For the more technical and WW1/2 focused side I can recommend "Greg's Airplanes and Automobiles" he goes into incredible detail. I think he got more than 9 hours just about the P-47.
The audio recordings of the Tomcat crews wrestling with the weaponry and avionics was pretty funny. If it wasn't for the occasional 'FOX ONE!', you'd think two people were trying to screw in a lightbulb with a very shaky ladder...
Yeah he hadn't switched to Sidewinder which is why he couldn't get good tone. Again, stress. Allegedly the RIO who kept saying the fighter was turning into them was misinterpreting the F-14s turns into the fighter and was completely confused.
@@shaider1982 It is. The engagement is famous and has been covered on several aviation channels. The one I'd recommend is Ward Carroll's breakdown of the event. he himself having been a Tomcat RIO at around the same time. th-cam.com/video/RyMfC3M0fZQ/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=WardCarroll
Iranian tomcats scored 135 kills during the Iran iraq war. The Americans were constantly monitoring Iranian tomcat operations and modifying their ECCM systems to detect AWG 9 emissions at extreme ranges. Saddam Hussein also told his pilots that they would get Mercedes Benz if they shot down a tomcat but only 4 were lost in air combat with mirage F1s. A great video about a great fighter
@@sohrabroozbahani4700 that's correct due to their Matra super 530D missiles which were capable of snap up attacks up to 25000 feet. Iranian pilots called them Redheads probably due to the warheads colour
Of course “Top Gun” idolized the Tomcat but for someone like me who’s seen so many war movies it’s really “The Final Countdown” that the Tomcat got its respect.
I think that with the early but probably justified (due to maintenance/cost issues) retirement of the F-14, the USN lost a great recruiting attraction. I am pretty sure that people chose to become naval aviators just so they could fly this beast. Another plane that was axed way too early without a replacement (again to save $) was the S-3 Viking. Anyways, I would have loved to see a redesigned, fresh build F/A-14E Super Tomcat with F119 engines, one piece canopy, glass cockpit and simplified maintenance provisions. I know, I am not being realistic, but this fighter was so damn beautiful that it deserved a second, or maybe third chance to serve even longer. Thanks for the video and keep them coming!
Considering the F/A-18 Hornet was an entirely new aircraft pretending to still be an F-18 Hornet, I think what killed the F-14 was the fact that they told the truth about it being a new aircraft in the F-21 Super Tomcat proposal. That and Cheney didn’t have personal financial ties to the F-14 like he did the F-18, which sure seemed to help the “Hornet.” Plus, fighter mafia nonsense. There is no doubt the Super Tomcat would have been better at its role than the Super Hornet, which is just a tautological truth for the same reason a pick up is a better work truck than a muscle car-they’re optimized for different tasks. We didn’t go to war with a peer airforce in the time between the F-14 & F-18 era and the F-35 era, so ultimately I guess it didn’t matter much, and some will say that it was the right choice for that reason. That seems more like bad gambling strategy than national defense policy to me.
@@TyrannoJoris_Rex That had to do more with the TF30 being an unsuitable engine for a high performance fighter than the F-14A as a design itself, if you want to be accurate about the reason of the losses.
I would have loved to see a ST-21/F-14E fully realized, though I can't help but worry that if it had gone forward the ST-21 would've run into the same budget slashes F-22 production ran into. Resulting in a plane that, while very advanced, suffers from a short production run and all the issues that come with it. Not to mention how the penny pinching politicians of the era would have a heart attack when they heard how much it cost to build and maintain. With all that in mind, I sadly have to agree that focusing on the Super Hornet instead was probably the right call in the long term.
@@piedpiper1172 Valid points - still in hindsight one can acknowledge 'the winning horse' (talking of betting strategies). It does teach that incremental modernization - as technologies become available - will almost always beat 'Air Dominance' breakthroughs - though that applies to the F-14 versus the F-111 as well to a degree (depending on how decisive visual range combat actually is in large scale military conflict).
the f-14 actually had both Pulse Doppler velocity plotting, and pulse doppler with range scale, the radar with only velocity plotting was the radar in the F-4J.
I was a huge Tomcat fan anout the time I graduated high school. After a year in college I joined the Navy Reserve and served at NAS Whidbey IS. Once in while we'd get a pair of F-14 aircraft up at Whidbey on training flights from Mirimar or North Island. Always made my day.
Have you done the Tomcat justice? Check that box! Over an hour of watching and rewatching gone in a flash. Well done and hope you dive deeper in the time to come. Cheers!
As a former ECM tech, your narration was quite good as you described much of the systems. I was quite jealous of navy techs while I supported the F111. Well done video.
This is still one of the reasons I wish I could have been a Naval pilot, and the F-15, F-117, B-1B and SR-71 made me wish I could have been an Air Force pilot. I had the great honor of seeing an F-14 flying into Grand Prairie, Texas when I was a kid. It went from swept wing flight to straight wing flight as it flew in hits half circle to land at what was once a Naval station I did not know had existed there till I was an adult. The F-14 and SR-71 are two birds I am so glad I got to see in person, just a shame the SR-71 was barely flying when I was a kid, and there was no chance of me seeing one in the air. I have seen B-1B Lancers taking off at full afterburner though, so.......that was beyond epic.
