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I'm sure this was answered somewhere before but everytime I used the search function I get a script time out error.

I was reading a post where people put pics of the A-10 and someone asked why the gun is off centered. The reply was because of the gun, which is obvious, but I thought I remember hearing a better detail reason on one of those A-10 shows on the military channel.

I checked FAS.org but it didn't state any reason so I came here



TG out

<img src="http://www.x-plane.org/home/topgun/Personnel/A10logo.jpg" border=0>

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If it Flys, shoot it

It's "off center" so the 9 0'clock barrel (as you look at the business end) is on the centerline when the slug exits. And it conveniently leaves space for the nose gear.<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

"Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together...." - Carl Zwanzig

_________________
\"Those who hammer their guns into plows
will plow for those who do not.\"
- Thomas Jefferson

thanks for such a quick reply!

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If it Flys, shoot it

I thought it was the 7:00 barrel that does the firing, no?

They say that the only two things certain in life are death and taxes. I prefer them in that order.

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I thought it was the 7:00 barrel that does the firing, no?

They say that the only two things certain in life are death and taxes. I prefer them in that order.
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dito

<img src="http://img23.photobucket.com/albums/v70/prkiii/70th.jpg" border=0><img src="http://img23.photobucket.com/albums/v70/prkiii/Mav_shot.jpg" border=0><img src="http://img23.photobucket.com/albums/v70/prkiii/25.jpg" border=0>

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Ok, OK...whichever one is on the centerline! What's a couple of hours among friends?!<img src=icon_smile_blush.gif border=0 align=middle> (My bad.)

"Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together...." - Carl Zwanzig

_________________
\"Those who hammer their guns into plows
will plow for those who do not.\"
- Thomas Jefferson

I thought it was because they wanted to screw up maintainers when learning to back one up? Oh ya in the new airforce you cant drive the tug backwards anymore..... but i cant remember the position of the barrel for sure but i think its the 7

JB

Unitam logica falsa tuam philosophiam totam suffodiant!!!!

I believe it's more like the 7:30-8:00 position because each barrel is doing something in a 7 step process (hehe 7 barrels). The shell enters the guns at (around) 2:00 (feed), 4:00 (chambered}, 6:00 (locked), 8:00 (fired), 10:00 (unlocked), 12:00 (extracted), 1:00 (ejected). Just my 7cents...<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

Ugly But Well Hung

Edited by - Dice-man on Aug 18 2005 4:18 PM

Since only dummies look down a loaded gun, the three o'clock barrel (from behind) is the firing barrel. The gun rotates counterclockwise when firing, so the bullet actually leaves the barrel at about two o'clock. The mass of the gun is offset to the left, so the nose gear is to the right of the centerline to make room for the gun, not the other way around.

Dice is correct with the seven steps performed by each of the seven bolt assemblies, only he had the rotation backwards.

Coach

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Dice is correct with the seven steps performed by each of the seven bolt assemblies, only he had the rotation backwards.

Coach


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My bad, thanks for the correction Coach.

Ugly But Well Hung

First day back,I learned something I never knew before about the firing order.
I only knew a "Speed Handle" Turned the wrong way shot 3 ROUNDS and scares the CRAP out of the weapons guys<img src=newicons/anim_shock.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_shock.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=newicons/tard.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>

Goose

LIVE FREE OR DIE
<img src="http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/3010/m1car2jg.jpg" border=0>

_________________
\"Live Free Or Die\"

Tell me the truth Goose did you ever do that ?

By this time tomorrow I shall have gained either a pearage or Westminster Abbey........Nelson

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YGBSM !

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>I only knew a "Speed Handle" Turned the wrong way shot 3 ROUNDS and scares the CRAP out of the weapons guys <hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

LMAO..thanks Goose, that mental image is going to keep me chuckling all day.

OC

Hey BILLY!

Never did Bro!, but I was a few planes down
the first time and the 2nd time next door when they did it.
It'll make a Crewdog "JUMP" too.

I did get to be right there when a crew dropped a MK-82 off the Jammer,lucky enough it was inert ..

But never got to shoot the GAU or Fire a AGM-65.

Goose

LIVE FREE OR DIE
<img src="http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/3010/m1car2jg.jpg" border=0>

_________________
\"Live Free Or Die\"

Allright I admit it I am weak ! Whenever I ride brakes or run engines................I pull the trigger. Sometimes I even say stuff like "hang on Goose when I count to three I am gonna put on the brakes and he will fly right past."

