LanceCriminal86

It should eventually be both, or that appears to be the goal. Built-in liveries with it off to match jets painted for Gulf War, Southern/Northern Watch, Allied Force, and War on Terror. Then option to switch it on/off in missions via menu tick or script arguments or maybe in the loadout menu.

Coreman's jet is a later B (Upgrade) which features different layouts than older photos of A+/B, like the one in Lock On #18 by Willy Peeters from 1991. Other books with F-14 B and B(U) pits even show different layouts from the VF-32 jet circa 2004 or so from Coreman's book. DFCS may have introduced changes to the front cockpit, but photos of a pretty fresh A+/B from the above reference are more accurate to the jet being modeled in DCS. No DFCS, none of the later B (U) changes, just the LANTIRN integrations. Let's always take the steps to make sure we're comparing the right years and configurations. ^ Credit Willy Peeters, from Lock On No. 18, Grumman F-14A/B Tomcat

These photos including '74 have 111 with an IRST and I'm staring at 101 in the ship's hangar with an IRST hanging on it. The crew member says November of '74 stopping in Hong Kong for the NK-101 pic. Frequent Wind wasn't until end of April '75, he had a photo from that time and it's really hard to tell if 111 still had the IRST mounted, it's from a relatively high angle. But it might not be there. And of course I love seeing the fuel tank pylons and tanks that I've heard some say weren't there as a reason to demand the removable tank pylons "because they weren't used early on".

His pics were '74 and '75 after looking back at some of them, they had mostly IRST but by another guy's photos from the following '76 cruise they were ALQ-100 across the board it looks like. There are some oft-quoted maladies from the first cruise like humidity and heat causing electrical problems, internal seals causing FOD, general teething issues, and the IRST just generally not working. I went looking around and even finding details on the damn things is scarce, photos of the display, what it actually did, performance, nada. It basically was implemented and immediately canned after the first cruise. Some of the T&E jets retained them or kept the housing with an aero cover but it looks like it had no merits worth keeping it around.

Yeah, and there are also photos from the first cruises showing fuel tanks and pylons that some said weren't used. A gent with VF-1 posted a whole ton of his personal photos from those first VF-1 and VF-2 cruises in the Tomcat Association's Facebook, for those in that group. Just search "1974" or "1975" and you should find them in batches. From his batches the VF-1 jets look to have the IRST, but for sure Bullet 205 from VF-2 is rocking just the ALQ-100. I'll need to look back and see if he had any 1974 pics.

There's a reason it was immediately disused, it was apparently garbage.

That's a whole separate thing from the early early jets, apparently stress or degradation of some kind was occurring with the original production design. Then partway through -75GR the revised "production" style was introduced that remained until the ALQ-126 came in with 161168 in like 1981 (same design also on the A+/B).

There's a reason I have the "rivet counter" title in my sig, all those things have long been documented and provided for bug workflows. We're just awaiting a determination of the level of effort to fix as some fixes apply to the A and B, some just the A, and then there are corrections and enhancements submitted but they may take a while to work through. Things like the nacelle panel lines being a little off, some differences in the actual panels and latches between the A and B, smaller vents and details between them as well. Some stuff can all be done in textures, roughmets, and normals while others require mesh changes. Filling and cutting in a NACA duct may be lower impact than the pylons, same with gun vents we are hoping will be on the earlier external model. Some were easy fixes where a UVW or part had the wrong texture assigned and should be coming down the pipe, really only an issue for those who did camo schemes and found small areas around the flap actuators that were using the opposite wing's texture. Or a flipped vertex or normals. Others, again the impact may be more widespread and require a lot of skins to be heavily reworked.

If the pylons were modeled and just sunk into the mesh, that would be one thing. But if the area where the pylons meet the airframe wasn't closed off so to speak, then "cutting" the pylons means you're going to leave open polys/faces, which will screw the UVW maps up, the ambient occlusion maps, normals, all that stuff when you have to shift around or add new vertices to close the hole up. Same deal with adding dynamic MODEX from what I've heard. Potentially the same even with the TCS pod as well but there appeared to be geometry underneath it. There's a point in the 80s where Tomcats on cruise appear to always have had tanks mounted, eventually it apparently was SOP. Ashore, RAG, demos, quals, etc. seems to be where you would see them without at various stages.

