Caesar

Fun fact: we still use a Douglas DC-8 to transport personnel to and from Thule AB. It likes to "break" in Florida during the winter months (earning the name "DC-Late")...strange it never broke on island.

Great to see CA back. Congratulations, Stary (on the proposal, not getting banned from SHQ, though that might warrant congratulations too!)

Does your install use third party AIM-54's? Some other folks were getting this problem. To carry the Phoenix, there is a "SpecificStationCode" line in the data.ini's for the aircraft, and for the weapon. The ThirdWire F-14 uses a different code than the third-party AIM-54 that is used for the TMF F-14 Tomcats. The ThirdWire Tomcat uses SpecificStationCode=AIM54, while the third party Phoenix/Tomcats use SpecificStationCode=F14. If you're using an install with third party Phoenix, change the TW Tomcat's Phoenix station's SSC to SpecificStationCode=F14, or change your Phoenix missiles to SpecificStationCode=AIM54. That should fix it. Example - From the AIM-54A's AIM-54A_Data.ini [WeaponData001] TypeName=AIM-54A FullName=AIM-54A Phoenix ModelName=AIM-54A Mass=453.5924 Diameter=0.381000 Length=4.010000 SubsonicDragCoeff=0.120000 SupersonicDragCoeff=0.222000 AttachmentType=USN SpecificStationCode=F14 From the TW F-14A's F-14A_DATA.ini [AIM54StationL] SystemType=WEAPON_STATION StationID=7 StationGroupID=2 StationType=EXTERNAL AttachmentPosition=-3.24,-0.99,-0.01 AttachmentAngles=0.0,-2.0,0.0 EjectVelocity=0.0,0.0,-4.0 LoadLimit=500 AllowedWeaponClass=AHM AttachmentType=USN ModelNodeName=pylon_lower_L PylonMass=45.36 PylonDragArea=0.00 SpecificStationCode=AIM54 <=================Does not match, so your AIM-54's will not appear. Hope this helps.

A-7E_74 vs MiG-21bis The A-7 is a light attack aircraft which served with the Navy from 1967 to 1996. During the F-14's inagural cruise, problems with the TF-30 engine resulted in the grounding of that aircraft until updated engines could be installed, resulting in the A-7, which could carry Sidewinder missiles, to take its place on Combat Air Patrol for a span of time. The Tomcat was back before Operation Frequent Wind kicked off, and participated in that final operation over SEA. So...how does the ThirdWire A-7E of 1974 match up to the MiG-21bis? Loadouts: A-7E: 2x AIM-9L, gun, 100% fuel MiG-21bis: 4x AA-8, gun, 100% fuel First match was actually later, set in 1981, where the A-7 had AIM-9L all-aspect Sidewinders to help. To say the least, I was pleasantly surprised by the SLUF's performance, though perhaps it shouldn't have been surprising, since from what I have heard on the A-7, it could fight pretty well if properly handled. This fight started as a one-circle engagement. The A-7 cannot sustain "g" as well as either the F-14 or the F-4, since even loaded with only AIM-9 and guns, it weighs over 20,000 pounds, and has at best about a 0.5:1 thrust to weight ratio. However, its wing loading is roughly equivalent to the MiG-21's, and although the Corsair II was bleeding speed with about 4.5g on the plane, it wasn't bleeding it fast enough to be problematic. The one-circle would stalemate, however, unless I forced the AI to get in the fight, and increased the "g" to about 5.5. This began bleeding speed a bit faster, and the MiG continued his left turn. Okay, still need to break the stalemate. Roll inverted and complete a half-loop. I notice that the Fishbed is coming down to my altitude, and point my nose as I'm pulling up to threaten the MiG. I get tone as we pass by each other, roll and perform the same maneuver. This gets us closer to the deck and an energy circle begins. I'm not having any of that, so I reverse my circle, and I'm not having any of that. Initially, I pull high and drop the flaps, which helps to get my nose around. The problem is that the A-7's flaps are not as useful as I had hoped. The A-7 did get its nose around nearly the same time as the MiG-21 was getting his nose on me. Raise flaps, we pass and I try to pull into the MiG's turn. This again begins to degrade into an energy circle, so I reverse. This is probably the smartest thing I could have done without realizing it. I get nose-on the MiG with enough distance to loose a Sidewinder his way and roll to begin chasing, should it fail. This missile impacts, but fails to kill or even damage the MiG. I try to follow up, but yet again, it starts to turn into an energy circle. Reverse again, this time I feel the MiG might get nose-on first, and I'm at about 250 KIAS. I want a bit more speed, so I go nose-low, continue my curl, and begin to pull up as I again get tone, nose on before the MiG. Fox 2, good kill. Total fight time, 3 minutes, 42 seconds. The first engagement was a bit predictable. The MiG had rear-aspect missiles, I had all-aspect missiles. The A-7, however, did handle surprisingly well. So, it is about time to see how comparably equipped aircraft go head to head. Loadouts: A-7E: 2x AIM-9G, gun, 100% fuel MiG-21bis: 4x AA-2, gun, 100% fuel This fight was actually quite a bit quicker than the last. Neither aircraft was toting all-aspect missiles, but I now had a bit better idea of what the A-7 could do. This fight started the same as the last, one-circle, but about 5.5g into the threat, until I could see the MiG pushing a bit harder to get his nose on me. I pulled the stick into my lap, and the A-7 peaked in a 9g turn, quickly bleeding to about 6g by the time I released the stick. I was well inside the MiG's turn, but did not have an all aspect missile to shoot him with. The MiG continued to turn to put his nose on me. I pulled right to defend, then rolled back into the MiG. The MiG went left in a descending turn, which I followed in the descent, which allowed gravity to assist the Corsair II in the turn. This gave the A-7 enough autority to gain up to about 330 KIAS and about 5.8g. The MiG from its prior tight turn, was failing to get me off his six. I got tone and figured I could take the shot. FOX 2, but the MiG was actually far enough along in his turn that it cut off the Sidewinder Seeker head and it lost track. However, I was firing from high and left, which allowed me to roll down and pull hard into him. The MiG must have continued burning energy by pulling too hard, and also pulling now into the vertical, because as I bottomed out my descending turn, he did not pull hard away. This was his fatal mistake. The A-7 curled into firing parameters, and the MiG could not get a turn on to get away. FOX 2! The Sidewinder flew true and detonated just behind his cockpit, destroying the Fishbed. This fight was over in under 2 minutes (1m 57s). Takeaways: The A-7 has proven to be a surprisingly agile airplane, even at slow speeds. Both fights ended in between 240 and 310 KIAS, and the turning performance of the A-7 proved able to match or exceed the MiG-21's at the altitudes and airspeeds we were fighting. In both fights the Corsair was at least able to get inside the MiG's turn at high speeds, while augmented by gravity, was able to keep on the Fishbed's tail. Had the MiG not chosen to go low, the fight could have been different. Without the requisite thrust, if the MiG pushed hard vertical, it is more likely that the Corsair would not have handled as well.