I'm just impressed to see the same picture of the F14 as was on the box for the Airfix model I built as a kid. Thank you for bringing back that memory!
I was looking forward to this video. Really well made with the usual depth and passion! I think you transmitted very well the convoluted story of the Tomcat and why it is much more than a "Hollywood phenomenon". A note about radar modes: I had several chats with former RIOs, and each had his own preferences. Some of the older preferred PSRCH, possibly because the b-scope was closer to what they were used to. RIOs from the 90s preferred TWS and PDSRCH. RWS was quite a poor radar mode, apparently, at least until the APQ-71, possibly due to the AWG-9's tendency to pick up false contacts. Since TWS refreshes every ~2", I guess this was less of an issue. For the DCS players instead, RWS is great since it gives extended coverage, and speed info can be assessed via the DDD. Also, "importance of TWR → looks at the TF30" 😅 I have been subscribed for a year now (with my other account), and this is a channel I often recommend. Keep it up!
I remember maaaaany years ago an interview with an RAF pilot. In a very British way, and being as political as he could, he essentially said the plane the RAF needed to fulfill the mission given to it (intercept soviet bombers headed for the UK) was the F-14. But the government wouldnt pay for it. And that makes sense. With its powerful AWG-9 radar, long loiter time, and heavy (lots of boom) long ranged Phoenix missiles the Tomcat was literally designed and built for that very mission. In a ReForGer scenario that also applies to the FAA as their role was to provide air cover for ships patrolling the GIUK gap. But of course that requires not just the planes for the fleet but also the carriers to operate them from. Good luck. It doesnt end there tho. It also applies to the CAF whose mission was to intercept bombers coming over the north pole. Again, good luck getting the government to pay for that. It also applies to SAC. Why didnt the USAF have Phoenix equipped Tomcats in Alaska? What about Japan? What about Taiwan? Ill lead the pack dogging the Soviets for their incompetence... corruption... apathy... and technological archaicness but the MiG-25 and Mig-31 concept was a good one. In a non tactical situation (ground attack, short range missions, and dogfighting fighters) the F-14/phoenix was the answer to many problems. Grumman missed the boat by not advertising this as a strategic platform. Maybe thats what the Shah saw in it over the f-15??? I dont know.
Crazy thing is that the RAF and FAA/RN alike ran buccaneers, harriers and phantoms - so operating aircraft that were carrier capable from shore would have been quite viable. That said, had we chosen Tomcats over phantoms, it’s doubtful we’d have taken part in Tornado, and I love the GR1 as well, so perhaps it’s for the best.
General Daniel James suggested the F-14A for NORAD and selected Air National Guard Units to replace F-101s and F-106s but the USAF declined in favor of upgraded F-16As which became the BVR F-16ADF with Sparrows. The USMC actually had a few Marine Crews at Miramar but that Marines canceled their participation in the F-14 Program and focused on the A/V-8A instead.
@@kibathemechanic4967 true, however Tomcats were rarely employed in strike roles until the A-6's discontinuation in the late 80's cost the Navy most of their long-range strike capabilities.
@@pyronuke4768the F-15 air frame had to be completely reinforced in order to carry air to ground ordinance. The Tomcat only needed the right off-the-shelf adapters for its weapons pylons.
@@kibathemechanic4967 it was a doctrinal difference of opinion. The USAF never fitted bombs to their F-15A/C because they believed that's what they had F-4E and later F-16 for. However export F-15A's were built to be very easily upgraded with bombs using off-the-shelf parts too when said countries requested it. There's photo evidence of regular Israeli, Japanese, and Saudi Arabian Eagles fitted with bomb racks in place of external tanks.
Single most informative and interesting video on a fourth generation fighter. My older brother helped test the Phoenix missile at Point Mugu in the early seventies. I got to visit him there once for a week and even got to see the then brand new F-14 do its thing from near the runway. That kind of thing would never be allowed today. Very lucky kid, I was.
One of the best videos i've seen made on the topic. Some slight corrections that i managed to note and not forget during watching. There was never a g-limiter on the F-14, at least not on the A and B variants, i'm not sure about the D and the DFC equipped planes, that may have had some AoA limit in place, but don't take my word for it. That doesn't mean g-limits weren't in place though. They were and they were increased during the operational lifetime, however it was up to the aviators to enforce them. Also, the plane had overstress trackers in place, so overstressing the jet was hard to hide, and usually structural checks were the norm after such occurrences, to make sure nothing's out of place. The other note i remembered is that PD-STT Phoenixes do loft, and the longest ever achieved shot was one such shot. Please correct me if i'm wrong, So much for the notes! Keep making great videos!
Dear, NAPFATG, this is an excellent episode. But I must say, the final sentences very much leave us wanting more. That direct fourth-gen comparison video of the Teen Series is very much needed. Having said that, great episode and keep up the great work.
@@deathwarmedup73the f-14 was apparently capable of low supercruise (m 1.2-1.3)with f110s at full thrust with up to 4 aim-7s (some records state that it may be possible with 2-4 phoenixes instead, or the 4 sparrows and a few aim-9s)in between the engines
@@WALTERBROADDUSEven range is unnessecary with stand off munitions…why risk pilot’s lives forcing them to fly over the enemy when they can just shoot at the enemy from outside detectability range?
