere with the landing gear.

Assuming the ammunition drum would fit were the engine used to live there would probably be CG issues, especially with the two engines back there too.  This instability is not that big of a deal with FBW, but perhaps a canard foreplane would be required.


Also, I dont think the GAU-8 has ever been podded.  It's just too big.  IIRC the pods on CAS F-16s were much smaller 20 or 25mm, and without DU penetrator ammunition.  Either way GAU8 equipped F-16 were not deployed to Iraq.

By the way, I'm a new guy and dont want to come across as overly critical. It's a cool picture, and a heck of a concept!

[Jschmus]

Also, I dont think the GAU-8 has ever been podded.  It's just too big.  IIRC the pods on CAS F-16s were much smaller 20 or 25mm, and without DU penetrator ammunition.  Either way GAU8 equipped F-16 were not deployed to Iraq.

Actually, there was a podded four-barrel derivative, called the GPU-5 or GEPOD-30, and it was deployed on the F-16 during Desert Storm.  It just didn't meet anyone's expectations.

The USAF was rather reluctant to let the idea of a dedicated CAS F-16 go, and planned to replace its A-10's with F-16s fitted with a version of the Warthog's Avenger cannon. In November 1988, the 174th TFW of the New York ANG began transitioning from the A-10A Thunderbolt II to the F-16A/B Block 10, becoming the first unit to operate the F-16 in a close air support role.

During Desert Storm, their 24 F-16A/B aircraft were equipped to carry the General Electric GPU-5/A Pave Claw pod on the centerline station. The pod houses a 30mm GAU-13/A four-barrel derivative of the seven-barrel GAU-8/A cannon used by the A-10A, and 353 rounds of ammunition. The aircraft received the new designation F/A-16, and were the only F-16s ever to be equipped with this weapon, intended for use against a variety of battlefield targets, including armor.

If the tests were successful, there were plans for a fleet of F/A-16C's with the same armament. To demonstrate the concept, the AF installed Pave Penny avionics, 30mm gun pods and European One paint jobs on 7 F-16C's (#83128, -129, -130, -131, -132, -144, -2??). F-16B no. 2 (#75752) was given similar treatment except for a Falcon Eye system. These aircraft flew from Nellis with the 'WA' tailcode.

The F-16s from the 174th were deployed to the Persian Gulf during Desert Storm, but the project proved to be a miserable failure. Precision aiming was impossible for several reasons:

The pylon mount isn't as steady as the A-10's rigid mounting;
The F-16 flies much faster than an A-10, giving the pilots too little time approaching the target;
Firing the gun shook the aircraft harshly and made it impossible to control;
Essential CCIP (continuously computed impact point) software was unavailable.
Pilots ended up using the gun as an area effect weapon, spraying multiple targets with ammunition, producing an effect rather like a cluster bomb. It took only a couple of days of this before they gave up, unbolted the gun pods, and went back to dropping real cluster bombs - which did the job more effectively.

The F/A-16C plan was quietly forgotten. The USAF still has plans to replace the A-10 with F-16s, but they no longer involve 30mm gun pods (or, apparently, a designation with an "A" in it).

[AeroplaneDriver]

GEPOD!, that's what I was trying to remember.  Thanks!  

I stand corrected on the caliber/ammo issue.

[Gary]

A few were deployed to Saudi Arabia during DS-1, but production lans were dropped because the podded cannon couldn't hit the broadside of a barn.

And that's a good thing because we weren't trying to hit barns, it was the tanks beside the barns!!!