Tales of the F-14
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Tales of the F-14
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Re: Tales of the F-14
#2Print article: http://www.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&...
Readability: http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability/
Re: Tales of the F-14
#3The anecdotes I liked most:
"In designing the cockpit, we worked with the project pilot who went through system by system with each of the engineers in order to whittle down the number of discrete controls in order to justify every one that the engineer thought was necessary. In the flight control system the number of caution and warning indicators was reduced. Some of the engineers wanted a first level warning of every first level system, but we simplified the number of cautions and warnings. The objective, among other things was that it was a Navy airplane and the Navy didn’t want a pinball machine in the cockpit. They didn’t want a pilot being distracted while he’s being shot off the catapult." - Vincent Devino
"The Tomcat’s air-to-air weapons mix was just unmatched. The Phoenix gives you up to 110-mile range. It launches and...[after a programmed number of feet] the missile turns on its own radar where told to look. It was a launch-and-leave situation. You can launch six and track more than 30 targets. One step down was the Sparrow, at 20-25 miles. Then you step down to infrared sidewinder. Now you’re talking feet-you’ve got that 25-mm gun, with about 600 rounds of ammo, so you have a full minute of firing time. It was sort of a fighter pilot’s dream on an intercept [mission]. That capability has not been matched, and won’t be. We don’t have it anymore." - Charlie Brown
Re: Tales of the F-14
#4Isn't Iran (of all places) still flying the F-14?
Re: Tales of the F-14
#5Isn't Iran (of all places) still flying the F-14?
Yes, they are still using it. In fact, Iran remains the only country that the US exported F-14s to.
Re: Tales of the F-14
#6It always blew my mind how long the F-14 was in service - they were present at the American evacuation from Saigon in 1975.
Re: Tales of the F-14
#7As a fun side note, F-14s inspired the creators of Robotech (Macross). The mechas in this classic anime look very much like F-14s when they are in their normal "fighter" mode. Here is how they look like when transformed half-way: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:VF-1S-Strike-Valkyrie-02.j...
Re: Tales of the F-14
#8The anecdotes I liked most: "In designing the cockpit, we worked with the project pilot who went through system by system with each of the engineers in order to whittle down the number of discrete controls in order to justify every one that the engineer thought was necessary. In the flight control system the number of caution and warning indicators was reduced. Some of the engineers wanted a first level warning of ev…
I wasn't expecting that second quote to be by... Charlie Brown. Must not always be easy to be named like that.
Re: Tales of the F-14
#9"At this point we were about a half-mile short of the runway, about 25 feet above the trees. Bill quickly initiated the ejection sequence using his face curtain. A sensitive accelerometer on the nose strut recorded and telemetered back to the ground the little blips showing the firing of the canopy and then the ejection guns on the two seats in turn. That all took 0.9 seconds as advertised; 0.4 seconds later the nosewheel hit a tree!"
Re: Tales of the F-14
#10It always blew my mind how long the F-14 was in service - they were present at the American evacuation from Saigon in 1975.
As a fighter, definitely.
When you compare it to other larger military aircraft, it doesn't seem very long at all. The B52 has been in active service since 1955. The A-10 was introduced in 1977 and isn't expected to be replaced until nearly 2030.