Tales of the F-14 • Hacker News Board

Re: Tales of the F-14

#31

Post by gaius » Sat, Jul 31, 2010, 7:37 AM UTC

btilly wrote: post #19

therockhead wrote: post #17

Why is it that the Navy never replaced the F-14 with a fighter with similar characteristics - speed, range, weapon range etc ?

I assume because we're preparing for different threats. The F-14 was designed for creating air superiority in direct confrontations with the Soviet Union. Now our likely opponents will concede that territory to us and respond with suicide bombs.

I don't think the Chinese or the Norks would adopt that strategy. Nor would India or Pakistan if an intervention was required there. In fact nor would Russia if they decided to step up their activities in Chchnya or Georgia.

Who's to say what the geopolitical situation will be in 10, 20, 50 years? Aircraft flying now will see it...

Re: Tales of the F-14

#32

Post by therockhead » Sat, Jul 31, 2010, 8:43 AM UTC

philwelch wrote: post #23

therockhead wrote: post #17

Why is it that the Navy never replaced the F-14 with a fighter with similar characteristics - speed, range, weapon range etc ?

The entire US Navy F-14 fleet's entire combat record shows 5 kills, four Libyan ("freedom of the seas" operations in the Gulf of Sidra) and 1 Iraqi helicopter (Desert Storm). Other operations include menacing an Egyptian airliner and diverting it to land at a NATO base in Sicily to arrest a few terrorists. The F-14 occasionally dropped bombs on the Balkans and Iraq as well. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-14_Tomcat_…

Great answer, thanks.

Re: Tales of the F-14

#33

Post by gaius » Sat, Jul 31, 2010, 5:20 PM UTC

kiujhyghjkl wrote: post #21

mrduncan wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

The B52 is intended to be in service until 2040 - long enough for the great-great-grandchildren of the original pilots to be flying it!

Sure do hope they find a way to extend that to 2055!

Re: Tales of the F-14

#34

Post by awongh » Sat, Jul 31, 2010, 7:12 PM UTC

During one of the all-night engine runs a few days before First Flight, I was running the engines ... I looked over the side and saw a large puddle of hydraulic fluid... I asked what happened, and he said it must have been a loose B nut... We were all sleepy, so we went home and thought no more about it. !!

wtf?! you're test piloting a mulit-million dollar jet plane, it starts leaking fluid when you're testing the engine on the ground, it leaks fluid, and since you're sleepy you just forget about it and go home?! That's pretty crazy. I guess these guys are more gung-ho than I thought. Would you even do that even if you were testing a race car?

Re: Tales of the F-14

#35

Post by phreanix » Sun, Aug 01, 2010, 1:09 AM UTC

gaius wrote: post #26

phreanix wrote: post #12

Fave (relevant) quote: "The best way to do something ‘lean’ is to gather a tight group of people, give them very little money, and very little time."

It works if you're defending the free world (as in, that's the motivation of the members of the team). It doesn't work at all if you're implementing enterprise software. Who gets gung ho about TPS reports? Rather than heroes, people feel exploited, since they know they're busting their arses just to make their VP look good...

It works if you're defending the free world (as in, that's the motivation of the members of the team).

Idealist me would like to think that such is the motivation of the majority of the HN 'team' =)