Close-up view of the (rather bumpy) A-10 Warthog nose. With serpentine noseart around the 30mm gun

July 17, 2012 Military Aviation

David Cenciotti

Taken from a KC-135R Stratotanker during a training flight over Michigan on Jul. 11, the following close up image shows the nose of an A-10 Thunderbolt (affectionately known as the Warthog) from Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Michigan.

The Warthog features serpentine noseart around the 30 mm GAU-8/A Gatling Gun, able to dispense 3,900 rounds per minute.

Interestingly, the nose of the A-10 has some bumps possibly caused by the impact of the refueling boom or by some the shell casings (provided they are expelled for some reason, since the Warthog normally cycles its casings back into the ammo drum).

Image credit: U.S. Air Force

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About David Cenciotti

David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.

Gary W. says:

July 18, 2012 at 1:00 AM

This A-10C is from the Indiana ANG’s 122nd FW.
- David Cenciotti says:
  
  July 18, 2012 at 3:34 PM
  
  Thank you Gary,
  maybe it was on loan, as the unit was taken from the caption released by the Air Force.
  - DGR says:
    
    July 18, 2012 at 4:22 PM
    
    I think Selfride still flies KC-135 tankers, so it might have been a picture from a Michigan tanker with the IN wing A-10. Selfride flies A-10s as well though which adds to the confusion. Easy mistake without seeing any tail numbers or markings though. It doesnt help that both the A-10 and KC-135 are fairly new to Selfridge.
DGR says:

July 18, 2012 at 3:05 PM

Dang, she sure is beat up. Just goes to show how old and worn out some of them are getting. Id doudt the refueling boom caused them, it almost looks like someone ran some ground equipment into the nose. It looks to be in bad shape though, cant say Ive ever seen one looking that bad.
Troy says:

July 20, 2012 at 12:12 AM

20mm and 30mm “brass” is extracted when the gun breech bolt is put in the “clear” action at the end of the firing action and is returned to the drum. No brass is ejected from the aircraft as it would present a FOD hazard.