Love the “Go ugly early” line. Hard to believe they almost discontinued the bird, it’s so ugly it’s beautiful. A-10 joins the SR-71 as an airframe where form follows function perfectly.
I got to see one up close, talk to the pilot several years ago at an air show in San Angelo, Texas. Pilot told me they actually throttle up a bit when firing to overcome the recoil from that nose cannon. I’d hate to be on the wrong end of this gun.