@@IgnoredAdviceProductions too many folks still live in tactics of three wars ago. We have six generation aircraft on the drawing boards. But people on TH-cam are still playing that it's 1986.
I'll be honest I never came away from top gun with a love for the f14. It wasn't until I started looking into the design and engineering of the f4 and f14 that I actually started to appreciate those planes
The video reinforces the impression that *a thorough and definitive 'analytical battle' is to settle the question between Beyond Visual Range combat and Aerial Combat Maneuver* ... The *crucial role of engine development in aviation* , *assembly rationalization toward an 'economy of scale'* and *arms exports as a condition of affordable procurement* make for further foundations in aviation historiography...
I grew up across the river from Jax NAS and had read a little about the Tomcat. I was 13 when I saw 2 flying overhead for the first time. Everything about those aircraft just looked right.
I really appreciated the diagram and explanation of the various radar modes and what they did. I have HEARD the terms before but I didn't really understand them.
Wonderful video (as usual). I have two fond memories of the Tomcat. As my father worked at a local NAS, we were able to go to the flight line the evening before an airshow and were treated to an F-111 landing and parking next to us (we met the crew) and an F-14 taxiing and shutting down nearby. No one else there but us! The F-111 crew posed for me. 👍 The second remembrance is also pretty neat. A friend and I had hiked to the top of Mt. Whitney (the highest point in California) when an F-14 flew by and circled the mountaintop. Probably verboten but still pretty cool and made for a fantastic memory. 😊
🎉❤. Excellent. Awesome to get a hour and a quarter video of the mighty TomCat. And at that didn't get to the BombCat or the TARPS which was a great addition to the fleet. 😊
Fantastic video! Funny engine related fact; SAAB Viggen used a modified and licence made version of the JT8-D engine (the bigger brother of the TF-30). Yes, you guessed it. Notoriously sensitive to compressor stall in high AoA situations.
The Iranians were operating Tomcats against "a numerically superior opponent who was being supported by the Soviets and French, for what that help is worth". LOL gotta love it, throwing shade on the French in a subtle manner.
The crew of the USS stark thought it was worth a value. In 1982, the crew of HMS Sheffield did also even when it had stopped. Cheap laughs are worth little.
@@bfc3057Sure, but it helps. Annoys dictators and keeps the morale on the home front up. Theres an excellent book called WW2 in cartoons, highly recommend.
Was a huge Tomcat fan as kid. All the books in my school library had sentences like, Range, Secret. Speed, Secret. Wow. In later life was doing some training with Boeing in Seattle and decided to visit the Boeing Museum of Flight. And there, in the CARPARK was an F-14. I musta gotten old..
I will say that the fact that the Tomcat produces 40-60% of its lift with the fuselage is overused. It was that way with almost all fighters of the 4th 'generation'. The only difference here is that when you fold the wings back, you change the angle of the airfoil relative to the yaw-axis and lose a ton of lift as well as drag. It isn't a problem to lose lift at supersonic speeds for the Tomcat, but the full explanation does need to be said. The F-15 gets a large amount of lift from the fuselage too, but isn't talked about in these discussions, Used for comparison or Context at all
@@josephglatz25 The F-15 body lift is brought up, you're correct. I'm making the point that it never comes up to bring context to the F-14; to educate the viewer/reader by telling them that while neat, it isn't unique
@@thepilotman5378 The point is not that the F-14 'Naval Fighter Experimental' is unique, but to the contrary that it is quite similar to the 'air superiority' designed F-15 'Fighter Experimental'... There is an aerodynamic reason why the F-15 is a fixed wing F-14 (the Variable-Sweep Wing is only required to manage the speed for carrier landing as it would have been if a navalized F-22 would have been procured, and the inability of the F-15 to fire the AIM-54 - or any similar sized weapon in numbers like the AIM-174B - is the very reason, it is mostly withdrawn from frontline service).
Bravo. What a show. What a waste of money cable TV is. @Alexander-the-ok did a great video on the F-14s computer systems about 8 months ago, and these two videos are such amazing companions!
Nice video. The AIM-54 could reach Mach 5 in a dive, by the way. The 1999 failures of two Phoenix missiles was due to a technician's failure to arm their rocket motors. The motors did not ignite on launch, so the missiles fell to earth. A later Phoenix shot at very extreme range saw the missile tracking nicely, but its target turned around and outran it. The narrator did not mention that the biggest difference between the AWG-9 and the APG-721 was that the latter was networked - F-14Ds were linked to each other and the E-2 so the crews had much enhanced situational awareness.
@@ronaryel6445 Fun fact, the F-14D’s nose wasn’t big enough to house a large enough radar dish, but when two F-14Ds networked, their radar reached their full range potential.
I am sure the Tomcat would have been murder against Bears and Backfires, but I think its success as a fighter was due more to its outstanding aircrew, rather than the aircraft itself. Even the B/D upgrade was easy to beat in the Hornet. It didn’t fare well in the Red Flags I attended.
