| Take a close look at the large spar
in this A-7 Corsair II wing. These wings are more than just airfoils
used to hold the airplane in the air, they hold fuel tanks, electrical
systems, ten tons of bombs, hydraulic actuators, control surfaces, lights
and all the time have to maintain their strength in excess of 6 G's while
doing high speed maneuvers with bombs and bullets being shot at them.
At six G's a ten ton bomb load becomes sixty tons. A semi truck will
carry a max load of twenty tons and if it were required to have sixty tons
placed on it, it would break the trucks trailer, crush its wheels and crack
the road underneath it. If you don't believe me, just
ask a trucker to take sixty tons of rolled steel someplace for you and
see what he says.
When I was in VA-125 back in the seventies,
every national or international bombing derby that an A-7 entered, it took
first place. This is a tremendous weapon delivery system and even
though it is no longer in service in the United States, country's like
Turkey are buying them up like hot cakes because they are still a tremendous
weapon system. |
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