Hopefully the FH-1

Aware of that, and least likely thing to change. As a rivet counting painter it's something I can live with because I know how complex trying to remove/remodel the boat tail area would be, and then to try and link it to change when ALQ-126 are mounted. When I do older blocks I just remove the layers with the ALQ ochre stuff and paint TPS over it. Just that makes it a lot easier for the eyes to pass right over it. Bigger are the gun vents, which from what I hear will be tied to the "early" external model instead of something swapped via arguments. Again, something that requires actual mesh changes, really just covering up the NACA holes. A few have done the old vents in textures/normals/roughmets to be pretty damn convincing but up close it does look a tad funky. But it's easier potentially to add some geometry over than to remove/rework.

From what I've seen the aero cover was mostly used when ashore where they had the TCS housings available, but not the camera internals as there weren't enough to go around. Mainly RAG, Reserves, and then the squadrons coming off a cruise or doing workups. Then they'd exchange the actual TCS cameras and/or housings with the squadron coming off cruise as they went on cruise. Eventually there were enough TCS that even the reserves and much of the RAG had them. Basically late 70s-early 80s mostly ALQ-100 only > then either ALQ-100 or TCS > then TCS or TCS with bullet > and eventually mostly just TCS unless a RAG jet, reserves, or on the way to Davis-Monthan. Top Gun of course has all 3 setups shown since some was filmed on the Enterprise with VF-213 and VF-114, then you also had VF-51 and VF-111, and VF-1 with random VF-124 in the background. Some shots the "hero" jets had full TCS, others on the ship it was ALQ-100 only, and then also during TOPGUN school sequences you see the bullet housing. I can't remember if VF-114 and 213 were preparing to go on cruise or returning from one, same with 51/111. The Sidra jets were -95s, so no ALQ-126 jammers by the intakes/tail and ALQ-100 only. Basically what the Iranian jets would be, but with all the Navy systems still in there. Same jets as in Final Countdown actually. Photos from right after show the tank pylons mounted but apparently they may not have carried tanks on the flight.

If the TCS and ALQ-126 can both be converted to "pods" on both early/late A, it would be huge towards representing more eras.

Perhaps a name change to "Mid-Life" and "Late" F-14A would be clearer then. We discussed before that there are absolutely some features that were not retrofitted to previous blocks of jets, and very few of those jets without those features survived long enough to become a "Late" jet as presented now with LANTIRN, ALR-67, and forthcoming ALQ-126 (visually missing but "modeled" I believe). To my knowledge, only a specific list of jets break that rule with one extra that got the same treatment, anything that didn't went to the RAG and boneyard by '96-'98. If you take the existing A and roll the ALR-45 in, nix LANTIRN, and keep the ALQ-126 then you're still at an '81+ manufactured jet. It represents jets from "blocks" 110 at the end through 140 at the end of F-14A production. Throw on the old style vents and you have a representation for most Tomcats built from '81-'87 and as they stood until about 1992-1993 or so when gun vents were converted to the NACA duct style.

