DCS: F-14A/A+/B by Heatblur Simulations coming to DCS World!

[captain_dalan]

I think they mentioned a mid 80's early 90's era version of the F-14A, thus minimizing the differences with the F-14A+ (except for the engines of course).

[Home Fries]

Highway to the danger zone licensed as your theme song yet? =)

You can count on that being a Day 1 mod for the GUI Theme! :D

[sniperwolfpk5]

Sure...

 

TCS stands for Television Camera System - basically a high-res (for the early 80s) camera with a 10x zoom lens that could be slewed to the radar. It was used for IDing targets during BVR encounters. One of the many problems identified by Phantom crews during Vietnam was the inability to ID targets at long-enough range to use their sparrows and avoid a phone-booth fight with a MiG-21 or MiG-17. Subsequently, an F-4E was tested with a camera in it's wing root (mid-70s) and the benefits were much appreciated by test crews. During ACEVAL/AIMEVAL, both F-15 and F-14 crews created systems to allow for IDs at BVR range. The F-15 fitted rifle scopes to their instrument coamings and the navy trialed TCS on the Tomcat. TCS was found to be very effective and funded for the fleet a year or two later.

 

TCS was integrated into the Tomcat assembly line in 1983 and all fleet Tomcats were retrofitted by 1985. If you watch the missile shot scenes at the end of TopGun, you can see that the very recently fitted units on the VF-213 and VF-114 Tomcats. It's easy to see because the TCS body is painted white (or very light grey) and the ALQ fairing is black (VF-213 and VF-114 had false canopies at the time - from 1982-1990). The morning Miramar departure (Goose death flight) scene also shows a line-up of VF-213 Tomcats with the mismatched colors on their new TCS pods...did I mention that I'm a VF-213 fan...

 

Anyway, there was an early IR detector fitted to fleet F-14s, used during the Tomcats first deployment in 1974. It was not very effective as the tech was very new and buggy. This IR system was dropped from the fleet after this deployment, but a next-generation system was revamped and fitted to the F-14D. This system worked better and was a helpful tool. It was a passive detection system that detected targets by surface friction, like the IR seeker on the AIM-9. It worked, but the range was not much better than eyesight during the day, more helpful at night. It became redundant with improved AWACs datalinks and other cooperative techniques. It had enough problems that techs stopped maintaining it by the early 2000s and some F-14Ds had the system removed and filled with ballast for the last deployments.

 

The LNS render shows an F-14A+ or early-ish F-14B, all of which had TCS, no glove vanes, and F110 engines. They have not yet shown their exterior model for the F-14A. I'm interested to see what configuration they choose and if they leave some visual options open to diversify their markings (different gunvents, bullet fairing, etc).

 

-Nick

 

Appreciated +1

[McBlemmen]

You can count on that being a Day 1 mod for the GUI Theme! :D

 

With a tom cruise picture to go with , please.

[Yurgon]

Sure...

 

TCS stands for Television Camera System - basically a high-res (for the early 80s) camera with a 10x zoom lens that could be slewed to the radar. [...]

 

Great post, thanks! :thumbup:

[KDubs]

Just watched Top Gun...I'm ready.

[NeilWillis]

With a tom cruise picture to go with , please.

 

Kelly McGillis surely!

 

Tom Cruise just doesn't have the sex appeal in my opinion!

[BlackLion213]

I think they mentioned a mid 80's early 90's era version of the F-14A, thus minimizing the differences with the F-14A+ (except for the engines of course).

 

That sounds perfect to me! The Tomcat heyday.

 

Looking forward to seeing the next renders!

 

-Nick

[Focha]

Sure...

