R.I.P. F-14 Tomcat

Beautiful in that color. Definitely will miss 'em.....

 

The F-14 spare parts embargo will have the same effect that the insane always-on GPS Selective Availability policy had: to force our opponents and would-be opponents to develop their own technology, and/or to pursue alliances with other providers of technology. It would have been far smarter to have had Iran rely on the F-14 indefinitely.

 

Found this old thread by searching for "F-14", because I recently got an RC Tomcat and just watched this fascinating presentation by former Northrop Grumman VP Mike Ciminera:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsUCixAeZ0A[/ame]

Really interesting details on the design development, manufacturing, materials, weapons and avionics, engines, and performance capabilities that I'd never been aware of.
In particular, at ~40:00 he talks over a great Grumman film with never before seen footage of construction and testing.

What an amazing machine, made by amazingly talented people.

Too bad Dick Cheney killed Grumman

 

Terry - there's quite a bit in the video linked above comparing the F-14 to the F-111. In terms of weight, payload flexibility, maneuverability (far greater than the F-4 or Soviet fighters of the day), avionics (certainly in the D model), and suitability for carrier deployment wasn't the F-14 closer to a 4th gen than a 3rd gen fighter?

The pilot controlled the wing angle in an F-111 right?
I didn't know until watching the video that the F-14s wings were able to be automatically controlled by the flight computers depending on speed, altitude, temperature etc and could be swept during turns up to 7gs.

Did you ever get to fly in a Tomcat?

Kurt

 

Terry certainly has more knowledge about this in his pinky toe than I have in my whole entire brain, but his comment you quoted is the first time I can recall the F-14 being referred to as a 3rd generation fighter (and I realize such classification is somewhat subjective and nothing official). Everything I've ever seen considers the F-4 to be 3rd generation and the F-14/15/16/18 to be 4th generation.

 

Oddly enough, I loved the F-14 UNTIL that movie came out.

It was like Rocky IV, but in the air: neauseatingly bad.

After that, F-15 all the way.

And I agree with others: F-16 is sexiest single engine fighter since the Spitfire.

 

Ha! Funny you used a Rocky analogy. We must be polar opposites in movie taste. See, for me Top Gun and Rocky IV are the pinnacle of 80's slightly cheesy yet highly 'Merican patriotic anti-commie awesomeness, right up there with Red Dawn.

Oh, agree 100% on the F-16. Nothing but sexy curves from every angle. Maybe you're more of an Iron Eagle fan??

 

uh, Rocky IV was AWESOME. End of Story.

I have a new appreciation for the F-14 after watching that presentation by the ex Grumman VP. I'd assumed the Top Gun scenes with the F-14 "dogfighting" with the T-38 (or were they F-5s?) was BS, but apparently the F-14 was quite agile especially for it's size.

Considering the F-14 was designed in the late 60's/early 70's, and was in service for almost 40 years with basically the same airframe configuration says the most IMO.

 

I skipped quickly thought the video you posted and it looks very interesting...right up my alley. When I get the kids to bed tonight my plan is to pop some popcorn, crack a cold beer, and stream it on the tv in all its airplane-nerd glory. Can't wait!

Oh, and do you know if anyone has successfully added retracts to one of those F-14 models? I think I'd like to be able to practice calling the ball on my carrier landings, but don't want to fly around with gear hanging down all the time.

 

Yea except compared to Top Gun the other two employed actual actors, script writers and had somewhat believable stories. Top Gun was a cartoon based on an aircraft carrier.

 

cool, you'll enjoy it. The guy obviously knows what he's talking about and he goes through some pretty serious tech topics. Just a shame that most of the charts are hard to read.

The 55mm EDF version I have would be quite tough to add retracts to due to size, plus the ~150g of added weight would hurt it's already marginal T:W ratio.
I considered modding mine for only a retractable nose wheel since that's the most visible, but it would take up a fair amount of space and be an involved undertaking I just don't want to mess with right now.
Go for it

Starmax made a nice 70mm F-14 with retracts but it's been out of production for a while.
Supposedly Freewing is working on a twin 80mm version, but rumor has it they're having trouble getting it to fly well so who knows when it will be released.
The battery for a twin 80mm will have to be HUGE (like 7000mAh+) to get any kind of decent flight time. I run dual 4S 3300mAh in my twin 70mm ME-262 and barely get 4 minutes. Even on 6S or 8S a twin 80 would need to lug around ~2lbs of batteries.

 

What are you saying, that this couldn't actually happen????


Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Well I don't know about naval aviators, but the USAF boys have you covered.

Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I did not know they were destroyed to avoid spare parts to end in Iran.

A real pity such an amazing aircraft had such a bad fate. I was watching once again Top Gun the other days. What a huge collection of nice moments !

A real Pity! F14 forever!

 

Top Gun was on TV this afternoon. So was The Green Berets. And so was Twelve O'Clock High. Hard watching three channels at the same time.

 

Thanks for reminding me. Just ordered a used copy of Top Gun 3D blu-ray for $13
Amazon.com: Top Gun (Two-Disc Combo: Blu-ray 3D / Blu-ray / Digital Copy): Top Gun: Movies & TV

 

Y'all can rag on Top Gun all you want. It really is a bit goofy and clichė. Still, it came out just a few months before I started USAF pilot training so it totally helped keep me focused on my sole objective of flying fighters. Ultimately, I ended up with a much hotter girlfriend than the F-14, or Kelly McGillis for that matter, but I owe no small debt to Top Gun for the motivation.

Pic is me and my girl before dropping concrete...
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

phsssssssawwww..... damn
About how many hours do you have in the F-16?

If you don't mind sharing, what course did you take to become a fighter pilot?
USAF Academy, OCS, etc.

Was a dream of mine.

I've read "Viper Pilot" (and met the author).
Any plans to write a book?

 

No book. I'm too busy and it would either be boring or read like Penthouse Forum.

Started flying at 15, solo at 16, PPL at 17 then Air Force Academy...still at 17.

Over 3500 hours in fast jets from T-38, Hawk T (with RAF), Typhoon (with RAF), F-15, and F-16.

 

I am so very jealous. That was my dream job for as long as I can remember. And the F-16...man, gorgeous

 

If you have time, I (and I'm sure all the others reading this thread) would love to hear you compare the difference in overall experience and feel between those different jets.

 

+1 Especially the comparo between the Typhoon and the 15/16