Memoirs from 2 tour F4 (VN) pilot, then F14A second operational cruise

[sublime]

http://flitetime.net/

Must readd

for the combat, early top gun, the epic F14 vs F15 furball early 70s etc

If anyone really wants questions or Deckard if you need F14A info I am in contact with Mr Chesire

[Uxi]

As with any new technology and equipment, our new F-14's - on only their second operational cruise - had some growing pains. The monsoonal rains of the Philippines quickly brought one new problem to light.

 

Rainwater pooled in certain parts of the parked aircraft, frying some electronics. The solution for this $40 million per copy aircraft was simply to drill some weep holes on the underside of the aircraft. This mostly solved the water problem, but caused another, and one that took some time to discover.

 

Our jet engines were frequently becoming damaged by what is called, FOD (Foreign Object Damage). The source of this FOD was not immediately known.

 

Eventually we realized that the weep holes drilled on the underside of the aircraft also allowed, along with rainwater, the blind rivet-heads formerly held inside the aircraft to now escape their containment. These little rivet heads then fell to the deck where they were quickly sucked up into the TF-30 engines, severely damaging the turbine blades. So in addition to a limited budget for fuel, and fried electronics, we often had a limited number of F-14's to fly while their FOD-damaged engines were being repaired.

 

Wow.

 

So those little rivet heads were just rolling around before? Did that ever cause any issues on its own?

 

That first part is itself concerning the design of a naval aircraft. Grumman oversight of the obvious?