 

TCS stands for Television Camera System - basically a high-res (for the early 80s) camera with a 10x zoom lens that could be slewed to the radar. It was used for IDing targets during BVR encounters. One of the many problems identified by Phantom crews during Vietnam was the inability to ID targets at long-enough range to use their sparrows and avoid a phone-booth fight with a MiG-21 or MiG-17. Subsequently, an F-4E was tested with a camera in it's wing root (mid-70s) and the benefits were much appreciated by test crews. During ACEVAL/AIMEVAL, both F-15 and F-14 crews created systems to allow for IDs at BVR range. The F-15 fitted rifle scopes to their instrument coamings and the navy trialed TCS on the Tomcat. TCS was found to be very effective and funded for the fleet a year or two later.

 

TCS was integrated into the Tomcat assembly line in 1983 and all fleet Tomcats were retrofitted by 1985. If you watch the missile shot scenes at the end of TopGun, you can see that the very recently fitted units on the VF-213 and VF-114 Tomcats. It's easy to see because the TCS body is painted white (or very light grey) and the ALQ fairing is black (VF-213 and VF-114 had false canopies at the time - from 1982-1990). The morning Miramar departure (Goose death flight) scene also shows a line-up of VF-213 Tomcats with the mismatched colors on their new TCS pods...did I mention that I'm a VF-213 fan...

 

Anyway, there was an early IR detector fitted to fleet F-14s, used during the Tomcats first deployment in 1974. It was not very effective as the tech was very new and buggy. This IR system was dropped from the fleet after this deployment, but a next-generation system was revamped and fitted to the F-14D. This system worked better and was a helpful tool. It was a passive detection system that detected targets by surface friction, like the IR seeker on the AIM-9. It worked, but the range was not much better than eyesight during the day, more helpful at night. It became redundant with improved AWACs datalinks and other cooperative techniques. It had enough problems that techs stopped maintaining it by the early 2000s and some F-14Ds had the system removed and filled with ballast for the last deployments.

 

The LNS render shows an F-14A+ or early-ish F-14B, all of which had TCS, no glove vanes, and F110 engines. They have not yet shown their exterior model for the F-14A. I'm interested to see what configuration they choose and if they leave some visual options open to diversify their markings (different gunvents, bullet fairing, etc).

 

-Nick

Thank you. Great knowledge you have.

 

Can you tell me just one more thing please, where did that information appeared? Who was responsible for ID?

 

Thank you.

[Stratos]

Great review of what the TCS does, didn't knew the system. You know when the first TCS where fitted?

[captain_dalan]

Thank you. Great knowledge you have.

 

Can you tell me just one more thing please, where did that information appeared? Who was responsible for ID?

 

Thank you.

The camera picture could be displayed on the vertical display indicator (VDI) in the driver's cockpit and possibly in the RIO's "fishbowl" display (but i'm not entirely sure on this one).

 

There is a set of switches at lower right section of the front cockpit, (next to the display modes) that allows you to choose what is displayed on the VDI and HSI, the VDI allows you to pick for either TCS input or standard VDI symbologly, while the HSI allows for display of either radar data as shown in the RIO's TID or navigational data (i.e. TACAN, preset NAV points and similar).

 

EDIT: ID could be made by either of the crew.

 

Great review of what the TCS does, didn't knew the system. You know when the first TCS where fitted?

 

I think they were implemented fleet wide by the mid 80's (after showing great results in the ACEVAL/AIMVAL, when Tomcat crews could use the camera to get a good visual on the tiny adversary planes at BVR) as already mentioned by Focha.

Edited March 26, 2015 by captain_dalan

[BlackLion213]

Yes, by 1985 nearly every aircraft had it. The training squadrons (VF-124 and VF-101) were predominately carrying bullet fairings and lagged a bit. Many squadrons still had 1 or 2 aircraft at any given moment with bullet fairings as well. This was usually due to maintenance. Whenever the TCS was removed for repair/etc, the bullet fairing would be placed until the camera unit returned (instead of lying with an empty camera barrel - ensures balance, etc). Here it is:

 

 

You will see lots of pictures from the 1980s with the bullet fairing in place, probably because there was a shortage of maintenance spares while the TCS was being integrated to the fleet. VF-124 and VF-101 would dispense with these bullet fairings by the very late 80s and early 90s with most aircraft carrying a functional TCS. The bullet fairing would become a rare sight in pictures after the 80s, probably because there where enough TCS spares such that an aircraft would only use it for a very short time (or maybe not at all).

