turkeydriver

The real workload of any RIO comes in getting the cocky ego-driven nose gunner to do as he's told lol!

This Tomcat is break my wallet like it broke Grumman's!

Thank you for your vigorous efforts to get it right. This is gonna be amazing.

thanks for the references fellas

F-14 wing sweep is affected by G-load, but is better than and should not be compared to -other wing sweep designs. The Tornado is a completely different system and while it can be used in dogfighting-it is a compromised design that needs to shoot and disengage as it will not sustain in WVR at all. The F-14 wing sweeps forward faster than it does sweeping back, the time it takes is reduced under heavy G but operates up to 7G IIRC- it may operate after that but might not be designed to do it -in the late 80s or early 90s F-14s had shavings in their wing pivots that introduce a horrible G restriction for a while until they fixed the issue-5.5g I think. Anyone with more info please speak up.

just FYI All remaining F-14s got the DFCS update in the late 90s- The F-14A being the priority.

TF-30s installed in the F-14A provide 60k total thrust at Mach .9 at sea level....but they're horrible when slow- less than the 40k(20k per) you see quoted in books. The F-14 doesn't bleed as much as a super bug and is an energy maker if kept low and maneuvers are crisp. IF its the general virtual pilot dogfight where both goons pull on the stick and chase each others tail until energy falls off, yeah you're not gonna like the F-14A. If you know the best maneuver to counter what you see you should enjoy it. F-14A beat up on plenty of F-14Bs and F-14Ds- remember its a bit lighter and has the best wing loading- just not the thrust that forgives and keeps you in the fight until the tanks are empty. F-14A ACM mantra was to set the motors in AB and fight, only the true vets moved the throttles during ACM.

Perhaps we can get one of the first (20?) airframes with the early scheduled MSP that calculated max lift vice max Ps........... I know....not gonna happen.

Hoser Satrapa also used max negative G in ACM as it iisnt natural or expected. Hurt the crew, not the jet.

Yes the Turkey was very expensive, and when converted to a bomber, the F-16 could carry the same load that the tomcats carried MOST of the time. The F-14 however, even the A version, flew faster and farther with that bomb load. While the F-16 is more nimble and I think overall better for a CAS mission, the F-14 was better for pinpoint strike, and during the time of OIF, regarded as the same or better than the F-15E. The F-15E having more weapons options and range, and the F-14 having a better targeting screen. This post isn't about who is better overall- F-14 or F-16, its about their capabilities in a clean training ACM scenario....., so let's get back on topic. The F-16N was superior to the F-14A in ACM as designed, but there are F-14A drivers in the mid-eighties who scored kills. Bottom line, The F-14 is a capable ACM performer who will offer no forgiveness if you make a mistake in your MiG-29.

I know there are airframe and profile G-limit restrictions- but this isn't hard coded into any software in the jet that would prevent an over G condition correct? I'm sure an idiot could break the jet and I've heard of a few that became resident hangar queens after a bit too much age and pull. VF-201s jets at the end of their career where rather twisted making it difficult to close cowlings. I think I remember reading a fully loaded jet with full gas is limited to 5g initially and then that increases as the fuel burns off. NATOPs has a 6.5g limit that doesn't really impact ACM because the jet turns best ~330-360kts and any more G isn't really gonna do anything other than bleed speed and give you a few angles for a few seconds. The link you gave me said the sight is down for maintenance. The story I'm trying to remember involved one of the initial F-14Bs used for A-G mission testing in the 90s- "thief of Baghdad" jet IIRC. Would be good to freshen up on the facts of the story.

If you know the aircraft you can load up with a belly full of AIM-54s, full tank of gas, get up some wicked speed and pull or push for all your worth hoping the airplane stays together. One has not fallen apart in the air due to pilot induced over-G- just landed and stayed in the hangar for quite some time after. An F-14A+ did have a horizontal stab rod fail at above Mach 1.4 (something like the rod failed due to engine heat maybe?) and the horizontal stabs went to full deflection- the aircraft disintegrated with no survivors.

There is one F-14 pilot who was leaving the Navy for the Air national Guard- his application for the F-16 unit was a 1v2. He took an F-14A out and beat both of them and got the job. This is apparently a credible storing- nothing with yanking 10g and out maneuvering the F-16s- just perfect guns D and max performing an F-14A to capitalize on mistakes. Gotta get his name- I need to dig it up.

There are weight differences that has a slight affect on wing loading(A has the best), but these are more than offset by the thrust available with the B. Glove vanes give a slight maneuvering envelope bump at high speed(above Mach 1), but that's about it.

Thanks for the factual discussion and opinions of Tomcat versus Eagle ACM. I just want to point out this is the first time I've seen t stay on topic and provide useful facts. Indeed the Eagle will be more forgiving f mistakes are made, and indeed the F-14A can point the nose for quite a while until the energy bleeds off. The Eagle needs to be waiting for this and drop in for the easy kill. This requires good ACM and not panicking but baiting the F-14 while maintaining energy and keeping just out of the pipper to encourage the F-14 to keep pulling and bleeding energy. Any F-15 that tries to pull with the F-14 at 360kts while find themselves at a disadvantage, and hope the F100s give them the space to get above 400kts and stay there.

excellent description- I cant rep it for some reason. But yeah- you only get a TWS pulse with missiles in the air headed your way. Only indication a shot occurred is theAIM-54 seeker activating at ~12nm.

