For close-air-support (which the Air Force really doesn't want to be involved in...), the most effective aircraft have often been cheap, slow, unsexy aircraft t

For close-air-support (which the Air Force really doesn't want to be involved in...), the most effective aircraft have often been cheap, slow, unsexy aircraft that can carry a lot of ordinance, take a lot of punishment, and get down low and slow to hit ground targets with bullets. See the Ju-87 Stuka, IL-2 Sturmovik, Douglas A-1 Skyraider, AC-47 and AC-130 gunships, and the A-10.