Chambers <Ben### [at] gmailcom_no_underscores> wrote:
> >   There's a persistent urban legend that the recoil of the GAU cannon is
> > so strong that firing it for long periods of time would stop the plane.
> > While the recoil is indeed impressive, it's not, however, strong enough
> > to stop the plane (but it can slow it down significantly).
>
> I'd never heard that one, but isn't that the gun that's fired out the
> side of the plane while it banks to compensate for the force?

Many fighter planes feature a gun mounted off-axis, but that's not as dramatic
because we're talking about 20mm M61 Vulcan cannons there, which produce much
lower recoil power, and has a role of a backup weapon anyway, so the benefit of
not having to pay much attention to the cannon in the plane's design outweigh
that of having an on-axis cannon.

The A-10's cannon, however, is mounted only slightly off-axis - and only for one
single reason: So that the one barrel of seven, which is currently firing, *is*
perfectly on-axis.

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