The first soviet aircraft that could compete with the tomcat on equal terms was the mig29. Its production began in 1982. Tomcat has been adopted 8 years before that
@@brianrmc1963 They actually found that it was crap against Tu-22Ms in the Iran Iraq War. The entire impetus for the F-14 was the original series Tu-22M, famous for being disowned by even Andrew Tupelov. Apparently, less than a quarter even had the capability to carry anti ship missiles. Up against updated supersonic designs, I don’t think it has a chance. Neither did the Navy by the way-they began development of the Aim-152 AAAM in the 80s to combat the Tu-22M and Tu-160. “In total, 311 Tu-22s of all variants were produced, the last in 1969. Production numbers were: 15 of bomber version (B), about 127 of reconnaissance versions (R, RD, RK, RDK and RDM), 47 of ELINT versions (P and PD), 76 of missile carriers (K, KD, KP and KPD) and 46 of training versions (U and UD).”
S’long as you do not mind the “occasional FLAMEOUTS!” One even occurred on the original Top Gun flick! That too, was the too often UNSPOKEN REALITY of the F 14. (Am I wrong, or wasn’t it that flameout that killed Goose in the movie?) Too many fell in love with the F 14 from both Top Gun and The Final Countdown. Just perhaps, many see it more as a beloved piece of movie “perfection”, like a Star Wars X wing, and can’t see past the movie image. They are FORGETTING that the flameout IN one movie WAS the F14 as it existed in reality. If it were so perfect, the Navy would not be flying Super Hornets instead today.
Not a pound is the best channel on TH-cam for accuracy and nuance of context in relation to war plane development and deployment
As long as you limit yourself to pre-1980s developments.
For the more technical and WW1/2 focused side I can recommend "Greg's Airplanes and Automobiles" he goes into incredible detail. I think he got more than 9 hours just about the P-47.
@@kilianortmann9979 oh yeah that is a great youtube channel as well
Greg's Planes and Automobiles is also up there.
and by far
The audio recordings of the Tomcat crews wrestling with the weaponry and avionics was pretty funny. If it wasn't for the occasional 'FOX ONE!', you'd think two people were trying to screw in a lightbulb with a very shaky ladder...
Stress does that to people
Yeah he hadn't switched to Sidewinder which is why he couldn't get good tone. Again, stress.
Allegedly the RIO who kept saying the fighter was turning into them was misinterpreting the F-14s turns into the fighter and was completely confused.
Yeah, the dialogue was surprisingly similar to that of Maverick and Iceman during the final dogfight of the first Top Gun movie, heh.
27:33 this sounds like the background sound in the Falcon 4.0 menu.
@@shaider1982 It is. The engagement is famous and has been covered on several aviation channels. The one I'd recommend is Ward Carroll's breakdown of the event. he himself having been a Tomcat RIO at around the same time. th-cam.com/video/RyMfC3M0fZQ/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=WardCarroll
Iranian tomcats scored 135 kills during the Iran iraq war. The Americans were constantly monitoring Iranian tomcat operations and modifying their ECCM systems to detect AWG 9 emissions at extreme ranges. Saddam Hussein also told his pilots that they would get Mercedes Benz if they shot down a tomcat but only 4 were lost in air combat with mirage F1s. A great video about a great fighter
I wonder how the fights went, I wonder what the Mirage pilots tactics were like did they know their plane could outrate a tomcat?
May be Due to the absence of C sky hock plane in Iranian sky as Tomecat directer @VeeTaperTemplar
@@VeeTaperTemplar look for Operation Giraffe... that's how they did it...
@@sohrabroozbahani4700 that's correct due to their Matra super 530D missiles which were capable of snap up attacks up to 25000 feet. Iranian pilots called them Redheads probably due to the warheads colour
@@sohrabroozbahani4700 thanks man
You haven’t lost that loving feeling.
@@ryanvargas4889 I still can't listen to Take My Breath Away because it's the first sex scene I watched in a theater with my parents. 🤣🤣🤣
you know its gonna be a good day when the best fighter aviation channel makes a video about your favorite aircradt
A 1h video about the Tomcat from the man himself? I am blessed today 🙏🏻.
Same. That's Friday night sorted - feet up and beers after work.
@frostyrobot7689 totally forgot its friday, that makes it even better! 😌😌
@@frostyrobot7689 Tomcats, beef tips, mashed potatoes and bacon, had the bourbon for free at work....
1.25hrs! :D
Of course “Top Gun” idolized the Tomcat but for someone like me who’s seen so many war movies it’s really “The Final Countdown” that the Tomcat got its respect.
Both those movies are pretty stupid, but I can see Boomers and MTV Gens thinking, "Ooo shiny plane go vroom"
Ah, a fan of Blue Balls The Movie.
Beautiful shots of the F-14s though.
@@piedpiper1172 All that footage of VF-103 was pretty nice
@@legoeasycompany that was actually VF-84 at the time
Also that show JAG which tried to splice in any navy/F14 footage whenever it could...and of course Catherine Bell.
I think that with the early but probably justified (due to maintenance/cost issues) retirement of the F-14, the USN lost a great recruiting attraction. I am pretty sure that people chose to become naval aviators just so they could fly this beast. Another plane that was axed way too early without a replacement (again to save $) was the S-3 Viking. Anyways, I would have loved to see a redesigned, fresh build F/A-14E Super Tomcat with F119 engines, one piece canopy, glass cockpit and simplified maintenance provisions. I know, I am not being realistic, but this fighter was so damn beautiful that it deserved a second, or maybe third chance to serve even longer. Thanks for the video and keep them coming!
