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  • Please see the most recent updates in the "Where did the .com name go?" thread. Posts number 16 and 17.

    Post 16 Update

    Post 17 Warning

F-14 AI? Probably not possible?

Navy Chief

Navy Chief

Senior Member
It would be awesome to have F-14 Tomcat AI, but I guess it wouldn't be possible, unless there were aircraft with folded, and unfolded wings? Animation would be a problem, I suppose.

The reason I even thought of it was the recent release of RAF Heyford and Lakenheath. The F-15 AI screenshots look nice, and thought how cool it would be to populate NAS Oceana's flight line as well.

Nothin' against you Hornet/Superbug fans (I do own the VRS Bug), but I miss the days of the Tomkitty and the almighty Phantom. Yes, I know the F/A-18s are super capable killing machines, but they'll never be as cool as the Tomcat! NC
 
Chief..

Nick Black did an AI F-14 for FS9. Not sure how they'd work in FSX but they must be worth a punt. Check out 'AI F-14' (without quotes) in the search engine at Flightsim.com where you'll find repaints for it too ;)
ATB
DaveB:)
 
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Eoraptor1 said:
Chief,

Just out of curiosity. What F-14 do you use as your player a/c?

JAMES
Click to expand...

I have the Aerosoft and Dino's. To date, I have really not spent much time learning the A/S model (but that goes as well for the payware Phantoms too). Steep learning curve, for me at least. NC
 
The wings are animated in both sims. When in the parked state they are retracted. I can't remember if they extend for takeoff as I don't have them active in my sim right now to check but I think they do. You can use the MAIW Top Gun package to set them up at Miramar.

Joe
 
20 degree wings sweep for Zone 5 burner launches, and my AI "feel the need for speed" inflight.
Click to expand...
I hate to be a wet blanket, but the plane's NATOPS specifies no afterburners for cat launches. They are supposed to for land launches either, but they cheat sometimes, especially heavily loaded.
The very first one I ever saw was in Yuma for a fuel stop during a cross country flight. I was walking a post on one end of the flightline (duty section weekend), and watched him taxiing to the runway, wondering what plane this was, and thinking that with wings swept that far back, he was going to have a fast take-off speed. When he got lined up, and the wings went forward into goose mode, I was awed. He started his roll, and before he went very far, was in the air. Popped up off the runway like a balloon, as apparently they do. JUST barely in the air. The gear came up, and the blowers lit off. This was right at dusk, which in Yuma is pretty anyway, but to see those huge, long flames out the aft of this bird was incredible. He left it just off the runway, and just accelerated down the runway, wings sweeping back as he went. Then he hit the end, and went vertical, still in burner. I watched until he went out of sight. WAY up there.
It was a really awesome intro to a really "cool" plane. I'd seen F-111's before, but this was something else entirely, to me. I fell in love right then. I saw Top Gun over in Iwakuni when it came out, with a lovely Staff Sergeant...
Sorry, I ramble down memory lane sometimes. I do enjoy the heck out of flying Dino's Tomcat though. Really fun aircraft in FSX.
Have fun all!
Pat☺
 
Pat, I tried to find that info in the NATOPS. Can you please post it?

Thought you might find this article interesting:encouragement: NC

http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/how-to-successfully-get-launched-off-a-carrier-at-night-1686205138


A excerpt from it:

"But let's assume everything is going smoothly up to this point. For jet aircraft above a certain weight threshold an afterburner shot is required. The Shooter gives an afterburner signal, which for the Tomcat looked something like raise the roof combined with a high five. Most of the time, those guys loved to play it up with the signal and for good reason. If you ever had the chance to see a Tomcat in full afterburner on the Cat, it was a sight to behold. I don't think there has ever been more fire in such a confined space as a Stage 5 Tomcat afterburner cat shot. I would always wonder how long it would take to cook a hotdog off the back of the jet in that situation. Funny how those things cross your mind seconds before you are going to be hurled into deep, dark abyss."


UPDATE:

I did find it, but it contradicts what I always thought. Photos of Tomkittys launching always "look" as though they are in full AB......so they are not?

"7.4.7.1 Afterburner TakeoffAfterburner takeoffs are limited to single−engine, minimum afterburner takeoffs, waveoffs, bolters, or catapultlaunches. Dual−engine afterburner and single−engine maximum afterburner takeoffs, waveoffs, bolters, or catapultlaunches are prohibited. Refer to Chapters 4 and 11."
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Love the close parking picture.....
 

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I am, sadly, not a Tomcat driver, so I can't answer your questions. It may be they 1) Ignored the NATOPS, which is grossly unlikely, 2) Got a special dispensation from the CAG or boat's Capt., either for weight requirements for certain missions, or for a photo shoot. AB's do look really cool at dusk!
I know why the NATOPS specifies the "no AB" 2 engine launch. The engines are powerful enough, and spaced far enough apart that if they are in AB, and 1 has a bit of trouble, compressor stall, AB flame-out, fuel flow problem to 1 engine, whatever, and, during the cat shot 1 blower flames out for any reason, the yaw induced can be more than the pilot can overcome with rudder input before he can reduce the power on the other engine. A flat spin in the F-14 is unrecoverable in the first place. See the Emergency section of the NATOPS. Flat Spin-EJECT. Just one immediate action item to perform. No other things to try, no altitude or weight specifications, nothing. Flat Spin EJECT.
To have the start of one occur during launch, land or sea, is going to be fatal. Inevitably. If the yaw induced is fast enough, the pilot won't be able to reach the ejection handles, being pinned forward, and if the RIO doesn't act fast, and has BOTH selected for the ejection system, they will die, as well as loosing the plane. Let's face it, by comparison, planes are cheap compared to the cost of training pilots and RIO's. Forbidding AB launches obviates this situation.
I don't know the situations where the pictures were taken. It may be that at dusk, Mil Power creates flames similar to what the AB makes out the tailpipes, without actually being in AB. I just don't know enough about the engines to say, especially the D model Tomcats. I have read and reread the NATOPS when using the '14 in FSX, to try and make things as "real" as possible, but there are no explanations other than what you showed. I can find a number of places where the AB's are forbidden for launch, and I was always told by the pilots I could talk to when I was in that the NATOPS is law, so I presumed that it was. Like I say, special situations or permissions?

I know, not the best, but the best I can do...
Pat☺
 
It sounds like you guys are looking at the NATOPS for the B or D model with the GE engines. Those engines made enough thrust that not only were afterburners not needed but restricted for takeoff and cat shots.

However, the A model Tomcats that had the Pratt and Whitney motors used afterburner for takeoff and cat shots when operating at heavier weights, as seen in the pics that NC posted.
 
Bearing in mind the light conditions of the pic, the shutter speed would be slow making the AB appear bigger and brighter than normal.
 
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