 

I'm hoping LNS considers a bullet fairing for one of their 1980s skins, it would add interest to the exterior model and wouldn't require any EFM changes. It would also be a reminder that things didn't always work on the very complicated Tomcat...a great nod to realism that few sims will ever capture.

 

Best,

 

Nick

Edited March 26, 2015 by BlackLion213

[captain_dalan]

I loved those pics, mate :)

[BlackLion213]

I loved those pics, mate :)

 

Thank you! :)

 

-Nick

[Jamovich]

Take my money! :)

[JaNk0]

Truely impressive show of knowledge here on the forums, big kudos to all of you!

[Krunkskimo]

i have 1 problem with this.

 

 

ITS NOT OUT YET GIMME GIMME GIMME:joystick:

[Raven_Morpheus]

This is great news.

 

I've been watching J.A.G recently, and there's a lot of F-14 action in that, mostly either stock footage, or borrowed from Top Gun, but it's made me want to buy and build a 1/72 model kit and also look for a flight sim with the F-14 in it - unfortunately so far no good flight sim (imo) with the F-14 exists, the only one I found was an addon for FSX.

 

I only hope this isn't as hard to operate as the A-10C - I am baffled by anything but getting on/off the ground and basic flight in the A-10C!

Edited April 1, 2015 by Raven_Morpheus

[Rangi]

This is great news.

 

I've been watching J.A.G recently, and there's a lot of F-14 action in that, mostly either stock footage, or borrowed from Top Gun, but it's made me want to buy and build a 1/72 model kit and also look for a flight sim with the F-14 in it - unfortunately so far no good flight sim (imo) with the F-14 exists, the only one I found was an addon for FSX.

 

I only hope this isn't as hard to operate as the A-10C - I am baffled by anything but getting on/off the ground and basic flight in the A-10C!

 

The jag footage with the fast motion scenes just makes me a little mad. Why they felt the need to speed it up I don't know, like an F-14 is not exciting enough at normal speed or something, very weird. there is also the switching planes, liveries and even types, but JAG is my guilty pleasure, so bad it's good.

[T_A]

 

I only hope this isn't as hard to operate as the A-10C - I am baffled by anything but getting on/off the ground and basic flight in the A-10C!

 

Not sure how to approach this one , the A10C in DCS is probably the easiest plane to operate from the DCS lineup (including WW2 planes and helicopters ,excluding FC3 planes)

you really need a good HOTAS and to watch some training videos and you`ll get it fast enough.

 

I`m certain the F-14 will be a whole lot more complicated to operate , especially considering its a two men job.

[BlackLion213]

Not sure how to approach this one , the A10C in DCS is probably the easiest plane to operate from the DCS lineup (including WW2 planes and helicopters ,excluding FC3 planes)

you really need a good HOTAS and to watch some training videos and you`ll get it fast enough.

 

I`m certain the F-14 will be a whole lot more complicated to operate , especially considering its a two men job.

 

Probably true, however having another crew member to offset the work load may be helpful.

 

I'm a "stick and rudder" kind of pilot, I prefer airframe operations to radar/nav stuff - though I really value the immersion of needing to do that stuff. I'm really excited that with the F-14 I can fly as the pilot and have the AI take care of the other stuff while I fly the plane, perform BFM/ACM, etc.

 

This module will be something for everyone (who likes the F-14/fighters that is...).

 

-Nick

[King_Hrothgar]

Not sure how to approach this one , the A10C in DCS is probably the easiest plane to operate from the DCS lineup (including WW2 planes and helicopters ,excluding FC3 planes)

you really need a good HOTAS and to watch some training videos and you`ll get it fast enough.

 

I`m certain the F-14 will be a whole lot more complicated to operate , especially considering its a two men job.