Just don't tell them about the 20-25% of them ever in service with the US Navy that crashed 😉
Considering the F/A-18 Hornet was an entirely new aircraft pretending to still be an F-18 Hornet, I think what killed the F-14 was the fact that they told the truth about it being a new aircraft in the F-21 Super Tomcat proposal.
That and Cheney didn’t have personal financial ties to the F-14 like he did the F-18, which sure seemed to help the “Hornet.” Plus, fighter mafia nonsense.
There is no doubt the Super Tomcat would have been better at its role than the Super Hornet, which is just a tautological truth for the same reason a pick up is a better work truck than a muscle car-they’re optimized for different tasks.
We didn’t go to war with a peer airforce in the time between the F-14 & F-18 era and the F-35 era, so ultimately I guess it didn’t matter much, and some will say that it was the right choice for that reason.
That seems more like bad gambling strategy than national defense policy to me.
@@TyrannoJoris_Rex That had to do more with the TF30 being an unsuitable engine for a high performance fighter than the F-14A as a design itself, if you want to be accurate about the reason of the losses.
I would have loved to see a ST-21/F-14E fully realized, though I can't help but worry that if it had gone forward the ST-21 would've run into the same budget slashes F-22 production ran into. Resulting in a plane that, while very advanced, suffers from a short production run and all the issues that come with it. Not to mention how the penny pinching politicians of the era would have a heart attack when they heard how much it cost to build and maintain.
With all that in mind, I sadly have to agree that focusing on the Super Hornet instead was probably the right call in the long term.
@@piedpiper1172
Valid points - still in hindsight one can acknowledge 'the winning horse' (talking of betting strategies).
It does teach that incremental modernization - as technologies become available - will almost always beat 'Air Dominance' breakthroughs - though that applies to the F-14 versus the F-111 as well to a degree (depending on how decisive visual range combat actually is in large scale military conflict).
Words cannot express how excited I was when I saw this come up in my subscriptions. Great video, great aircraft.
“Analog in the font, digital in the back” so its a mixed signal mullet?
the f-14 actually had both Pulse Doppler velocity plotting, and pulse doppler with range scale, the radar with only velocity plotting was the radar in the F-4J.
I was a huge Tomcat fan anout the time I graduated high school. After a year in college I joined the Navy Reserve and served at NAS Whidbey IS. Once in while we'd get a pair of F-14 aircraft up at Whidbey on training flights from Mirimar or North Island. Always made my day.
Whidbey Island? You had A-6s, P-3s,C-9s and Prowlers! What an awesome base!! Wished I would have gotten there during the heydays.
@@00calvinlee00 Yes! The A-6 pilots used to fly UNDER the Deception Pass bridge at 400kts it was something to see.
This is exactly what I've been
waiting for. A technical deep dive into the Tomcat. The history is also greatly appreciated. Great video. Thank you.
this was great overview. would love more on the genesis, development and strategy of operations of the AIM-54
The maximum opus for this channel.
A masterwork, indeed.
Have you done the Tomcat justice? Check that box! Over an hour of watching and rewatching gone in a flash. Well done and hope you dive deeper in the time to come. Cheers!
As a former ECM tech, your narration was quite good as you described much of the systems. I was quite jealous of navy techs while I supported the F111. Well done video.
Hell yeah! I've been wanting you to make a tomcat video! Thank you!
27:47 - famous Growling Sidewinder intro.
I've heard it so many times that I automatically expected to hear his voice 😊
wow that was a hell of a lot of info. This channel is one of the gold standards for aviation history.
This is still one of the reasons I wish I could have been a Naval pilot, and the F-15, F-117, B-1B and SR-71 made me wish I could have been an Air Force pilot. I had the great honor of seeing an F-14 flying into Grand Prairie, Texas when I was a kid. It went from swept wing flight to straight wing flight as it flew in hits half circle to land at what was once a Naval station I did not know had existed there till I was an adult. The F-14 and SR-71 are two birds I am so glad I got to see in person, just a shame the SR-71 was barely flying when I was a kid, and there was no chance of me seeing one in the air. I have seen B-1B Lancers taking off at full afterburner though, so.......that was beyond epic.
I'm just impressed to see the same picture of the F14 as was on the box for the Airfix model I built as a kid. Thank you for bringing back that memory!
This is the best and most in-depth video I have ever seen about the F-14 or indeed any aircraft video. Well done, excellent.
I was looking forward to this video. Really well made with the usual depth and passion! I think you transmitted very well the convoluted story of the Tomcat and why it is much more than a "Hollywood phenomenon".
A note about radar modes: I had several chats with former RIOs, and each had his own preferences. Some of the older preferred PSRCH, possibly because the b-scope was closer to what they were used to. RIOs from the 90s preferred TWS and PDSRCH. RWS was quite a poor radar mode, apparently, at least until the APQ-71, possibly due to the AWG-9's tendency to pick up false contacts. Since TWS refreshes every ~2", I guess this was less of an issue.
For the DCS players instead, RWS is great since it gives extended coverage, and speed info can be assessed via the DDD.
