K-5A Attack ship: A tribute to the A-10 Warthog

[Fafnir_6]

Hello all,

Here is my latest attempt at a transatmospheric spacecraft, in this case, an attack ship that launches from a carrier in orbit to destroy things on a planet's surface. The K-5A was designed from the start as a tribute to the mighty A-10 Warthog so I must send my thanks to the people at Fairchild-Republic for inspiring me to complete this. As usual, constructive criticism is enthusiatically encouraged and I hope you like it.

Cheers,

Fafnir_6

[Coolhand]

looks cool, the fuselage shape reminds me of a frogfoot or maybe even an intruder.

does that gun run down the centreline? it looks like the mechanism needs more clearance between itself and the floor of the cockpit, i'd maybe drop that down and extend the front just a little, it would also make the profile a little more like the a10 rather than the other ac i mentioned.

Also, if you're going for realism then you might want to add some underslung engines, so the centre of thrust is aligned with the centre of mass. at the moment it looks like it'll be wanting to pitch itself down under power in space, because all the thrust is coming from above the centre of mass. You could ignore that effect (like the raptor from BSG) but it might be something to think about.

[Excalibur001]

looks pritty cool. nice work

[Ozylot]

Splendid!!!

[Falin]

I agree with coolhand here, that gun is right between the pilots legs, he don't need that added heat in there. I'd drop it down about 2-3 ft, give that pilot some love

[Fafnir_6]

Hello all,

There are actually TWO forward-firing guns that pass by the cockpit on either side with the pilot sitting between the barrels, giving the K-5A a bit of a duck-face. Because they are mass drivers, with no gunpower munitions rounds, there is no need for the large amounts of armour in the munitions helix in the ammo drums like in the A-10 to protect against accidental munitions discharge in the drum. As such, the K-5A can pack more rounds in a similar sized volume. The assymetric thrust thing is a valid point, but I think you'll notice that I have angled the thrust nozzles of the engines upwards a la space shuttle to offset the assymetric thrust. Having the engines above and behind the wings is desirable for a ship like the K-5A and is the reason the A-10 looks like it does (good aginst battle damage and rough field landings).

Cheers and thanks for the constructive thoughts,

Fafnir_6

[Fafnir_6]

I've attached a diagram that illustrates how you can make assymetrical or off-centre engine mounts work in deep space. You just need to angle the thrust nozzles upwards such that the downward thrust of the bent up nozzles cancels the upward force of the odd engine mounting position. This is not the most efficient engine mounting scheme, but in some cases the effectiveness of the desired location of the engines warrants the sacrifice of a little thrust. ***Edit*** As described below, deep-space flight under power results in a characteristic nose-high attitude using this arrangement.

If you refer to the liner notes on the K-5A drawing, you will see that the K-5A did not have stellar deep-space performance, merely enough deep-space power to transit from the carrier to the atmosphere. This ***coupled with the angle-of-attack issues above***, necessitate the creation of a true deep-space attack ship in the AKM's inventory. The K-5A has limited up/down thrust vectoring to aid in thrust compensation, although it should not be required in most cases. The mounting of two guns is addressed in the liner notes as well.

Cheers,

Fafnir_6

[peragrin]

I love the A-10 warthog, And that ship looks mean enough to earn the title.

I would actually pull the pilots seat back a bit it's is too close to the nose. Otherwise can I have the hyper varient?

[Fafnir_6]

Yeah, I thought about pilot position quite a bit when I was designing the K-5A and there are some strong arguments in favour of moving the cockpit back a bit, but in the end, Those countless hours of ground-attack flight simming in the Fw190A/F and Ju87G in the IL-2 series of flight sims convinced me that awesome forward visibility is a good thing.

Cheers,

Fafnir_6

[Knight26]

Unfortunately Fafnir, that argument for off axis assymetric thrust doesn't hold water. No matter what angle you play those nozzles at you will have a pitching moment, or if you angle it through the center of mass you will always be flying with a nose high attitude, which will be a pain to compensate for. I would explain more but the baby is calling.