F-14B level flight maximum speed?

[Leviathan667]

Hi,

 

I did not try much to reach the mach 2.34 top speed we most often find in books about the F-14. But the few times I tried, I could only reach mach 2.1.

 

Under what kind of circumstances can one reach mach 2.34 in level flight assuming the aircraft configuration is clean?

 

Thanks

[turkeydriver]

The F-14A hit the Mach 2.34 requirement and went to Mach 2.41 during Grumman validation testing. Mach 2.34 is the DoD requirement. The F-14 can exceed that if you are crazy enough. Make sure you have no AIM-54 pallets loaded as they do add weight. Some pilots claim to have seen Mach 2.5 plus at the upper 40s- if you want that speed you better make sure you have an airfield nearby you can coast to- it takes a lot of fuel to get that high and fast.

 

NATOPs Top Speed for all F-14s A,B, and D is Mach 1.8 due to safety and controlability in the event of an engine faulire.

Edited March 29, 2020 by turkeydriver

[captain_dalan]

Wait for the F-14A

[Sonoda Umi]

There is another question:

 

The IAS from speed indicator doesn't match IAS from status bar - reading from speed indicator has appx. 100 knots faster than status bar IAS - which one is correct?

 

P.S: Current in-game KIAS and INM from speed indicator match the Airspeed Position Error Correction Sheets in NATOPS F14AAP-1.1

[draconus]

Just tried and got to M2.2 on cockpit indicator. 20 Celsius degrees, 40k ft, level.

Don't forget to remove gun ammo in a clean jet. Mind you we're not yet able to get rid of the XT pylons. @latest beta

[QuiGon]

Wait for the F-14A

Is the F-14A supposed to be faster than the B? I thought the A engines had less thrust?

[eatthis]

Is the F-14A supposed to be faster than the B? I thought the A engines had less thrust?

 

i think both are true, id guess the tf30s can make more power than the ge motors under certain circumstances but im nowhere near sure of that

[Quid]

Is the F-14A supposed to be faster than the B? I thought the A engines had less thrust?

 

 

The F110 has more thrust almost everywhere in the envelope, and just about everywhere that's tactically significant. The TF-30 has more thrust at the extreme top end of speed, the number of above ~1.6-1.7M sticks in my memory.

[fat creason]

Yes, in certain scenarios the TF30 has more thrust. Mainly at high mach numbers and down on the deck.

[eatthis]

Yes, in certain scenarios the TF30 has more thrust. Mainly at high mach numbers and down on the deck.

 

so the a will be even faster at low alt? and that includes low alt dogfighting? (compressor stalls aside)

[fat creason]

Only at very high speeds. The acceleration to get there will be slower than the F110.

[TLTeo]

so the a will be even faster at low alt? and that includes low alt dogfighting? (compressor stalls aside)

 

 

I doubt you're going to be dogfighting at Mach 1.2+, and at lower speeds the GE should have the advantage.

[eatthis]

I doubt you're going to be dogfighting at Mach 1.2+, and at lower speeds the GE should have the advantage.

 

so tf30 for running away (not that the ge isnt perfectly capable of that lol) and ge motors if you want to turn around and kill the guy:pilotfly:

[Quid]

so tf30 for running away (not that the ge isnt perfectly capable of that lol) and ge motors if you want to turn around and kill the guy:pilotfly:

Really, the F110 for both, because you're going to accelerate a lot faster with an F110 for a long time before the TF-30 catches up. You're only getting more thrust out of the TF-30 when the jet is already beyond the speed of heat, and it takes a lot longer to get there.

[Uxi]

I just did a speed run on the Aerobatics MP server 2 days ago. Got to about Mach 2.2 at 40k feet after dropping tanks (was topping out to about 1.7). Was almost to bingo fuel so slowed down after that but could have probably went a bit more if I didn't mind ejecting.

 

The stranger part was on my return trip back to the carrier, even when I put the throttles all the way back, all engine indicators RPM, FF, etc all stayed max until I dropped under mach 1. Is that normal or a bug or something?

 

Then about half way to the carrier, DCS crashed to desktop. I usually keep chrome minimized in the background, but it had crashed, too and had to be restored, and noticed from my performance monitor that my RAM went past 32GB so presuming ran out of memory. Note, usually use about 20GB of RAM in MP in the Hornet. Hopefully there's room to optimize the RAM usage of the Tomcat some since 64GB is still kinda pricey...

Edited April 5, 2020 by Uxi

[Blinde]

The stranger part was on my return trip back to the carrier, even when I put the throttles all the way back, all engine indicators RPM, FF, etc all stayed max until I dropped under mach 1. Is that normal or a bug or something?

It's normal precaution for the engines not to damage them in supersonic speeds.

[QuiGon]

Yes, in certain scenarios the TF30 has more thrust. Mainly at high mach numbers and down on the deck.

Only at very high speeds. The acceleration to get there will be slower than the F110.

Interesting, thanks!

[captain_dalan]

I just did a speed run on the Aerobatics MP server 2 days ago. Got to about Mach 2.2 at 40k feet after dropping tanks (was topping out to about 1.7). Was almost to bingo fuel so slowed down after that but could have probably went a bit more if I didn't mind ejecting.

 

The stranger part was on my return trip back to the carrier, even when I put the throttles all the way back, all engine indicators RPM, FF, etc all stayed max until I dropped under mach 1. Is that normal or a bug or something?

 

Then about half way to the carrier, DCS crashed to desktop. I usually keep chrome minimized in the background and noticed my RAM went past 32GB so presuming ran out of memory. Note, usually use about 20GB of RAM in MP in the Hornet. Hopefully there's room to optimize the RAM usage of the Tomcat some since 64GB is still kinda pricey...

 

It's normal. One of the benefits of digital engine and fuel management. Do the same in the A's TF30's and you might flame out.

[Uxi]

It's normal. One of the benefits of digital engine and fuel management. Do the same in the A's TF30's and you might flame out.

 

I think most times it's quite quick to drop under Mach 1 and I never noticed it as I usually don't fly that high or drop my tanks or hold afterburners for quite that long.

[draconus]

The stranger part was on my return trip back to the carrier, even when I put the throttles all the way back, all engine indicators RPM, FF, etc all stayed max until I dropped under mach 1.

 

If they stayed max you wouldn't decelerate until fuel is gone or you hit the ceiling.

[eatthis]

If they stayed max you wouldn't decelerate until fuel is gone or you hit the ceiling.

 

they do stay at high rpm ive seen it, i believe its a cooling thing

[draconus]

they do stay at high rpm ive seen it, i believe its a cooling thing

 

Yes, but not maxed out!

[eatthis]

Yes, but not maxed out!

 

no, it does sound like it though

[r4y30n]

they do stay at high rpm ive seen it, i believe its a cooling thing

 

It's not for cooling, it's for preventing compressor stalls during deceleration. The feature/function is called idle lockup protection. From what I understand of the F-14A NATOPS, the TF30s have a similar feature with the mach lever but on those engines the minimum rpm scales linearly from .25 M to 2.5 M.

Edited April 7, 2020 by r4y30n

[eatthis]

It's not for cooling, it's for preventing compressor stalls during deceleration. The feature/function is called idle lockup protection. From what I understand of the F-14A NATOPS, the TF30s have a similar feature with the mach lever but on those engines the minimum rpm scales linearly from .25 M to 2.5 M.

 

thanks for the info