Also, "importance of TWR → looks at the TF30" 😅
I have been subscribed for a year now (with my other account), and this is a channel I often recommend. Keep it up!
Glad to see you caught this episode. Knew you’d have a thing or two to say about the radar :)
Remarkably thorough. Kudos! Great video.
I remember maaaaany years ago an interview with an RAF pilot. In a very British way, and being as political as he could, he essentially said the plane the RAF needed to fulfill the mission given to it (intercept soviet bombers headed for the UK) was the F-14. But the government wouldnt pay for it. And that makes sense. With its powerful AWG-9 radar, long loiter time, and heavy (lots of boom) long ranged Phoenix missiles the Tomcat was literally designed and built for that very mission. In a ReForGer scenario that also applies to the FAA as their role was to provide air cover for ships patrolling the GIUK gap. But of course that requires not just the planes for the fleet but also the carriers to operate them from. Good luck. It doesnt end there tho. It also applies to the CAF whose mission was to intercept bombers coming over the north pole. Again, good luck getting the government to pay for that. It also applies to SAC. Why didnt the USAF have Phoenix equipped Tomcats in Alaska? What about Japan? What about Taiwan? Ill lead the pack dogging the Soviets for their incompetence... corruption... apathy... and technological archaicness but the MiG-25 and Mig-31 concept was a good one. In a non tactical situation (ground attack, short range missions, and dogfighting fighters) the F-14/phoenix was the answer to many problems. Grumman missed the boat by not advertising this as a strategic platform. Maybe thats what the Shah saw in it over the f-15??? I dont know.
I'd love to see a UK Tomcat with Speys
Crazy thing is that the RAF and FAA/RN alike ran buccaneers, harriers and phantoms - so operating aircraft that were carrier capable from shore would have been quite viable.
That said, had we chosen Tomcats over phantoms, it’s doubtful we’d have taken part in Tornado, and I love the GR1 as well, so perhaps it’s for the best.
General Daniel James suggested the F-14A for NORAD and selected Air National Guard Units to replace F-101s and F-106s but the USAF declined in favor of upgraded F-16As which became the BVR F-16ADF with Sparrows. The USMC actually had a few Marine Crews at Miramar but that Marines canceled their participation in the F-14 Program and focused on the A/V-8A instead.
And now we get to it! Thanks for all the work here!
Wonderful summary of mine and many others all time favorite aircraft. thankyou so much and keep up the good work !
Thank you, thank you, thank you !! Much, much appreciated !! Incredibly informative and enlightening !!
Excellent video! Loads of information, and nice video editing. Saw a few in there that I haven't seen before. Thank you!
Watched many of your videos lately. Great stuff!
Appreciate all the detail going into the AWG-9, for comparison the F-16C/D APG-68 was ~$800k in 1986. A complete F-4E in 1972 was ~$6M.
YEAHHHHH HIGHWAY TO THE DANGER ZONE!!! ❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉
@wm9346 *WWHAAAATT?!!*
As an 80s kid, the Tomcat will probably always be one of my favorite fighters ever. It sure as hell is one of the most gorgeous fighters of all time.
Great video. Masterpiece of technology and one of the most iconic fighters of all time. TOMCATS!
Outstanding presentation. Thank you for sharing your research.
Absolutely fantastic episode. Well done!
Your videos are great and much appreciated. Looks like views are going up(?) Good luck with future growth
Superb documentary Sir! You really do have a talent for this. Great stuff!
An aircraft that indeed did have a few pounds for air to ground and turned out to be pretty good at it with zero compromise.
Strike Eagle has entered the chat.
@@pyronuke4768 Strike Eagle wasn't operational until 1988. Tomcat was built to handle bombs since the prototypes.
@@kibathemechanic4967 true, however Tomcats were rarely employed in strike roles until the A-6's discontinuation in the late 80's cost the Navy most of their long-range strike capabilities.
@@pyronuke4768the F-15 air frame had to be completely reinforced in order to carry air to ground ordinance. The Tomcat only needed the right off-the-shelf adapters for its weapons pylons.
@@kibathemechanic4967 it was a doctrinal difference of opinion. The USAF never fitted bombs to their F-15A/C because they believed that's what they had F-4E and later F-16 for. However export F-15A's were built to be very easily upgraded with bombs using off-the-shelf parts too when said countries requested it. There's photo evidence of regular Israeli, Japanese, and Saudi Arabian Eagles fitted with bomb racks in place of external tanks.
Justice done, mate. Loved this plane long before Top Gun, it was on the cover of an encyclopedia of military aircraft I got as a kid in 79 or 80.
Single most informative and interesting video on a fourth generation fighter. My older brother helped test the Phoenix missile at Point Mugu in the early seventies. I got to visit him there once for a week and even got to see the then brand new F-14 do its thing from near the runway. That kind of thing would never be allowed today. Very lucky kid, I was.
