Sky Shakers

The skill of the pilots in hedgehopping through the rural landscape of East Yorkshire was to be admired. 

It used to be every Tuesday that the United States Air Force had a block booking to use the offshore live firing range at RAF Cowden, just to the south of the genteel coastal town of Hornsea. 

The quiet atmosphere of field and shoreline could be shattered in an instant by the staccato peppering sound of the huge 30mm rotating cannon nestled into the nose of the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt or as it is perhaps better known because of its rather ungainly appearance- the Warthog. 

Of course, I was always on the lookout on the second day of the working week for a fleeting glimpse of these distinctive aircraft, usually hanging about in pairs and even if not actually seen in flight you could not fail to hear, over a 5 mile or so catchment that gut-rumbling sound of that Gatling Gun. 

I have always been drawn to aeroplanes and from an early age could identify most military types. 

It helped growing up within a few fields of RAF Abingdon and then, after a family house move, on the regular flightpath of Lightnings, Vulcans and Phantoms as they made their way back to their home bases in Lincolnshire. 

I could appreciate the graceful lines of the jet fighters and Delta Wing Bombers and even farther back from watching countless wartime movies featuring the graceful and slender Spitfires and the chunkier but nevertheless beautiful Hurricanes. 

Even in the 1970’s the neighbours would show a mixture of amusement and bewilderment when my younger self would shoot out into the garden shouting about Lancaster bombers for no apparent sense or reason. Somewhere deep down I had picked up that unique sound of four Rolls Royce aero engines and sure enough within a few seconds there would be the ultimate treat of a fly past by the sole surviving airworthy example in the UK on its way back from a display or commemorative event. 

So why was I drawn to the Warthog- without doubt the ugliest plane in existence? 

I suppose it was because at its introduction in 1972 (when I was aged 9) it was one of the first committee rather than purist designed craft, intended to serve a role of agile, low level flying and specifically to try to counter the potentially overwhelming threat to Western Europe by the massed tanks of the Soviet Union. 

It was widely thought by strategists that in the Cold War Era a determined offensive by Communist armour could overrun the multinational defenders in a matter of days. 

The Warthog was a flying platform for up to eight tons of weapons which explained the stubby straight wings. The two General Electric TF34-100 turbofan engines were mounted above and at the rear of the fuselage intentionally to avoid being damaged by debris thrown up during flying. Being positioned slightly upturned the exhaust gases could fool a ground launched heat seeking missile . 

The GAU-8/A cannon was a bit of a throwback to the old single engine fighter weaponry although in the black and white era these were synchronised to fire through the propeller. The 19 foot long cannon fired at 4000 rounds a minute although the pilots were taught to be sparing with the ammunition and would adopt a tactic of just letting loose 50 to 60 rounds in a one second only squeeze of the trigger. 

With this payload came a lower combat speed of 433mph at 5000 feet when carrying bombs and a slightly faster 440mph in low level, unladen mode. 

To offset the risk of being a slow moving target for enemy ground forces the pilot of the Warthog was cocooned in a titanium armoured surround along with the vital instrumentation including the head up display. Power lines and flying controls were duplicated on each side of the fuselage in case of direct damage and such was the stubborn versatility that if automated systems were lost the pilot could still revert to manual controls. Another design characteristic was the ability to operate on short or makeshift runways. 

All pretty high tec for the early 1970’s. 

Of the 713 built,  some 350 are still in existence today although at the high cost of many revisions. 

Boeing took on the contract for a wing replacement programme in 2007 but to date only just over half of the A-10’s have had the work completed. This has placed the remainder of the Warthogs at risk of being permanently grounded and out of service. 

I have not seen or heard an A-10 for some years now as they no longer frequent the coastal range in my area, not on a Tuesday or any other day. 

I do not hold out much hope of seeing them pop their ugly profiles out from the cover of the East Yorkshire countryside any day soon.

(Source; Speed and Power Magazine Issue 86, November 1975)