Swordsman422

Call me crazy, but the planned F-14B campaign in the Caucasus map seems like they are taking some inspiration from USNF. If I had to choose between the two, I liked Fleet Defender better.

Just a little extra research, I have been able to discover that yes, the F-14 LANTIRN does have aleast an air-to-air boresight mode.

The Navy system crammed the targeting and navigation capabilities into a single pod. I wonder if they had to sacrifice anything.

D'oh. I had intended to say "videos on YT show off the LANTIRN tracking other jets." This is what I get for paying half attention to what I'm typing. Blaze, that's interesting. I wasn't aware that capability existed. I think the F-14 and F-15E used different variations of the LANTIRN. The USAF variant is a two-pod system. I'm not sure if all of its capabilities were replicated in the F-14's single pod.

More modern, higher resolution IR-capable camera than the TCS pod. Some of the F-14 videos on YT show off the TCS pod tracking other jets. It can't guide weapons on them, though.

It's a targeting pod for PGMs. Why would it? It does have some use for identifying other aircraft, and if I remember right was better at it than the TCS.

Thank Goodness! Seeing incorrect liveries on wrong variants is one of my pet peeves. VF! VF! VF! VF! Lol.

The two -54s that failed to ignite were incorrectly assembled by a squadron gunner that had never dealt with the Phoenix before. Something on the missiles was plugged in or put on backwards.

I started collecting flight gear back in 2006 and have been generally adding ever since. It's a labyrinthine hobby, and the F-14 was my focus jet (which you really should have, else you'll go quite broke), with expansions into the F-4, F-8, and A-6. Generally I have 1968-2002 US navy tacjet gear covered. But I do not use it in my flight sim hobby. Below is a list of what I currently have. Helmets: HGU-68s for VF-143, VF-213, and VF-211 HGU-55 for VF-41 HGU-33s for VF-143 and for my D*C Maverick cosplay, and two I mean to restore to VF-1 and probably VA-34 APH-6s for VF-84 (CAG Owen cosplay), VF-162, VA-196, and VMFA-122. Masks: 2 grey MBU-14s. 2 green MBU-14s 1 MBU-14 grey with green hose 2 MS22001 2 REDAR hoses 1 CRU-79 high-pressure mini regulator Survival gear: 3 LPU-23s Life preservers 1 LPU-33 1 Mk. 3C 2 SV-2B Survival vest 1 SV-2A 1 CMU-36 3 late MA-2 torso harness w/ Koch parachute fittings 2 CSU-13 g-suits 1 CSU-15 1 Mk. 2A 1 set Martin Baker Mk. 7 leg restraint garters 1 set Martin Baker Mk. 5 leg restraint garters 6 green CWU-27 flight suits 2 desert CWU-27s 2 green K-2Bs 1 tigerstripe theater-made K-2B 1 duck hunter camo K-2B And finally one CWU-36 lightweight flight jacket. I'm not even the worst that I know. Lol.

Tested but not used operationally. I personally wouldn't consider this a downer of any kind.

I bought a whole new PC and HOTAS set-up and custom-built a simming chair for the F-14 back when the preorder hit expecting it to maybe be a couple of months before we had the module. All told, I've dropped around $3200 in preparation for this module. I don't feel like my enthusiasm exceeds anyone else's, but my bit certainly has it's share of teeth marks. I've been awaiting this module since Fleet Defender became obsolete. In the intervening time, I bought flight sims based almost solely on whether Tomcat mods existed, only to be disappointed in some shape or form every time. I'm ready to rock, Heatblur.

I think will provide at least one each of all the squadrons that flew the F-14B at any time. VF-11, -24, -32, -74, -101, -102, -103, -142, -143, and -211 all spent time in the A+/B. Some of these, like VF-24 and -211, only really had a single livery. VF-32 had only very minor variations. Others like VF-143 and VF-103, had at least a half-dozen different schemes in the B. I'm hoping the creators out there will focus on full coverage of B liveries before panning out to fictional/what-if stuff.

+Infinite. I'm extremely adverse to liveries being on the wrong variant, and especially if someone is slapping VF-84's 1979 livery on an F-14D because bones. Heatblur won't do it, thank goodness, but there isn't anything preventing modders from making it happen and people from downloading it. That's fine, you have the freedom to do what you want, but I reserve the right to heckle.

That's true for 6 phoenixes. 4 you can still land okay, you just won't have the gas for that many tries.