One of the best videos i've seen made on the topic. Some slight corrections that i managed to note and not forget during watching. There was never a g-limiter on the F-14, at least not on the A and B variants, i'm not sure about the D and the DFC equipped planes, that may have had some AoA limit in place, but don't take my word for it. That doesn't mean g-limits weren't in place though. They were and they were increased during the operational lifetime, however it was up to the aviators to enforce them. Also, the plane had overstress trackers in place, so overstressing the jet was hard to hide, and usually structural checks were the norm after such occurrences, to make sure nothing's out of place. The other note i remembered is that PD-STT Phoenixes do loft, and the longest ever achieved shot was one such shot. Please correct me if i'm wrong,
So much for the notes! Keep making great videos!
I enjoyed this review of the Tomcat's development and systems. Thank you!
Another awesome video. Great, in depth info
Dear, NAPFATG, this is an excellent episode. But I must say, the final sentences very much leave us wanting more. That direct fourth-gen comparison video of the Teen Series is very much needed. Having said that, great episode and keep up the great work.
Awesome video about one of my all-time favourite jets.
Fantastic video
Very informative
Thank you!
The US Navy lost two critical capabilities when the Tomcat retired: _RANGE_ and _SPEED._ Neither of those capabilities have been replaced.
While the range would be nice. Speed is not critical.
The F18 is pretty fast with the undercarriage retracted.
@@deathwarmedup73the f-14 was apparently capable of low supercruise (m 1.2-1.3)with f110s at full thrust with up to 4 aim-7s (some records state that it may be possible with 2-4 phoenixes instead, or the 4 sparrows and a few aim-9s)in between the engines
@@WALTERBROADDUSEven range is unnessecary with stand off munitions…why risk pilot’s lives forcing them to fly over the enemy when they can just shoot at the enemy from outside detectability range?
@@IgnoredAdviceProductions too many folks still live in tactics of three wars ago. We have six generation aircraft on the drawing boards. But people on TH-cam are still playing that it's 1986.
More pure amazingness. Thank you again!
I was smiling through the whole clip. Thanks for this. 👏👏👏👍😎🤙
During those Sidewinder engagements I just could not help but think about the good old F-8 in that type of engagement and how effective it was.
Coolest fighter ever. Thanks very much for an outstanding presentation.
I'll be honest I never came away from top gun with a love for the f14.
It wasn't until I started looking into the design and engineering of the f4 and f14 that I actually started to appreciate those planes
I am in awe. Very good video!
Red storm rising is an absolute masterpiece. By far my favorite novel❤
The video reinforces the impression that *a thorough and definitive 'analytical battle' is to settle the question between Beyond Visual Range combat and Aerial Combat Maneuver* ...
The *crucial role of engine development in aviation* , *assembly rationalization toward an 'economy of scale'* and *arms exports as a condition of affordable procurement* make for further foundations in aviation historiography...
Enjoyed that thanks! Excellent docu. Sometimes YT delivers.
Excellent video!! 👍😎
I clicked the thumb for the use of the Airfix box cover art as the thumbnail for this video.
And for the great content of course.
I grew up across the river from Jax NAS and had read a little about the Tomcat. I was 13 when I saw 2 flying overhead for the first time. Everything about those aircraft just looked right.
😊 thank you very interesting presentation
Very well done! This is as good as any polished doc you'd see on the BBC and leagues better than the crap they churn out on the History Channel.
I really appreciated the diagram and explanation of the various radar modes and what they did. I have HEARD the terms before but I didn't really understand them.
Wonderful video (as usual). I have two fond memories of the Tomcat. As my father worked at a local NAS, we were able to go to the flight line the evening before an airshow and were treated to an F-111 landing and parking next to us (we met the crew) and an F-14 taxiing and shutting down nearby. No one else there but us! The F-111 crew posed for me. 👍 The second remembrance is also pretty neat. A friend and I had hiked to the top of Mt. Whitney (the highest point in California) when an F-14 flew by and circled the mountaintop. Probably verboten but still pretty cool and made for a fantastic memory. 😊
🎉❤. Excellent. Awesome to get a hour and a quarter video of the mighty TomCat. And at that didn't get to the BombCat or the TARPS which was a great addition to the fleet. 😊
Fantastic video!
Funny engine related fact; SAAB Viggen used a modified and licence made version of the JT8-D engine (the bigger brother of the TF-30). Yes, you guessed it. Notoriously sensitive to compressor stall in high AoA situations.
The Iranians were operating Tomcats against "a numerically superior opponent who was being supported by the Soviets and French, for what that help is worth". LOL gotta love it, throwing shade on the French in a subtle manner.
The crew of the USS stark thought it was worth a value. In 1982, the crew of HMS Sheffield did also even when it had stopped. Cheap laughs are worth little.
@@bfc3057 A sense of humor is worth a lot, though. Try it on for size.
@@bfc3057 A sense of humor is worth quite a bit, though.
@@RCAvhstape takes a lot more than that in a war
@@bfc3057Sure, but it helps. Annoys dictators and keeps the morale on the home front up. Theres an excellent book called WW2 in cartoons, highly recommend.
“Hopefully I have done it some justice”. You have 👍
Was a huge Tomcat fan as kid. All the books in my school library had sentences like, Range, Secret. Speed, Secret. Wow. In later life was doing some training with Boeing in Seattle and decided to visit the Boeing Museum of Flight. And there, in the CARPARK was an F-14. I musta gotten old..
Most interesting and eye-opening.
