Quote:
Originally Posted by swaghauler
OV-10G Broncos are showing their worth in Siria as I type this. The big advantage that these and other TURBOPROP COIN aircraft have is that they DON'T use AvGas. Most modern (post-Vietnam) turboprops have been adapted to use the Jet A fuel type (essentially highly refined Kerosene) to reduce the risk of fire. Your Broncos should be able to fly on well filtered Kerosene with a few additives (including Ethanol) with only a slight reduction in radius, altitude, top speed and safe G-Maneuvering (how many G's the motor can pull before you stall her).
Life is NOT all roses, though. There would also be a SIGNIFICANT reduction in Engine Service Life (the time you can fly in hours before certain parts MUST be replaced to avoid engine failure). This engine rebuild time varies by engine model, and can be as little as 10 hours of operation in an older Cessna using 87 Octane "pump gas" (instead of the 100LL AvGas).
I think the best ay to handle this would be an Aircraft Mechanics skill check to avoid an Engine Wear Number Increase when using the incorrect fuel in any aircraft.
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Well, the nice thing about prop-COIN ac like the Bronco, or a converted Cessna (I'm picturing two 7-round LAU racks, one on each wing, and a door gunner's vest strapped to the seat pan, all other seats removed, with an illuminated gunsight mounted on the top of the instrument board, or 1 LAU rack on one wing and a containerized M60D on the other) is that in almost every rural county in the US, there's a grass strip or even prepared strip and a "flying club" or Civil Air Patrol with the skill to maintain them. Since you're going from hundreds of planes flying on a daily basis to one to three and only when "in need" then you've got a huge surfeit of spare parts to choose from.
Also, consider the T37 and the A37. Nearly 2000 (combined) were built (1200 +/- of the T37 and 557 of the A37); if we assume that the USAF is still using the T37 by the start of the war (and we are - it is still used as a jet trainer), then there's a considerable store of parts for them A37s are parked at D-M; I would imagine that the USAF (or what's left of it) by 2000 would definitely look at converting at least some T37s to A37s or otherwise weaponizing them, to create a few ad-hoc air support wings (in fact, I will headcanon that). Again, if we're talking about perhaps a few dozen total, the "trickle" of fuel and remaining fuel stocks would be enough to provide for the Tweet/Dragonfly. It's not a high-performance bird, and it is decidedly low-altitude so a lower grade Bio/green fuel would suit it most excellently.