Why America’s A-10 Has a Sideways Front Wheel

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:00]Why is the front wheel of the A-10 Warthog pushed awkwardly to the side instead of being in the middle? If you look closely at the nose of an A-10, the landing gear looks like a terrible manufacturing mistake. Every other fighter jet has its front wheel perfectly centered, but the Warthog's wheel is shoved entirely to the right.

[00:00:14]Let me explain. You see, the A-10 wasn't designed as a plane with a gun attached.

[00:00:17]The military actually built a monstrous 20-ft Gatling gun first, and then built an entire airplane around it. This cannon is so powerful that it has to be placed exactly down the center line of the aircraft. If the gun were even slightly off-center, the violent recoil from firing 65 rounds a second would instantly push the entire airplane sideways and send it spinning out of control. But, because the massive gun took the absolute perfect center spot, there was zero room left for the landing gear. Engineers had no choice but to awkwardly bolt the front wheel to the side, prioritizing the world's deadliest gun over basic symmetry.