I'm thoroughly excited about the attention to detail Heatblur is using in their work. I'd like a link to the defineable "limitations" of the engine. ED needs to modify the engine to make the missile dynamics more realistic. Limiting the weapon to 7G effectively makes it a bomber/missile killer only. ED prioritize fixing the missile code over any WWII stuff.

If you do have a special checkbox for the attempted/tested/abandoned weapons for fun, please consider adding the American weapons that were carry tested but not implemented due to funding or necessity, such as AMRAAM, HARM, Harpoon, and SLAM(1st gen).

I have to wave a red flag at this......where are your facts?............:D

Hornets shot down Chinese copy J-7s, easy face shots that anyone could do in their sleep. These J-7s did not engage until the F-14 CAP had passed as order by Iraqi ground controllers. Iraq was stupid for not giving the F-15 the credibility it deserved and paid for it. They feared the F-14 and strictly avoided it or ran from any AWG-9 indication. Just fact, talk to anyone THAT WAS THERE. I'm not going to start a debate here, this topic has been done to death all over the interwebs. Again, I'm not detracting from the F-15, just pointing out the F-14 is not a big fat, unmaneuverable beast.

So the latest issue of Combat Aircraft has an article on the F-35 demo the Paris Air Show. It was flown by a former F-15C pilot. He states that when the jet had the initial software, limited to 3G, it was an equal to the F-15C. That is the same time the article came out about a tanked up F-16 outflying it. Now with 3i software, the jet is 7g limited( 3f will bring 9g capability), and he has had no problem soundly beating F-16s every time. The F-16 drivers ask whats new with the jet, he responds nothing has really changed but they know how to fly it now. -they know how to use it best to beat their opponents in ACM. This applies to this conversation because PingPongChamp thinks F-14 are grapes in ACM. I'd say that if you fly an F-14A like an F-15C you're going to lose. Just like you cant fly an F-15 like an F-14. There is bad gouge out there in rumorville. Many times F-14s and F-15s fought when VF-101 would send new kids against Langley F-15s, obviously, these kids were at a disadvantage. Many times F-15s bounced bomb-configured F-14s, obviously the jets were at a disadvantage. The science behind it all dictates the F-14 is a superior ACM platform below 15k and below Mach .7 or above Mach 1(wierdo 60s engineers thought supersonic dogfights were legit). The F-15 is superior from Mach.8-Mach 1, as it was designed to be, and superior at higher altitudes due to lighter weight and mostly superior T-W ratio. If you have both jets configured for combat, the F-14 is at an advantage at fighting weight. F-15s must drop their wing tanks to turn and burn. F-14 veterans have a specific maneuver they apply to Eagle drivers when they meet. The Eagle drivers ASSUME too much the energy state by the wings, so they close initially with max thrust, go to idle and ensure the wings are manually swept as they pass. The F-15 driver assumes that the F-14 has energy and speed and knows their Eagle will win an energy fight so they pull vertical as the see the F-14 start to. Meanwhile the pitch rate while swept in an F-14 is untouchable, as is the bleed rate, so the F-14 pulls hard and watches the F-15 climb away and easily calls "pipper on". First kill in about 20 seconds, now he's in the Eagle drivers head and uses actual ACM skill for the remaining flights. I don't want to detract from the F-15 guys, they the only dedicated air to air platform out there that expects to close to ACM with the enemy and because of this they are the best at what they do. I envy the F-15s control system. However, a veteran F-14 driver especially in a DFCS equipped A, B, or D, shouldn't have a problem staying with an F-15 in a dogfight. VF-41 had no problem killing German MiG-29s with their DFCS F-14As.

#herewegoagain. #blessyourheart

Just read the previous rages regarding the turning capability of ALL fighters. The F-14 has better pitch and alpha than an F-16, but obviously can't sustain like an F-16 or fly as small a radius at that high of a rate, and cannot roll with an F-16. swing-wing aircraft are not all equal. The Tornado- even the fighter F3, are made to excel at low level and were built for very high wing loading, which means horrible BFM performance. The F-14, when loaded with AIM-7s on the belly, has a lower wing loading than an F-15 and F-16 and will turn with them (slower and tighter) until the gas tank is empty. If you have AIm-54 pallets and tanks, the maneuverability suffers a bit, but maneuvering performance is still superior to any other swing wing aircraft built. If you take a take a combat loaded F-14 with full bags into an ACM environment, expect to lose if your enemy matches your skill. If you have AIM/AIM-9 and 50% fuel, you should be able to stay and play and have to watch out for superior Archer shots with helmet mounted sight, otherwise, it shouldn't be hard to stay with any jet.

Agree on the well programmed RWR, operated by who in the 1980s? USSR? Yes. Export states and third world countries? Not so much. You're still applying basic radar theory to a system we all don't have the information on. No armchair commando, test pilots, pilots, and developers who operated the system. but moving on, I don't want to derail good conversation.

I disagree on a few points. The AWG-9s receiver was the most sensitive of its day- don't confuse a system you still have little information on with traditional radar theory. The AIM-54 would have never made it to the fleet if the AWG-9 tripped RWRs before the missile left the aircraft. There isn't functioning brain on the planet that would buy that high-cost system. Eastern RWRs had zero indications of F-14 TWS emissions until the system was compromised due to domestic spies and the Shah's fall in Iran. The system was excellent until it was compromised. I'll defer to your in-game experience in multiplayer, and agree completely that AIM-54s will only be useful for making a bandit turn until in AIm-7 range in that environment.