Much thanks and congratulations to the Viper team!

And now the flip side of the coin. F-4S vs. F-14A_82. This took a few attempts, as the Tomcat shot me down twice, before I finally bagged him on the third attempt. Generally, he was offensive the entire time, and I got him with a lucky head-on shot with an AIM-9M on the third fight when we got into a horizontal scissors. Loadouts: F-4S: 4x AIM-9L, 4x AIM-7F, no gun, 100% internal fuel F-14A: 2x AIM-9L, 3x AIM-7M, 2x AIM-54A, gun, 100% internal fuel Fight #1 started with a one-circle that didn't last long. The F-4 cannot sustain the g that the Tomcat can, and I was finding myself at about a 4g turn into the threat. The F-14 had me spiked within seconds. He did not fire at me before the merge, however, he turned hard into me after we passed. I pulled into the vertical to try to loop around and shoot him in the ass, but was nearly out of speed at the apex of the turn and was not threatening by the time I was coming back down. In fact, the Tomcat had come around to my four o'clock as I was building energy, so I tried to pull right and into him. I pulled harder, then departed the F-4, as I didn't pay attention to the side-slip. Recovered the F-4 fairly quickly and found the F-14 was getting close to firing position. Pulled across the F-14 and he fired an AIM-9 at me. This one missed, and in a desperate attempt to force an overshoot, I pull vertical. The F-14 lines up and takes another shot that splashes my F-4. Fight #2 I start by pulling into the F-14 to create a two-circle in hopes of getting nose-on quickly enough to threaten the F-14. This doesn't work, and the F-14 shoots at me as I'm still turning into him. This missile misses, and we pass each other. The F-14 goes low and I follow, eventually winding up in a horizontal scissors. I depart the F-4 again due to pulling too hard, only this time it happens with only about 1300 feet to work with. Punch out at 400 feet when it is obvious the F-4 isn't going to make it. Fight #3 This fight starts as a two-circle engagement, only I press a bit harder at 5.8g. Again, the F-14 has the advantage. We both shoot at each other as we pass, and one of the F-14's Sidewinders scores a hit, but does nothing to my F-4. This fight was painfully defensive for me, and in spite of the two AIM-54, full fuel and otherwise heavy loadout, the Tomcat is basically man-handling the F-4. He gets two AIM-9 shots off during the fight, and I believe I departed the F-4 at least three times (once on purpose to screw with his gun solution). Fight went high and low, included yo-yo's, scissors, etc. To be frank, a lot of the time I was dealing with either not departing the F-4 or wondering about how much "g" I could get to deny a shot. I did get two shots on the F-14 when I got enough space and the Tomcat pilot was trying to get me ahead of his 3/9 line, but neither did anything. At about 8 minutes in, I had the F-14 on my tail for a long time. I depart the F-4 as the F-14 lines up to shoot me with guns. The flat spin causes the F-14 to loose his tracking solution, and I recover the F-4 as the F-14 overshoots me. I get a little speed on the F-4, and pull into the F-14, who pulls into me. We are in a scissors, the first iteration, the F-14 is in a slightly better position than me. The AI, however, does not drop flaps, and this helps me. As he cuts across, I throw a bit of rudder into my roll, pull, and we're getting nose-on quick. The F-14, however, does not have any AIM-9's left! As I can see he's getting his nose on me, I fire an AIM-9 at him. He rolls away, starts deploying flares, but it doesn't work this time. The AIM-9 guides true and splashes the F-14. Total fight time was 9 minutes and 23 seconds. Takeaways: The AI doesn't fight well defensively in the F-14; it is prone to "rocking" the jet, but in this fight, it didn't go defensive often. If you can get behind the F-14's 3/9 line against the AI, you should have him easy enough. The heavy loadout combined with the fact that the AI doesn't use flaps probably helped me to finally beat the bird in the last fight, but I would likely have lost if he had another Sidewinder available. Generally, the F-4 really has to be moving to have any kind of sustained turning capability. Its vertical performance, although shown to outclass the MiG-17 and -21 in Vietnam, does not work well against the Tomcat. As it has been said, don't get the F-4 slow!

