tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449503.post71931178447008856..comments2024-03-18T11:55:08.722-04:00Comments on Written Inc.: Ugly is the new beautifulcarmilevyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00360045114379957605noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449503.post-26522002934690652862014-07-06T22:10:16.295-04:002014-07-06T22:10:16.295-04:00One of my favorite airplanes of all time! Got to s...One of my favorite airplanes of all time! Got to see them swarming around Battle Creek, MI where they used to be based.<br /><br />If I ever won a 'you can fly any one airplane that's ever lived' contest the A-10 would be in the running (against a P51 and F4U, and maybe the SR71).Biff Spiffynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449503.post-55632579267550329292009-07-03T21:43:46.716-04:002009-07-03T21:43:46.716-04:00Interesting post--I had a chance to see the F-23s ...Interesting post--I had a chance to see the F-23s coming off the assembly line--they are so expensive, it's good that we have a few cheaper planes that can really do a good job.sagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17499891950639742366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449503.post-83934486930708207852009-07-03T11:21:06.090-04:002009-07-03T11:21:06.090-04:00We used to get the occasional A-10 flying in or ou...We used to get the occasional A-10 flying in or out of Robert Gray Army Airfield at Ft. Hood when I was turning wrenches for the US Army back in the day. Even in a windowless shop, we could always tell when a Warthog was going by just from the sound. It has a distinctive 2-tone whine that you can identify instantly without ever seeing it.<br /><br />You're absolutely right when you say the A-10 was designed around survivability. Even the placement of the engine nacelles was affected by that primary consideration. By placing them high on the empennage, they were shielded from ground fire by the titanium tub that makes up the floor of the fuselage. which incidentally, does a pretty good job of protecting the aircrew too.<br /><br />Sexy? Not on your life. The A-10 is as ugly as homemade soap. Unless you're pinned down by enemy armor. Then, there's no more beautiful sight -- or sound -- anywhere on earth.<br /><br />The A-10 will survive the attempts to replace it for the same reasons the B-52 has outlasted the B-1B and B-2B. It works. It works very well. It's reliable, survivable, (relatively) inexpensive, and very, very good at its job.<br /><br />But that won't stop the engineers from trying to build a better mousetrap. Which I'm sure was the thinking behind this entry from the National Air and Space Museum. The photo is 10 years old, so I don't even remember what the designation was supposed to be. I'm hoping somebody can identify it. Sexy? You bet. But so far as I know, it never saw production.<br /><br /><a href="http://mojo11.blogspot.com/2009/07/thematic-photographic-56-aviation-v30.html" rel="nofollow">Thematic Photographic 56: "Aviation" v.3.0</a>Mojohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03498213932233245032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449503.post-408180039732724982009-07-03T10:38:59.046-04:002009-07-03T10:38:59.046-04:00Ugly fascinates us because often the most beautifu...Ugly fascinates us because often the most beautiful things come from ugly: Ducklings - Swans, Caterpillars - Butterflys etc etcAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07930584229509011126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449503.post-76815140846326109452009-07-03T04:45:47.584-04:002009-07-03T04:45:47.584-04:00It's sorta ugly but fascinating at the same ti...It's sorta ugly but fascinating at the same time :) AlohaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449503.post-22110901283797530582009-07-02T22:44:54.514-04:002009-07-02T22:44:54.514-04:00We see ourselves in them and share in their victor...We see ourselves in them and share in their victories; we are all ungly ducklings at heart, Carmi.<br />Aloha-<br /><br /><a href="http://comfortspiral.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">Comfort Spiral</a>Cloudiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05853753108637831069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449503.post-24441760183417883262009-07-02T22:42:59.238-04:002009-07-02T22:42:59.238-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Cloudiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05853753108637831069noreply@blogger.com