That site has a lot of missing info, Mike Crutch's CVW 1975-2015 book has a lot more information but he also didn't directly include the RAG or Evaluation squadrons, so sometimes you will see FITWING or VF-101/124 mentioned but often times you won't if the jet started out with one of those squadrons. The other thing is sometimes these dates come from the first record that a jet was shown on an inventory or roster, or seen in a photo with a certain MODEX. Only the actual production and delivery dates from Grumman straight would be able to tell you better what dates a jet was completed and delivered. -130s were hitting VF-31 and VF-11 through '84/'85 and even through '87. Some jets went to the RAG or non-fleet squadrons first, which is why the first dates you see are so much later. Perfect example, VF-31 got 161850 in July 1986, VF-11 got 161851 in '87, but suddenly you have 161853 that got to VF-11 in May of 1984. And the last of the -130s went to VF-11 in April 1985, so the dates need a bit more context. Similar story if you look at the -135s and -140s but it actually gets weirder. The first of the -135 went to VF-124 it looks like and didn't hit a fleet squadron until 1991, similar story for others of the block not seeing fleet squadrons until 1987? But then you look at the 140GRs, the last batch of As, and the first showed up at a fleet squadron in November 1986! Keep looking, and others were reaching fleet squadrons in Jun/July 1986, with the bulk of the production block through December 1986. Two more jets were delivered in January & February 1987. Then, the last 4 As were delivered to VF-201 and VF-202 by March and April of 1987. But wait, there's more! Sandwiched in there, somewhere from 83-84 and through 1987 and 1988, the remaining jets from production blocks 60 and 65, originally making up the test squadrons at Patuxent River, VX-4, PMTC, and the first jets at VF-124 to train VF-1/2, were all shipped back to Grumman for a complete rebuild. Those jets were rebuilt to -135 standards including the upgraded jamming equipment with new boat tail and work done to the airframes to "zero them out" so to speak. There's not a lot of good info when the jets actually got sent to get rebuilt because many were just sitting around unused, mothballed at Davis-Monthan, or cannibalized. So in-between the "actual" 135GRs being built, you also had a number being completely rebuilt I believe at St. Augustine or maybe even up at Calverton. All I know is that they were being ferried to VF-201 and VF-201 somewhere from '87-'88 or even '89. Bill Lindner shared a page of his logbook showing he delivered 162711 in April of 1987, and flew 158626 like a week later. VF-201 had enough of their jets by June 1987 to do a reserve exercise and carrier quals on Forrestal, while borrowing two of VF-202's jets. VF-202 didn't have enough jets by then apparently with theirs continuing to be delivered as they were rebuilt.

The 135GR is not a '70s jet at all, and in fact were the second to last batch of As built around 85. Visually and systems wise, you could stretch that back a bit further but even the end of 110GR you're still talking 1981 delivery. The 135GR tag was selected originally with an understanding that F-14As were upgraded over time, however what wasn't considered is that there were visual and system features that weren't added to earlier blocks. It was supposed to be representative of Tomcats from a certain timeframe, but some corrections have been pointed out for systems that shouldn't be on older jets. That said, the oldest jet you will expect to see is a -95GR, period. Whether the US configuration is directly represented is up in the air, as currently you can't just split off a sub-version without having it be a separate "module" of sorts it seems. What MAY happen, is instead of an "Early" 135GR, the model is adjusted to be more "modular" to allow for different system configurations in the loadout screen. If that does happen, you can switch between a -95 and onward jet up through a -140 by adding or removing the ALQ-126 jammers. While the "boat tail" would probably be a fixed thing, that's one of the main differences between them. That and the TCS, which again if selectable would mean you can set up all the way from the 70s-90s, and then from the 90s-00s on the "late" jet. But again, still up in the air. What definitely is NOT happening is a -75GR early jet, the original IRST, early beaver tails, glove vanes that actually change the flight model.

I've been digging on 113 in particular for a forum/discord member that wrenched on that jet in particular so it's been a longstanding project goal. It actually became the 101 jet I think for the final cruises. But, photos are few, not very clear, and vary when they were taken so there will probably be liberties there as well. Some shots have a blank canopy rail but a P/C, others I had partial names. With it being the high MODEX jet it would have been junior guys anyways. I was looking at 2000 on the Washington, as that's where I had some of the photos. Same design generally but with Golden Wrench on the tail but this may have only been workups/quals: Here closer with blank canopy rail: https://nara.getarchive.net/media/aboard-the-uss-george-washington-cvn-73-an-f-14b-tomcat-attached-to-the-jolly-80d695 In 2002 the photos for 113 were few and not really clear: https://nara.getarchive.net/media/us-navy-lt-cmdr-dennis-callahan-signals-an-f-14-d96c45?zoom=true https://nara.getarchive.net/media/a-us-navy-f-14-tomcat-aircraft-assigned-to-fighter-bd1e97?zoom=true I have a few more photos that were from FB groups, Flickr, etc. and weren't easy to find. Or in some cases were unlabeled and I happened to recognize the jet itself. I may have enough to do a plausible set of names for 113 on the 2002 cruise on the GW at least. 2000 would provide for a nice blank jet too. If someone's already done skins I try to work around that but there definitely are going to be instances where a skin might be done or redone and included with the module or if we can ever get skin packs. Like there's a VF-201 CAG jet that was added to the userfiles, and I wouldn't want them to get upset when mine's done. I probably should just send it out but I wanted to wait for the HGU-55 helmets and a few other fixes or options to come with the early jet if possible.