F-14A_74 vs F-4N Phantom II (1v2) Loadouts: F-14A: 4x AIM-9H, 4x AIM-7E-2, gun, 75% fuel F-4N: 4x AIM-9H, 4x AIM-7E-2, 100% fuel Generally, this was a one-sided match. The F-14 having superior aerodynamics, and similar thrust to weight compared to the F-4. The F-4N does not feature slats, which does not help its turning performance. I know that it has a lower sustained "g" across the board, and that it bleeds speed faster than the F-14. Fight starts neutral. Split into bait and attacker. In this case, I take the bait, since I know I have 4 Sparrow and 4 Sidewinder. If I can splash the bait, I don't have to worry about circling with the attacker and getting shot while I'm distracted. Get the bait aircraft on my nose fairly quickly with a 7.5g turn into the Phantoms. Lock up the bait, FOX 1! Missile comes off the rails stupid. FOX 1; #2 and #3 in the air! #3 looks like it has the Phantom, when just before impact, it too goes stupid. FOX 1 #4, comes off the rails stupid. Great. I realize I'm not going to be able to close with this guy, and about a second later, I get "spiked" by the second F-4's radar (took him a while to get his nose around). Jammer on, pull into a hard right turn. As I get 90 degrees to his radar, he fires at me. I can't get him visual yet, but I know he's got rounds coming my way and begin pumping chaff out the back of the jet in bursts of 4 as I continue my turn. The F-4 is above me and still closing. At about 1200 feet he looses another AIM-7 at me, but this has no chance. As we pass, I press high into a loop to get on his tail. As I reach the apex of the loop, I start getting spiked by the second F-4, which has taken the time I spent defensive to put his nose against me. I begin coming down on the lead F-4, but roll my F-14 to start to try to close distance between myself and the second F-4. The RWR is telling me the second F-4 has locked me up, so I assume he's got a missile off. Wait a second or two, then start pumping chaff (running low). I continue diving low, and the F-4 actually looses me as I begin my pull up to avoid the ground. I was still at probably 5,000 feet, so I assume his nose was too high to sustain lock. He passes me, while lead has been coming down to my level during the whole ordeal - I'm expecting to have another AIM-7 shot at me by him, but he is not in a firing position. As I pass #2, I pull the aircraft around to form a one-circle with #1 until I'm on #2's six. This doesn't take long. Select heater, tone, FOX 2! Goes for flares, so I launch a second set at him. The second AIM-9H guides true, through the flares, and into the Phantom, detonating him off my nose. Pull into Phantom #1 again. Just for kicks, I want to see how much "g" he has on his jet, since he seems to be trying to sustain speed in the 450-500KIAS or so region. I put about 7g on the F-14, and turn the debug on to check the F-4. He's averaging 3-3.5g. I find myself on his tail in a matter of seconds. He begins to run. Get good tone, but fully expect my AIM-9 to miss, which it does. Close, guns, take out the right engine and flap. Fire another burst and get his other flap. The F-4 now goes into a climb. Line him up and fire another burst - missed there a bit low, so I adjust my nose position. I can't actually see the F-4 behind the smoke coming from the jet, but get the pipper about center on the F-4. Fire another burst, which I can hear strike the F-4. One more and the tail flies off. The aircraft falls into a flat spin, slowly descending to the desert floor. F-14A_82 vs. F-4S Phantom II (1v1) This fight will be a little different, since the F-4S Phantom II has slatted wings, which help its turning performance compared to the baseline Phantom. Loadouts: F-14A: 4x AIM-9L, 4x AIM-7M, gun, 75% fuel F-4S: 4x AIM-9L, 4x AIM-7F, 100% fuel The F-4S does have better turning performance, compared to the F-4N, but this fight was still quick. Like before, the F-4 was performing about a 3.5g turn into me, compared to my 7 into him. This put me nose-on the F-4 fairly quickly, but I didn't want to waste Sidewinders, so I have tone, nose on for a good five to ten seconds, while working to his direct six o'clock. I can't sustain 7g in the F-14A at this altitude and weight, however, and my pull has cost me. The F-4 begins descending, and I follow him in about a 5g turn, which he is now matching with gravity to aid him. I still have tone, and decide to loose a Sidewinder in his direction. The new AIM-9L comes off the rails stupid, and I continue my turn. Since I have built up some energy here, I pull hard on the stick. This gets my nose closer, but not quite on