By this time tomorrow I shall have gained either a pearage or Westminster Abbey........Nelson

_________________
YGBSM !

hahha quality, do u say it over coms or would that be out of order? bet the tower would piss themselves <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

Shoot,

We all played "Hangar Pilot",turn on the TGM'S and lock on to something,just like when the pilots track the crewdogs when their waiting to launch.
Getting to Do a brust of the GAU would be better then a backseat ride!
It dont take much to make us happy.
Thats why I like to go to Grissom and the folks there let me play in the mock-up if its not busy.
I'll do my engine checklist,and emergency engine shut down list.

Goose

LIVE FREE OR DIE
<img src="http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/3010/m1car2jg.jpg" border=0>

_________________
\"Live Free Or Die\"

Coach

I think Dice had it from the maintainer's perspective, not from where you sit. So looking at the jet, the gun does rotate clockwise in the order Dice described (I think).

Cheers! M2

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Coach

I think Dice had it from the maintainer's perspective, not from where you sit. So looking at the jet, the gun does rotate clockwise in the order Dice described (I think).

Cheers! M2


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Hehe I always get the station numbers backward because I number them from my prospective...looking face-on the jet. <img src=newicons/anim_lol.gif border=0 align=middle>

Ugly But Well Hung

Dice you got it right. Coach is thinking like a pilot. Read the 94jg-6. The seven o'clock barrel is the business. Trust me, having had to do hot gun maintenance back when the only way to figure out if there was a round in the firing position was to insert a broom stick into the barrels painted with red bands around it at different intervals. This was by the book and very dangerous as well. Thank God someone got smart and figured out a better way of doing it, none the less it is the 7 o'clock posistion.

If you look at the 7 o'clock barrel near the breech end the bolt assmebly is in the sector of the firing cam that allows the shear pin to fall forward thus allowing the firing pin to strike the primer. Having said that I am sure the round may exit the barrel as it crosses the 8 o'clock or later posistion due to the RPM of the gun however from a maintainers point of view the info I described above is much more important. There have been several instances of the gun being fired on the ground because people didnt follow the book to the letter.

And to the original question about why the gun is off set I always was told this allows the firing (7o'clock) to be center of the A/C.

Fender
"A woman drove me to drink
and I hadn't even the courtesy to thank her".
W.C. Fields

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Dice you got it right. Coach is thinking like a pilot. Read the 94jg-6.
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<img src=icon_smile_approve.gif border=0 align=middle>

Ugly But Well Hung

I admit...I do think like a pilot once in a while.

But...the bullet is fired at the 3 (or 9 if you're a maintenance guy looking down the barrel of a very powerful weapon) o'clock position. The reason you check at the 7 (or 1) o'clock position is because thet is where there should be no live rounds (past the firing pin).

Coach

Coach I dont know you except through this board. I am not a pilot and dont presume to know pilot things. However I am a maintainer that served many years as a hotgun super on the A-10. I safed many a unsafe GAU-8/a in my day. I told many people to get the hell off of my gun pad to include o-6's. You see the regulations are clear, minimum number of QUALFIED PERSONNEL. I was the qualified one at that point not the pilot that climbed out the seat. Maybe if you are still on active duty you could go to your local weapons shop and get some hands on training. I have over 13yrs on the GAU-8 inshop and flightline. I have none flying the A-10, get my point. Sorry to sound so abrasive but I guess the meds from my foot surgery are kicking in.

Fender
"A woman drove me to drink
and I hadn't even the courtesy to thank her".
W.C. Fields

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>And to the original question about why the gun is off set I always was told this allows the firing (7o'clock) to be center of the A/C. <hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>
I've heard that reason before too, but it doesn't make sense to me. O.K., So the bullet fires from the <i>exact</i> center of the jet, so what? Even if it was firing from the farthest off-center barrel, big deal, that's like 6 inches. Not alot when your talking about approx 70 rounds per second of 30mm ammo, is it? My guess as the true reason for this is it was simply easier to design the gun like that.

They say that the only two things certain in life are death and taxes. I prefer them in that order.

Jackb, 6" would make a heck of a differance with the GAU-8A's recole almost equal to one engine! Also think about the stress on the aircraft over it's planned 20 year life cycle if the pilot had to stand on the rudder every time the gun was fired. One more thing to remember the gun was a "point and shoot" weapon for the first 10 years or so of the A-10s life.

Ugly But Well Hung