I'd intended to see about reworking the two existing VF-103 JR skins to the 2002 cruise, since the "last ride" timeframe falls outside of what we have and this one actually relates to a Supercarrier module. I've been targeting AA-113 to replace the current 103 line jet and was going to adjust 103 to reflect 2002.

I believe Mustang hung his spurs up a good while ago. With the constant changes ED were making to shaders it probably was just a lot to keep up with. At this point it would probably be best for someone to start over mostly fresh and try to work through and replicate some of the changes but off the latest versions of ED's shaders, at least those that can still be edited.

We still don't even have hints of a Korea map to go with the F-86 and MiG-15 and the most tree-heavy Marianas map is an FPS hog. I sincerely doubt we are seeing Vietnam within a decade.

The reality is the release date was actually 30 February.

Those are the ones I've been working on from VF-201, though most of theirs were rebuilt to the -135. They had a few other jets that came through which weren't and had differing blocks and condition it seems. 301 and 302 shut down somewhere around when VF-202 did and jets exchanged hands, with VF-201 retaining some of 202's better jets and the rest going off to VF-101, and eventually to the aforementioned A squadrons. Your mentioned 159025 is one that went from 302 to 202 but didn't last long apparently, struck in '94 soon after arriving at VF-202. Sadly the last two A models built went straight from VF-202 to VF-101, as did VF-201's remaining -140. Only one of those is left out behind Pensacola, in pretty terrible shape.

Yeah, I can't remember but I thought it may have been an aerodynamic thing? I'll have to dig again but it was something along those lines. While VF-201 and 202 got the rebuilt 60/65s, VF-301 and 302 basically got all of the old 70 and 75 jets from VF-1, VF-2, VF-14, and VF-32. 7-hole vents, the old beavertails, no alpha probes on the nose, no ALQ-126 additions. I think Danny Coreman's A/B/D book has examples of each beavertail from the prototypes, early production, the -75 change, and then the final with the ALQ jammer built in like our current model. If we get an older 80s jet the model may still have that beavertail but I've just altered the paint and normals to sort of cover it up. I can live with the beavertail being wrong if we can get removable ALQ-126 and the old gun vents. That's really the only thing stopping anyone from doing good 70s-90s jets. Then you can use the "late" jet after everyone got the upgraded vents by around what, '92 or '93? Granted the ALR-67 is too late for most As but visually and most systems you're good for a 90s jet through 1998. And for anyone in the Tomcat Association Facebook page, recently a photo of LANTIRN on the old TID was posted from the VF-103 testing in 1996. And a few VF-154 folks in As chipped in that they also had just the TID before PTIDs showed up somewhere around 1998. So ALR-67 aside, current A is pretty damn spot on for As between 96-98 before DFCS hit and PTIDs were rolled out more widely. And then ALR-67 somewhere between '98-2001 timeframe on those jets that were still in good condition. The 2001 training plan mentioned something like 60 A airframes were selected for that, which should have covered VF-14, 41, 154, and 211 who were the last A squadrons plus probably VF-101. Anyways, here's Wonderwall aka ND-110, BuNO 158997 on the cat in 1987 with VF-301.

Even better, on some jets the logo always faced forwards, others it was one forwards one backwards. Want to have your mind blown a little more? The clip where Iceman shuts down the right engine is a clip of the gun firing. That's gunsmoke and the nose of the jet.

They were the first production jets after the prototypes, -60 mostly went for suitability testing and many of the -65 jets made up VF-124's first jets to train VF-1 and VF-2 on. VF-1 and 2 each had one -65 jet, which later were replaced with "serial" production -70 or -75 jets. It looks like partway through -70 the stiffeners/fences changed, then later partway through -75 the boat-tail shape changed. Ultimately many of the 60/65 got the 135 full rebuild with new ALQ-126 jammers and everything but kept the old 7-hole vents until the 90s. Most of those jets ended up with VF-14, 41, 154, and 211 in combat over Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq with LANTIRN upgrades.