his six. I hold the stick and burn through 250KIAS, whereupon I drop the flaps, and get nose directly onto the F-4's six. The F-4 reverses, and I loose another Sidewinder, which also comes off stupid. FOX 2 #3 and 4! Like before, it's the magic number 3 that guides home and destroys the Phantom. F-14B_96 vs. F/A-18F EPE (1v1) Loadouts: F-14B: 4x AIM-9M, 2x AIM-7P, gun, 75% fuel F/A-18F EPE: 2x AIM-9X, 8x AIM-120, gun, 100% fuel I've done this fight before, but not with the new updates, combined FM, avionics updates, and whatnot, so here it is again. Generally speaking, the F-14B turns comparably to the F/A-18F EPE, it has the power to sustain its turns and doesn't bleed speed as quickly as the Super Hornet. Both aircraft are comparable across the envelope, so the name of the game is to get it slow. The Super Bug has excellent nose-pointing authority at slow speed, but a Tomcat with the big boys down, especially with the GE "push," does quite well at slow speeds, too. Fight #1 was a bit of a joke. I pulled into the Super Bug at about 8g, and got nose-on very early. From my fight with the F-4S, knowing that the AIM-9L/M can miss just as easily from dead six o'clock, I decide to take a shot with the F/A-18F about perpendicular to my F-14. Wouldn't you know it, the Sidewinder found its target through the flares! The starboard stabilator comes off, and the F/A-18 starts running. Get to his direct six o'clock, fire a second, which lights the Bug on fire, but still doesn't kill it. Third AIM-9 takes the other stab, a flap, and the Bug departs. It takes a moment to crash into the desert floor. I decided to perform a second fight because the first felt like a tech demonstration (Hey! Look what an all-aspect missile can do!) than an actual fight. So, start fight 2 like fight 1, this time with about a 7.5g turn into the Bug. Like the Rafale, the Super Bug is trying to keep the fight as a neutral energy circle. We descend in about a 5g sustained one-circle turn, advantage to my Tomcat. I can hear the tone going off, but I don't have quite enough authority to get the nose on. I pull a bit harder on purpose to get the speed down to where my flaps will drop. This gets my nose on the Bug and puts me into a firing position. FOX 2 on the Super Bug! This one misses, however, it has woken the Bug crew up. As the missile comes off the rails, the Super Bug pulls hard right, then reverses into me. This starts a slow-speed horizontal scissors. The first iteration is neutral. The second iteration sees me behind the Bug, and the Bug tries to run like the Rafale, but with its flaps still down, he can't get energy fast enough. I fire a Sidewinder at the Bug as I begin to roll onto his tail (almost cost myself the position while taking the screen shot!) I can see this one is going to miss, so I fire a second. Two seconds later, the Bug detonates off the Tomcat's nose, and crashes into the desert floor shortly thereafter. Takeaways: Since turning the debug mode on, I've discovered the AI is great at keeping the fight neutral by working to sustain energy if it has an aircraft that allows it to do that. It usually won't resort to high "g" turns until you are behind its 3/9 line, then it starts pulling hard. Generally, the AI doesn't handle slow speed fights well, and so that's why I always try to get them slow - that and flaps. In a multi-target engagement, the story is different. You get slow there, one of the 6 other guys will notice and gun you while you're pushing against his wing man. There are also, however, far more target options, folks going offensive and defensive against different airplanes, etc. In the F-14A, you have a better turning fighter than the F-4. Use sustained "g" turns to your advantage, since you have typically anywhere from 1 to 3g better sustained turns, depending on altitude and airspeed. This results in higher sustained turn rates. If you put the stick in your lap, however, you can burn your energy very quickly. Keeping the accelerometer at 6.5 at 450 KIAS at 5,000 feet and 53,000 pounds will keep you inside the Phantom, and you can typically hold 7.5g for a good deal of time at that speed. At 20,000 feet, you're looking around the 4.5g or so region, which is about 1g higher than I'm able to sustain in a Phantom. Against the EPE F/A-18F, the F-14B (with Combined FM) handled the fight well. Until getting to very slow speeds, the aircraft were basically matched, though I had my nose on the F/A-18 for almost the entire fight, to include positional advantage during the energy circle that I was able to transfer to a shooting position as the energy got low.