It'll get more interesting if you sim the Tomcat post-LANTIRN. In the late 90's, the LANTIRN pod was almost never downloaded, so your loadout would be more like 2 winders, 1 sparrow, 1 LANTIRN on the gloves, 2 phoenix on the forward pallets and 1 sparrow on the aft station. Or even a similar load with 1 Phoenix if you weren't expecting much action. Late in life you see some pretty odd asymmetrical loads.

I'll also recommend the Warthog. I have significantly invested in upgrading my flight sim hardware in preparation for the F-14 and the difference it has made is significant. I went from struggling to hold the tanker in the F/A-18 with my old stick to being able to reliably go through an entire transfer with little trouble. The Warthog HOTAS won't be able to perfectly replicate the Tomcat exactly, but it does have enough of the right kinds of buttons to do a passable job. As jarhead state, so far worth every penny.

Ditto. I hope we won't see it until we have Block 95 Tomcats to fly. In spite of its popularity, it was short lived.

VF-103, VF-142, and VF-143 during Desert Storm, VF-102 in 2002, and VF-32's Columbia livery are some I'm hoping to see.

Okay, so if development is expanded anywhere, it'll be earlier. We wouldn't be getting all the F-14's final capabilities, but I'd trade that for the F-14 in its youth. But I am extremely happy to get the F-14 blocks Heatblur has decided on. If I could choose only one F-14 variant to get, it'll be a mid 90's B. That's the time and variant I first fell in love with.

I wouldn't mind them doing some add-on modules to this one. Y'know, single-model additions for like $15 that require the main module to function. They could cover early Block 75 and Block 80 jets or use the existing F-14B model with a new pit for a B Upgrade. The avionics suites exist already coded for most of these options. They could make some extra money and the community members could get just the models they want outside the main. An F-14D, just for completion, would need to much extra work that it'd likely cost more. Still, I'd cheer the ability to sim the Tomcat at any point in its career.

If we're gonna nitpick helmets, I can't spare Heatblur that criticism either. A mid-90's F-14B with crew using helmets in a configuration that was out of service by 1988? They should be in HGU-55s or -68s, definitely not -33s with EEK-4 visor assemblies. Never mind that the HGU-33 is iconic thanks to that movie and that the texture work is fantastic. It'll have to be within tolerances, cuz they ain't gonna fix it. They said so. If ED ever gives us an option for the Hornet pilot to be wearing an HGU-87 without the JHMCS and proper reflective tape cover, I'll be happy. If not, I'll rely on the modders to at least knock up decent helmet textures. It won't keep me out of the cockpit.

1. Both went for the tactically vulnerable bandit. Slider had radar contact first and while Maverick was tally-ho first, Iceman had the better position out of formation. In that first turn, the A-4 breaks to the right where Iceman is positioned. As the Tomcats pursue, Iceman is inside the turn and gains position. The following whine was gratuitous and out of continuity. Really neither did this right. The lead should have assigned the shooter position before engaging. 2. This was a 5 v. 1 and then a 5 v. 2. It was a miracle he wasn't shot down along with Hollywood and Wolfman. 3. Swept away Kelly McGillis, of all prizes... Maverick can have her. Yeah, he was arrogant, but he's a Tomcat pilot when they where the kings of cool. Swagger is to be ascribed. He certainly wasn't the unswabbed douchenozzle that Slider was. He was a safer, more disciplined pilot. The older I get, the longer I fly, the more I like Iceman and dislike Maverick. But I do get it. We weren't really supposed to like Iceman. I just don't think he was so bad.

I never got all the hate for Iceman. Slider was the grade-A jerk. Iceman just didn't like Maverick's flying or attitude and he wasn't wrong.

Bought a new PC in November. the one I had was 9 years old.

Depending on the period, there can be a LOT of difference between the A and B besides the engines. The TCS pod and engines aren't the only thing. Early F-14As had different gun gas vents, beaver tail, stiffening plates, wheel hubs, and ECM antennas, and had no pitot tube on the nose cap. The reinforcement plate around the RIO boarding step was also absent. The TCS pod wasn't standard equipment until 1983. Late 1980s F-14As had different ECM arrangements and gun gas vents from contemporary F-14Bs, and may or may not have had the step reinforcement. The NACA vents and Block 140 ECM arrangement wasn't standardized until the mid 1990s, and even then you saw variations between one jet in an F-14A squadron and another. Matter of fact, the RIO step reinforcement was something that every F-14B had, but not every F-14A and not every F-14D, due to some of the Ds being remanufactured As.