Thu Nov 14, 2013 11:06 am
Thu Nov 14, 2013 12:16 pm
peter wrote:Would the A10's not be a good platform for fire fighting?
Thu Nov 14, 2013 12:30 pm
Thu Nov 14, 2013 2:13 pm
Thu Nov 14, 2013 2:51 pm
Speedy wrote:You're missing the big picture here with the firefighting conversion.
You say 'bigger is better'...and that's not necessarily the case. The A-10 would make an interesting platform in the small-to-medium capacity. There are some fires that require the ability to drop a smaller precision load in a very difficult to reach place. Look at the Air Tractors that they utilize with 800 gallon tanks. That plane can get into positions that the Neptunes, C-130's, DC-10 couldn't possibly go into.
Same way that you can't compare what a Huey or Erickson Air Crane can do with a bucket/snorkel against a fixed wing platform.
I think the A-10 could make a very interesting conversion.
Thu Nov 14, 2013 3:22 pm
Mike wrote:Speedy wrote: Look at the Air Tractors that they utilize with 800 gallon tanks.
Thu Nov 14, 2013 4:19 pm
Thu Nov 14, 2013 4:21 pm
Thu Nov 14, 2013 5:55 pm
Thu Nov 14, 2013 8:53 pm
Thu Nov 14, 2013 8:57 pm
Thu Nov 14, 2013 9:04 pm
Fri Nov 15, 2013 9:35 am
Fri Nov 15, 2013 8:44 pm
Fri Nov 15, 2013 9:28 pm
SaxMan wrote:I understand the AF's argument that it cannot afford the luxury of mission-specific airplanes in an era of shrinking budgets, but multi-role aircraft tend to always come up short in the close support role. If history is any kind of precursor, there is always going to be the need for the close support role that can only be handled by planes that go low and slow. Look what happened in Korea: The AF had their F-80s, F-84 and F-86s, but it ended up being the prop-driven P-51 that did the heavy lifting in the close support role. Then, in Vietnam, despite having Phantoms and Super Sabres, among others, in the inventory, the Air Force had to go and acquire a (god forbid) prop-driven Navy plane, the Skyraider for the close support role. For the last 30 some odd years, the USAF finally has the right tool for the job and they keep trying to push it aside at every opportunity, only for it to make a comeback.