Ok, gang, and here we have the flip side of the coin. Guns only dogfight, 1 F-14A_82 vs. 4 F-16 Block 50's, all "clean." Fight started neutral (at the merge), I plugged in the blower, pulled into the F-16's, which had split into two groups. As best I can distinguish it was a "bait" group and a "kill group" since I ran down the first F-16, who was flying relatively straight, as his buddies pulled towards my tail. They were a bit late, since the first guy was predictable. Splash one, and I see -2 "bait" listing towards me. Again, easy set up, Splash 2. Splash 1 Splash 2 Now is where it gets interesting. The "kill" group is on my tails, but I've built up so much smack, they are trying to catch up. One has gone high, in an effort to come down on my Tomcat, while the other has stayed about co-altitude. Pull about 8g to port to try to get the first Viper neutral to my 3/9 line. Because I'm burning more energy than him, my turn rate is increasing, and I am successfully getting him to neutral, then slightly inside his turn, but way outside of guns range, and not in a distance that I can capitalize on the position. Because I know that killer #2 was above me, I check to see where he is, and WHAT HO! Homeboy is ahead of my Tomcat, turning left, behind killer #1! (I'm guessing he had a LOT of energy from the chase, came downstairs, and massively overshot, since he was still turning left, adjusting his altitude) I check killer #1 and note that he is still a ways away, and with more than 180 degrees of turn to threaten me - I can kill this guy if I do it quick! Close on -3, noting -4's position. -3 starts turning into me, so I follow, then notice I have a little bit too much Vc, so I pull the engines from burner as I'm turning into him. Let off on the stick a bit, get good lead and zzzip! Kill #3 - at this point, the Hawkeye clears me, but there is still an F-16 out there. Fuel state is around 10,000 pounds. Ok, so that set up probably put the last Viper on or near my tail. Check for him and yep, he's back there, but fortunately, not in position yet, so I go vertical, hoping to start a scissors, where I can use my flaps to out curl the F-16. Unfortunately, this doesn't work - As I pirouette the Tomcat above the F-16, I burn too much energy, and the fight flattens as a low-altitude energy circle. Splash 3 Energy Circle This goes on for about 6 minutes, with me trying a couple things to break the energy circle. I'm not super confident I can reverse and pull into the F-16, because I'm not in an F-14B and don't have the "push" the GE engines give, but after about the first two and a half minutes of this garbage, I try it anyhow. Flaps at full, rudder roll and reverse into the F-16. We get nose-on each other at nearly the same time, and I'm in a bigger jet - not smart for guns. After we pass, I try to roll high and onto the F-16's tail, but my rate is too slow, and we are back in a one-circle energy circle. Trying to Break the Energy Circle I try to drag the circle low - nope, I try to let off the stick to gain energy, then pull hard - nope, I try to let off the stick, gain energy and attempt a vertical press - get behind and again, nope. The fight has stalemated. However, something happens; the F-16, reverses, levels off and begins to run! Hit the "debug" he's outta gas! I complete my circle, get on his tail and run him down. The AI will still fight if it's out of fuel and you are on its six, so the F-16 begins a vertical pull. I have a lot of closure, so I pop the breaks, cut the throttles and follow him. I nearly overshoot, perform a high yo-yo, and stand on the rudder to keep the nose threatening. As the yo-yo is complete, I'm in good firing position, get the pipper on the F-16 and loose a set of Vulcan rounds his way. These damage the F-16 and light it up. A second burst seals the deal, and the wreckage crashes into the desert floor. Outta' Gas! Splash 4 Fight time: 13 minutes 11 seconds. Takeaways: The bait and kill tactic really doesn't work if you're in a gun fight - two of my kills were practically free, while the third was a matter of trying to maintain SA, and checking at just the right moment. The last kill, which took the longest, probably would have been a lot easier in the F-14B - that reversal with the powerful GE engines helped me inside of the Rafale, and probably would have helped me inside the F-16 by sustaining higher rate in a smaller circle. As it stands, I was able to run the last F-16 out of gas, run him down, and stick with him long enough to definitively kill him. The kicker, here, is that it was a gunfight. If I had recklessly chased down the first group of F-16's with missiles, they'd have shot me in the ass the first chance they'd get. That would have been more of a "thin their numbers" scenario, hopefully bag 2, then work the 2v1 like I had before, but with less powerful engines. Rather, I'd prefer sort and shoot them at long range, even if I got them down to 1, it would be a hell of a lot easier than trying to start at the merge with, say, 4 Phoenix (useless at that range), 2 Sparrow (more useful) and 2 Sidewinder (nearly useless against flares at current patch levels, though EricJ seems to have used them to good effect). In that regard, I'd say the game mimics reality; generally speaking in an F-14A, unless you are a damn fine stick, you don't want to be driving around at visual against the F-16. In the B/D, it is a bit of a different story, and you can more easily press your advantages and fight a good fight, with better sustained turning performance, acceleration, etc.

