Recent A-10 Photo

Wow!  Why on earth are the sides so grimed up like that?  That can't be from gun fire, could it?  By the way, thank you for the great pic!  I'm working on an A-10 and am getting close to the painting stage of it.

Eric

My first thought was gun gas. Second was fuel staining(Caption says he'd just finished refueling.) 

But I vote gun gas. 

Hello!

Well I'm tempted to say it's a mixture of gun gases AND fuel :-). It's interesting to see that the wings are relatively clean. That's true what they say - check your references! And this photo is a great reference, thanks for sharing and have a nice day

Paweł

Looking at other parts of the airplane, the paint is old, and oxidized in places. By the cockpit you can see where the ladder has worn away some of the paint.