 

I find the opposite to be true. Systems complexity can be measured by the raw number of buttons required to perform a given task and how intuitive they are. The MiG-21 and A-10C require about the same number of physical buttons to perform all combat related tasks (weapon selection, shooting, sensor operation, trim and even flaps/airbrakes). Yet it took me about 15 minutes to learn the MiG-21 systems and closer to 12+ hours for the A-10C, and I still don't know it all. Why? Most of the buttons in the A-10C have more than one function. The function is based on what MFD/HUD is active, what mode you're in and numerous other things. In the MiG-21Bis, each button does one and only one thing. It will always do that thing no matter what mode your radar is in, what mode your weapons are in and so on. It's so much simpler.

 

I don't know much about the operation of the F-14 from a systems standpoint. But looking at the cockpit and controls, it looks more like a Ka-50 or MiG-21 than the A-10C. It appears that each button/switch does one and only one thing. That should make it fairly easy to learn and map to a HOTAS/keyboard. I don't know how difficult it will be to pilot, but that part has never been an issue for me. To me a plane is a plane, even if it's a chopper, a 747, a supersonic fighter or a WW1 biplane.

[Raven_Morpheus]

Not sure how to approach this one , the A10C in DCS is probably the easiest plane to operate from the DCS lineup (including WW2 planes and helicopters ,excluding FC3 planes)

you really need a good HOTAS and to watch some training videos and you`ll get it fast enough.

 

I`m certain the F-14 will be a whole lot more complicated to operate , especially considering its a two men job.

 

 

I've managed to learn how to "take off and blow stuff up" with the KA-50 and I can do very basic waypoint navigation (I think I could do slightly more than switch between waypoints or airfields on the PVI if I read a little more info), I've managed to learn the basic startup procedure for the UH-1H off by heart (although I quite often forget to turn on my radar altimeter) and firing guns is left to the AI unless I want to fire rockets via the pilots gunsight, and that's fairly straight forward.

 

I can't for the life of me remember how to select waypoints in the A-10C, and I have even less of a clue of how to fire weapons. Despite having been through the in-game tutorials.

 

One thing that I find difficult is remembering where all my keys are mapped to on my hotas. The other day I was trying the tutorials again and I had to check which POV Hat I had mapped to the Coolie, the DMS, and several other keys - and that was just for the navigation tutorial!!

[turkeydriver]

I find the opposite to be true. Systems complexity can be measured by the raw number of buttons required to perform a given task and how intuitive they are. The MiG-21 and A-10C require about the same number of physical buttons to perform all combat related tasks (weapon selection, shooting, sensor operation, trim and even flaps/airbrakes). Yet it took me about 15 minutes to learn the MiG-21 systems and closer to 12+ hours for the A-10C, and I still don't know it all. Why? Most of the buttons in the A-10C have more than one function. The function is based on what MFD/HUD is active, what mode you're in and numerous other things. In the MiG-21Bis, each button does one and only one thing. It will always do that thing no matter what mode your radar is in, what mode your weapons are in and so on. It's so much simpler.

 

I don't know much about the operation of the F-14 from a systems standpoint. But looking at the cockpit and controls, it looks more like a Ka-50 or MiG-21 than the A-10C. It appears that each button/switch does one and only one thing. That should make it fairly easy to learn and map to a HOTAS/keyboard. I don't know how difficult it will be to pilot, but that part has never been an issue for me. To me a plane is a plane, even if it's a chopper, a 747, a supersonic fighter or a WW1 biplane.

 

An F-14A would be closer to that KA-50 with single function switches. However, the F-14B upgrade gave the backseat multipurpose programmable buttons to control its new displays.

 

The F-14D entered the fleet with the same MFDs as the F/A-18C. Two in the front seat and one in the back in addition to the updated big display.

[StandingCow]

Sorry if this has been asked before .. but since we are getting the F-14a/b A+ that means much less threat of compressor stalls right?

 

Was watching a documentary and when I heard the F110-GE400 engines pretty much fixed that issue.

Edited April 4, 2015 by StandingCow