In game, I haven't had much problem killing the F-16 or multiple F-16's at the same time at visual range in the F-14B. http://combatace.com/topic/62762-sf2-series-dact-reports/page__st__260 The thing is, when we say "the F-14" there's a bit of a distinction between F-14A and F-14B/D. That same Tomcat driver who revealed the "wings in, vanes out at 250 KIAS" trick to screw with his F-16 adversaries also opined that the trick would only work once if the F-16 guy had a brain in his head, and that with equal pilots, the F-16 should beat the F-14A every time at visual range. Against a B or D, his opinion was that the Viper made a "nice lunch" right after the merge. In terms of slow-speed, one F-14B driver recounted that he had no idea how much harder he could have pressed against an IAF F-16 (that he defeated by running it out of gas) until the debriefing. He got the fight slow (100-120 KIAS) but thought the Viper had more nose pointing authority than it had (it was pegged) and so didn't press his advantages as hard for fear of giving the Viper a snap-shot, when it was he who could have pushed and got the solution. Of course, as we all know, it is the pilot/aircrew who wins the fight, and in spite of the "A" Tomcat's disadvantages, there were plenty of its crews that beat the F-16 at visual, and it is certain that the B/D did not win every time against the Viper!

Grumman Aerospace proved the Tomcat airframe to be sound from +9g to -5.5g early on in its life (and advertised this point as a show of its "Iron Works" strength). But, as one NAVAIR pilot put it "The Navy wanted them to last for a hundred years, so they dropped it to 6.5!" The Navy limits were more stringent than the numbers Grumman had provided (Grumman even pushing the jet "safely" to 8g with 6 Phoenix loaded), but were necessary to keep the life of the airframe a lot longer (higher g results in more wear and tear over the years and depletes airframe life over time - even if the jet doesn't break outright, you shave hours off its life every time you stress it). The official g-limit, at least by the mid to late 1970's was 6.5g. The older limit must still have been in the minds of some of its pilots, since one former Tomcat (and later Mongoose aggressor) driver recounted during his qualification training loading up 8.5g back to back on flights against an A-4, and being marked positively for his aggressiveness by his instructor (1975 timeframe). On a more "unofficial" side, most of its pilots I have heard comment on the F-14 and "g" would typically fly the jet out to 7g during ACM/BFM, since at .5 over the limit, there were no extra inspections that had to be done to the airframe (IIRC, this started at above 7.2g). Long winded answer, but the 6.5g limit is accurate within the scope of the campaign. Being a stick and rudder plane with no limiters, however, it is up to you, your stabilators, and the the airframe as to whether or not you want to follow that limit!

The Tomcat pilot could switch the HSD to RWR mode. What you see on the HSD is TID Repeat for the F-14's "radar" - the pilot had no control over the AWG-9, so seeing the radar on the HSD was more or less a simplified way to see what his RIO was seeing. The HSD and VDI were multi-functional displays in a manner of speaking, with the VDI capable of also showing the TCS feedback, and the HSD showing Nav, TID Repeat, and RWR (barring things like BIT, which were also options). Tomcats with ALR-67 had a separate RWR indicator so they didn't have to change the HSD from NAV mode to RWR, though this was still an option. As Gr.Viper said, the RIO had a designated RWR on the right-side panel of his 'pit; the RIO also had the Chaff/Flare dispensers (for manual chucking of chaff/flare). TMF's RWR is working last I checked, and is displayed as an F-14 with ALR-67 installed (its own display, lower right on the top-half of the pilot's 'pit); like the real bird, you can also change the HSD to RWR mode if you want.

