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I'm trying to make sense of what's making the colors on A-10C exhausts.  I'm doing a fairly modern bird and the imaging shows more or less light ghost gray exhaust nozzles like the link below:

 

TF34 for A-10

 

 

However, images of non-gray jest like this heritage bird look dark metal or matching green as seen around 5:18 in this YouTube video

 

 

 

To me, it seems like they are painted fuselage colors and then discolor from the heat/exhaust.  However, this would be really strange to paint jet exhausts.  Is there something that make sense of this to help with painting them?

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Since the A-10 uses turbofan engines I’m pretty sure that painted cone is an aerodynamic fairing over the actual turbine exhaust duct inside the cone. It improves airflow over the exhaust pipe and may act as a heat shield to reduce IR signature a bit.

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I seem to recall seeing a few pics of gray A-10's with oversprayed exhaust fairings. They looked as if the end burned out.

 

But in this article I found it looks as if the entire exhaust assembly is painted gray.

https://theaviationgeekclub.com/a-10-warthog-that-crash-landed-after-being-damaged-by-misfired-cannon-is-back-flying-again-after-4-years/

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  • 7 months later...

Does anyone have photos of the insides of the nozzles themselves? I can tell the bulbous shape is most likely gray but I'm interested in the deeper sections, but I'm unable to find any photos inside.

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Keep in mind the A-10 exhaust actually consists of 3 components. The big piece that serves as  continuation of the nacelle we referred to that as the aft cowl. The next portion which is painted, is referred to as the aft shroud and it is part of the engine whereas teh aft cowl is part of the airframe. The last part which is actually called the exhaust or tailpipe. that's the part that is actually exposed to the exhaust. The aft shroud is bolted to the tailpipe and there is internal structures to keep the "heat" from exhaust from damaging the aft shroud. that exhaust is unpainted and kinda brownish/tan metallic color. If you look in the exhaust you will see some discoloration "rings" that are where there are some reinforcement hoops that are welded to the tailpipe.

Hope I made this clear as mud!

 

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I love boom175’s correct description. Nobody, but nobody knows a jet like a crew chief! Most pilots wouldn’t pay any attention to that area unless they were model builders. Their walk around -1 inspection would require observing obvious signs of damage, fluid leaks and integrity, not color or nomenclature of the physical components.

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Always listen to the crew chief.

Remember too that the engine is rebuilt far from the airframe, the tailpipe color will have no relation to the color of the particular  airframe.

 

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On 1/29/2025 at 11:55 PM, boom175 said:

Keep in mind the A-10 exhaust actually consists of 3 components.

This is a great explanation!

 

I found this photo of the S-3 Viking's exhaust which I believe is the same engine, seems to be the clearest pic I could find of the actual insides. I'm sure Hogs had some different colors but it's a good starting point.

vvY1Kh4.jpeg

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Some shots from 1977 and one of the initial paint camo.  The negative film was heat damaged, but you can see variations on scorching on the inside cone.

 

Shot on Bike Lake, Ft Irwin.

A-10A_75-xxx_355TTW_DM_BikeLake_Irwin_overhead_1977__Sm.thumb.jpg.571c5511eeb4dce255445d564119f84e.jpg

 

The two tone underside was interesting.

 

 

A-10A_75-272_355TTW_DM_BikeLake_Irwin_RR_1977__S.thumb.jpg.8b03ec5255193f70a1e4af1caef2b015.jpgA-10A_75-280_355TTW_DM_BikeLake_Irwin_Refuel_1977__SM.thumb.jpg.5d926867dfcc22327f93f7465e750969.jpg

Some of the birds had false canopy's, and they all had ESCAPAC IE-9 seats.A-10A_75-290_355TTW_DM_BikeLake_Irwin_Aft_1977__SM.thumb.jpg.d0c50fd056404d21916eb7a14a0b0be9.jpg

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On 2/6/2025 at 9:10 AM, Lasinaatti said:

This is a great explanation!

 

I found this photo of the S-3 Viking's exhaust which I believe is the same engine, seems to be the clearest pic I could find of the actual insides. I'm sure Hogs had some different colors but it's a good starting point.

vvY1Kh4.jpeg

Great Pic I have been in that pipe a few times!!

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