Victory205

Why would you ever believe an experienced F14 pilot like Keith when you can just quote some random blog you read on the internet as if you are the burning bush? People who didn’t fly the aircraft, including real life fighter pilots really don’t know. They are often wrong and speak with bias and ignorance of the details and nuances.

We stupidly carried personal gear in the turtle back on cross countries. You were supposed to pin the seat before removal. I had never heard of anyone carrying anything back there for a carrier trap before. When something like that happened, the incident was described with the remedy in a fleet wide message pending a NATOPS change. It’s in there as a Warning now.

Keep fighting.

Yeah, written by an F15 guy who probably never saw a clean F14, followed by quoting a RIO from the bombing days. So you've got quotes by two guys who never flew the F14. :)

The MB seats in the F14 had two arming points. A tab for the upper curtain and a lever type handle for the lower handle. This was in addition to a bunch of pins used when the jet was in maintenance or at an airshow or overnight ramp somewhere. The rocket sear was open and accessible, and one had to be very aware of not bumping it. It happened once with catastrophic consequences for the crew.

Four plane Diamonds were SOP around the ship. Far easier to maneuver and execute things like "the spin pattern" if the deck wasn't ready. I don't think that I would have survived the USAF. Too much centralized control, too many rules. Our sister squadron always had a USAF exchange pilot. They loved it, but not the night landings. For Windy, the F14 RAG also had two RAF instructor pilots. Pete Legg and Stuart Black were there when I went through. Great guys. Any more comments on wing loading, lift generation and maneuvering performance?

You are just a kid. I was 1986, one week red, one week blue. Couple more trips to Nellis as a NFWS side show, then 1991 as 4th Gen Red Air for AMRAAM development. Place could be tedious in terms of course rules, briefs and interminable debriefs. We got in trouble for (among other things), coming into the break in a diamond. This, unless you are a Thunderbird, is a felony in the USAF.

Why are you butthurt? Discuss, make your point, contribute...

You just described the F35. Of course your red flag fights were over in 90 degrees, you were flying a Tornado! Ours went on for hours! :smilewink: When did you participate? And you are spot on re stability and real world SA dominating academic discussions on 1v1 maneuverability.

That's the problem. Guys would hang their masks and sort of half way hold it up to their mouth when they wanted to talk. The ICS picked up annoying ambient sounds. The F14 ECS was loud, so that didn't help, so much so that you could hardly hear the engines. Some guys turned it off on final so they could hear the engines for better power setting feedback. I liked to leave it on and just walked the throttles for reference, I was sweating enough at night. :) And no, walking the throttles on the TF30's didn't yaw the aircraft. Guys said that the GE's spooled so quickly that they did feel some yaw, so that technique wasn't optimum.

Ha! I gave my two to a couple of buds since I volunteered to man the Alert 5 during our beer day, and the funny thing was it would have taken a half hour to clear the deck of volleyball, inflatable pools and guys hitting golf balls into the ocean to launch us!

I do too. Much rather read than look at a video. Some of the other modules feature people I can’t stand to listen to. F14 gang does a great job though.

How many beers did you get? Those made it all worthwhile, right? :megalol:

You can have fun windmilling engines, checking the Backup Flight Module, wiping out the controls, the Bi-Di pump, trim, flaps, control deflections, etc. I'm sure that it's all been modeled. Knock yourself out, I'm tired of all of that tedious stuff, I'm treating every flight like an alert launch and am going flying ASAP instead! :)

It's slipstream, torque, P-factor and gyroscopic precession. It does seem weak to me in this release. I'm sure it will get better. The SME pilot is referencing control forces being light, but rudder and opposite aileron are required in some of these maneuvers. It feels a bit "fly by wireish" to me at the moment. Still a blast and very much worth the investment!

I'm used to flying analog, rudder coupled swept winged airplanes, and have a little time in the F5F, and don't recall the weakness in directional stability I see in the module. It was by far, the best formation aircraft that I ever flew. So I tried the module again, just briefly, and think that there are some issues. For example, try an approach, gear and full flaps obviously, and slow to on speed or a little faster. Input some rudder. You'll likely see no reaction for a second, then roll in the direction of rudder. There is little yaw, and a delay before roll develops. That ain't dutch roll at all. Also see that rudder at approach speeds doesn't seem to change the flight path as much as one would think. It results in a little yaw, then roll, but the trajectory doesn't change a whole lot. At higher velocities the sim feels pretty good. I actually inverted my control axis curves to get quicker response in pitch. It wasn't a twitchy airplane at all in real life. Interested in what you discern in the approach config.

You guys crack me up with your impatience. I'd love to see you deal with being on the eleventh month of a six month cruise... :smilewink:

Chuck has done good work for the community. This startup leaves out many of the mundane checks that were completed during startup, but realistically, I just can't see many owners going to the trouble to check bi directional hydraulic pumps, backup flight control modules and so forth. Hopefully, you have a taste of what is coming, but the point of maximum fun is going to be the flight model itself. The aircraft is alive. If you are pilot, you are going to love flying the F14. If you are a weapons system computer number crunching gadget freak, you are going to love being Jester. Listen carefully- because the tasking is divided, both become far more enjoyable, and you will do each better. The magic of a dual crewed aircraft beckons...

Heatblur has changed the game with this one... You will see other developers make changes (hopefully) in an attempt to catch up.

I’m asking others to cogitate over your bizarre theory and see if they agree. I am interested in who knows what, and who is interested in learning versus those who are simply parroting and pretending. Besides, what does the USAF know about how airplanes fly? :smilewink: Does Windy’s theory hold water?

Anyone buy this cockamaimie theory?

Nice! Thanks!

Does the stab contribute to lift on the F14?

The F14a at fighting weight had an effective wing loading of 44-48psf, about the same as the A4. Anyone know why?

You don’t believe that rusty screws are holding them up, do you?