Caesar did figure out a way in the Tomcat Just did this one, though I want to bring the bird up again, since this was not my finest performance. Prior to the fight, I reviewed my fight against the EF-2000, since these planes are both delta-winged, twin-engined, canard using maneuverable 4.5 gen fighters, I figured the Rafale C would handle similarly to the Eurofighter. I figured the same things that applied to the EF-2000 would apply to the Rafale - compared to the F-14B, it probably has better instantaneous turning, probably inferior sustained turning at slow speeds (looses vortex lift at some point), and is probably going to be a general pain to fight. For this fight, I used the F-14B 96, and took some shots with the debug on for G/speed purposes, though in the report, they are a bit out of context and probably not worth much. Loadouts: F-14B - 4x AIM-9M, 2x AIM-7P, gun, 75% fuel, no tanks Rafale C - 4x MICA EM, 2x MICA IR gun, 100% fuel, no tanks (EDIT - I did have the MICA IR missiles installed, they look a lot like the EM's, so I thought I hadn't installed them right - indeed they are and were on the Rafale when I fought it!). As with the EF-2000 I started with a one-circle towards the Rafale at about 9g, to try to threaten the enemy as quickly as he would threaten me. To my surprise, the Rafale was not pulling as hard as I expected, and I was headed for his tail. I let off on the "g" to 5.9 expecting to be able to capitalize on my position by allowing a slight energy build, then pulling hard for a slight off-boresight heater shot. As I got past the Rafale's 3/9 line, however, the AI decided it did not want me on its tail and began pulling harder into me. I immediately rolled and put the Tomcat on its back, pulling something of a half loop to try to keep a position of advantage, since my initial pull had brought my energy down. This, of course, allowed the Rafale to dive down on me as I pulled up into him. He was off-boresight, and I re-rolled and pulled low again, this time to chase him. What ensued was a descending energy circle (reminiscent of my early fights with the F-16) until we were on the deck. Knowing this was a stalemate position, I reversed to generate a two-circle fight, but my sloppy energy management left me at about 290 KIAS, too fast for flaps, too slow for a good turn radius/rate. The Rafale fired a MICA at me just as I passed his nose. We were so close I knew there was no way for the missile to hit my Turkey, so I simply continued my turn, the Rafale doing the same. I reversed, dropped flaps, and pulled hard into the Rafale. This time, I was getting on the Rafale's tail, but rather than commit to a Scissors, the Rafale reversed to preserve the one-circle fight. I followed him for a bit, anticipating that my flaps would allow me to curl inside his turn. Unfortunately for me, having the flaps down limited my energy enough, and allowed the Rafale to build enough, that we were stalemating again, so I reversed the fight again. This time I get nose on first, quickly enough that I roll into the Rafale's plane of turn and get tone, but just below optimal heater envelope. Knowing how easily heaters are fooled now, I opt not to shoot, but the Rafale is building energy quickly and begins to pull away! Reverse again. Now I'm getting frustrated - the AI is actually using good advantages against me to stalemate the fight effectively. I know, however, it doesn't like being shot at. As I curl into the Rafale this time, I loose a heater in his direction, having achieved nose-on first again. He pops flares, straightens for but a moment, then continues his turn, roll, pull, FOX 2 again! Same thing. He's holding his turn, and yet again, building energy just fast enough to force yet another reversal. This time, I fire an AIM-9 at the Rafale just as I get nose-on as he is closing on my Turkey, rather than perpendicular, or at lag. Although this one misses, I quickly roll the Tomcat with combined rudder/spoiler before the Rafale passes me and pull into him. This puts my nose in front of the Rafale as he passes, and I unload, firing my last heater just as my opponent tries to start pulling away. I'm nearly dead six, unloading, building energy and anticipating closing for guns when the fourth Sidewinder impacts and destroys the Rafale off the nose. Total fight time 5 minutes, 52 seconds. Takeaways: The Rafale C usually didn't drop below 400 KIAS throughout the fight, while I was hoping to beat him down on energy, I wound up beating myself down and prolonging the fight. The Tomcat's flaps are a powerful tool when used right, but also generate a LOT of drag, and I'd probably have been better off keeping the jet between 350 and 400 KIAS, with some room to maneuver in the vertical. As it stands, the Rafale did not corner as well as the Tomcat when I had flaps down, but did out-instantaneously turn it with flaps up in the low 300-high 200 KIAS region as I expected. If the Rafale did have its MICA IR, I don't know how much of a difference it would have made, since the one shot it did get on me was at such a high closure rate, the seeker may not have even seen me, and every point of the fight therefrom, I was inside its circle - that said, I won't know until I fix the MICA IR on my install. EDIT: Update - I actually did have the MICA IR installed, the Rafale was carrying it in the fight, and that is the missile the Rafale shot at me (had no RWR warnings when he shot at me). It must have happened as I thought, I was way too close for it to pick me up. Generally the AI seems to handle the Rafale well defensively. It forced ME to do the reversals, and continuously tried to force a one-turn energy circle that would have stalemated the fight indefinitely. I've been impressed with what I've seen in this fight - will have to take it up again.

Factual and unfortunate statement. Word did get out about this recovery method, but it certainly wasn't fleet-wide. Apparently, the method worked in the Tomcat simulator as well. From the man himself: http://www.tomcat-sunset.org/forums/index.php?topic=2441.msg25052;topicseen#msg25052

For the TV stuff that the Tomcat did do, SZ has you covered - it didn't go far, the in-depth stuff was covered by the F-15, but 997 did perform certain TV tests. The majority of the spin stuff was earlier, 1970's to early 1980's - the tests were completed 1 June 1984. Former NAVAIR and ACEVAL/AIMVAL pilot Dick Gray began the testing. 158613 (NASA number 834) primarily focused on NASA research for variable-sweep flight transition experiments and was used until 11 September 1987. EDIT: Funny side-note about spin recovery. A certain ACEVAL/AIMVAL Turkey pilot figured out how to recover a Tomcat from a spin in less than 7k feet lost - manual sweep the wings to 68 deg! The bird did not like to spin with the C of G moving aft, or with the loss of lift and would break a spin at its incipient phases very quickly. When he asked Grumman about why this hadn't been tested the answer was that they had run out of spin test funding. His reply was colorful to say the least.

Mynameismatt has it. NASA did not receive any F-14A+/B Tomcats but rather F-15 Eagles to test thrust vectoring. For F-14's NASA flew a/c 157991 (YF-14A) from 1979 to 1984 and the a/c was used for high-AOA testing among other aerodynamic studies. After, a/c 158613 (F-14A Block 60, produced FY 1971) was delivered to NASA for use from 1984 to 1987.

IIRC, for Sea Legs and F-14 ACM, it was Grumman Aerospace Corporation that made these films (I've got those two and a few more on a DVD I got from Tomcat Sunset). So I would think now it is Northrop Grumman that is the copyright holder. I should certainly hope they wouldn't care about bits of history being posted! EDIT: Love the A-6 movie, especially the interviews with the FACs ("We know we can defeat a MiG-17 just by out running the son of a bitch!" ).

I haven't been able to replicate this problem with the TMF Tomcat. I've been testing some updates, and must have flown the jet for about 8 hours yesterday into last night and have not noticed this issue with either my jet or AI F-14's. (I'm running April patched, all 5 merged) BUT! I did notice some of the MiG-23's and a set of intercepting F-5's had their gear down upon takeoff and heading towards their first waypoint last night, and thought that was kind of strange, but by the time we got into combat, I didn't notice any dropped gear by any airframe of any type. Of note, I flew an F-15, F-16 and F/A-18 last night on different sets of missions (Sunk the Kiev too! Wewt), and did not have any gear issues. So, I'm guessing this isn't specifically airframe related, but I also have no idea what's causing it, since I did notice AI flights with the problem. Is it only your flight with the issue, or do other AI aircraft have the problem? Since it hasn't affected combat, I'm not too concerned on my end anyhow, like those above have said, it'll get addressed.

Do you have another copy (third party) of the AIM-54A installed in your Weapons folder? If it is the most recent release, it contains this line for use with the TMF Tomcat: SpecificStationCode=F14 The ThirdWire F-14A uses: SpecificStationCode=AIM54 Either change the line in the TW Tomcat's Data.ini to match the AIM-54 or in the AIM-54's and TMF Tomcat's Data.ini's to match the TW F-14's and that should fix the problem.

Well, that's just the thing isn't it? Because the series doesn't have MP, we're stuck with the AI. As it stands, if you look back through here, you'll see several occasions where we take an otherwise outmatched airframe and come out on top, some that come to mind include A-4 vs. F-14 and F-16, or F-14A vs. F-16C, F/A-18E and MiG-29, F-4EJ vs. Super Mysterie at Visual, EricJ's fights in the Bug/Super Bug against concept aircraft, or 1/2 v many situations to even the playing field, we've done that, but always against AI. I'd gladly take a Scooter up against a human opponent in a 4th Gen fighter or my Tomcat against a human Fulcrum, Flanker, Super Bug or otherwise, but with the way SF2 is, I don't have that option, nor does EricJ or anyone else who posts in the DACT forums. Really is unfortunate, but that's what we've got.

"Mass Murderer, Natural Born Killer." (6 Phoenix, 5 kills, wingy got the other 3) No kill like a GUNS kill!

Nice shots, Dave. Check the PM thread, got a screen up of some of the avionics modifications to the TMF Turkey. Still got a bit to go; but it's getting there!

Nice, Dave, checked it out and it works. Real challenge is gonna be getting it into the TMF F-14D!

Sid, +1, that makes it more manageable at above .93IMN for sure. Dave, what are the values/entries for the fire sequence numbers?

Dave, I got it to work that way, but it doesn't number the targets; guess that's something that will have to be added. IIRC, someone did it with the F-22 also. I basically made the TMF F-14's radar modes in the avionics.ini match the TW version (without touching any of the "graphics" stuff, .tga's and what not), and set the avionics in F-14A+_87 (the plane I tested it on) to AvionicsF14A.dll. Set up a test against 6 hunters, locked each one (but without the numbers to indicate it was working) fired 6 and crossed my fingers. 5 of the six hunters went down, only one AIM-54 missed. So, it works, it just might need some tweaking to show right.

In the F-14A, spoilers are used for roll control until the wings are at 57 degrees of sweep or beyond (62 degrees of sweep or beyond in later F-14A's, and early F-14A's retrofitted with Airframe Change 717 in 1985). I've noticed in-game they lock at around 62 like later model F-14A's, and this happens around .95M. In real life, the F-14's roll control was pretty low (see link from Column5 for some inputs from actual Tomcat drivers, another board on that site also describes ACM in the F-14 at length), but at high speeds it increased, and roll SAS limited the aircraft to under 200º/sec. From NATOPS: "(From Para 11.1.4) The SAS reduces differential tail deflection to limit maximum roll rate to less than 200 deg/sec...Roll SAS differential tail inputs are automatically faded out over the airspeed range from approximately 400 to 500 KIAS. An undesirable by−product of the roll rate limiting is an oscillatory roll rate perceived as a nonlinear roll response encountered in aggressive rolling maneuvers at medium sub sonic speeds and higher. Because ROLL SAS provides structural protection, flight above 0.93 IMN is prohibited without ROLL SAS with wing−mounted AIM−54 (loadings 3B5, 3B6, 3C5, 3C6). Should tactical considerations necessitate violating this restriction, restrict rolls to less than full lateral stick deflection and to not more than 180º of bank angle change at one time." That is to say at above .93IMN, it is up to the pilot not to roll the F-14 at greater than 180º/sec (same number the F-14 pilots were recalling) if roll SAS is off and Phoenix are loaded under the wing gloves. At slow speeds, however, cross-controlling the jet is almost necessary, due to its slow roll rate. NATOPS lists a roll rate of max (not limit, max) 60 deg/sec if the aircraft is at less than .4M and loaded at over 30 units AoA by using rudder-opposite-stick cross controls. Pure roll through lateral stick or complementary rudder is less than that. So, it would seem to me anyhow that the TW Tomcat's roll rate is a bit slow at high speeds compared to what the jet could do, even assuming a 200º/sec limit (highest I've ever heard a Tomcat roll was 270, so still not the quickest), but its slow speed roll rate seems to match both NATOPS and pilot descriptions of the aircraft handling. Of course, I'm not a pilot, so take that with a grain (or pile) of salt.