I will say that the fact that the Tomcat produces 40-60% of its lift with the fuselage is overused. It was that way with almost all fighters of the 4th 'generation'. The only difference here is that when you fold the wings back, you change the angle of the airfoil relative to the yaw-axis and lose a ton of lift as well as drag. It isn't a problem to lose lift at supersonic speeds for the Tomcat, but the full explanation does need to be said. The F-15 gets a large amount of lift from the fuselage too, but isn't talked about in these discussions, Used for comparison or Context at all
I thought it frequently is, citing that mid air collision between the Israeli A-4 and F-15 which resulted in an F-15 returning to base minus a wing.
@@josephglatz25 The F-15 body lift is brought up, you're correct. I'm making the point that it never comes up to bring context to the F-14; to educate the viewer/reader by telling them that while neat, it isn't unique
@@thepilotman5378
The point is not that the F-14 'Naval Fighter Experimental' is unique, but to the contrary that it is quite similar to the 'air superiority' designed F-15 'Fighter Experimental'...
There is an aerodynamic reason why the F-15 is a fixed wing F-14 (the Variable-Sweep Wing is only required to manage the speed for carrier landing as it would have been if a navalized F-22 would have been procured, and the inability of the F-15 to fire the AIM-54 - or any similar sized weapon in numbers like the AIM-174B - is the very reason, it is mostly withdrawn from frontline service).
Plus the F14 is the only modern jet with documented kills against the A6M Zero!😉
YES finally! The Tomcat episode!
I have always wanted to better understand the Tomcat’s radar, esp compared to its US peers. Thank you!!
I first saw the F-14 in the spring in of 1972 at Pax River. I remember I was walking to the chow hall and it just took off and flew over where I was.
Bravo. What a show. What a waste of money cable TV is.
@Alexander-the-ok did a great video on the F-14s computer systems about 8 months ago, and these two videos are such amazing companions!
Excellent value for money video
Your best vid yet
thanks, this was no rehash, very nice
It’s really hard to overstate how state of the art the onboard weapon systems for the Tomcat were at the time.
Yet they couldn't pick out a friendly from and enemy on radar...
Favourite TH-cam channel. Favourite fighter story. Could this Friday become any better?😉
Your F-15 vid is going to be fire.
There's an article on Wired from a couple years ago called The Secret History of the First Microprocessor, the F-14, and Me that is excellent.
Very good; well done,
This shit so magnificent of a video that it resparked my love for the F-14.
Nice video. The AIM-54 could reach Mach 5 in a dive, by the way. The 1999 failures of two Phoenix missiles was due to a technician's failure to arm their rocket motors. The motors did not ignite on launch, so the missiles fell to earth. A later Phoenix shot at very extreme range saw the missile tracking nicely, but its target turned around and outran it. The narrator did not mention that the biggest difference between the AWG-9 and the APG-721 was that the latter was networked - F-14Ds were linked to each other and the E-2 so the crews had much enhanced situational awareness.
@@ronaryel6445 Fun fact, the F-14D’s nose wasn’t big enough to house a large enough radar dish, but when two F-14Ds networked, their radar reached their full range potential.
One of the best fighter jets ever made!
Just made my Friday ❤️
Great video on the F-14! Do you think it's possible to find enough information to do a video on the Super Tomcat 21 concept and what could have been?
I am sure the Tomcat would have been murder against Bears and Backfires, but I think its success as a fighter was due more to its outstanding aircrew, rather than the aircraft itself. Even the B/D upgrade was easy to beat in the Hornet. It didn’t fare well in the Red Flags I attended.
It was far better than the MiG-23, and even the F-4 outclassed the Su-17 in air-to-air
It's easy to second guess in hindsight but at the time, it was a good aircraft for the Navy and fulfilled it's mission.
@@billymania11 I agree
The first soviet aircraft that could compete with the tomcat on equal terms was the mig29. Its production began in 1982. Tomcat has been adopted 8 years before that
@@brianrmc1963 They actually found that it was crap against Tu-22Ms in the Iran Iraq War. The entire impetus for the F-14 was the original series Tu-22M, famous for being disowned by even Andrew Tupelov. Apparently, less than a quarter even had the capability to carry anti ship missiles. Up against updated supersonic designs, I don’t think it has a chance. Neither did the Navy by the way-they began development of the Aim-152 AAAM in the 80s to combat the Tu-22M and Tu-160.
“In total, 311 Tu-22s of all variants were produced, the last in 1969. Production numbers were: 15 of bomber version (B), about 127 of reconnaissance versions (R, RD, RK, RDK and RDM), 47 of ELINT versions (P and PD), 76 of missile carriers (K, KD, KP and KPD) and 46 of training versions (U and UD).”
I feel the need. Does anyone else here feel the need? I feel the need.
To ramp up the throttles and surge an engine or 2?
For SPEED
Regarding Amraam integration, funds were transfered to integrate the LANTIRN pod, acording to Dale Snodgrass (rip).
5:50 they also put penalties for higher than requested landing speed. also bonus for every knot slower...
Great video! Looking forward to a Phoenix video!
Excellent.
That was awesome
The tomcat also carried chaff in the LAU 138 rails that the wingtip sidewinders were mounted on.
S’long as you do not mind the “occasional FLAMEOUTS!” One even occurred on the original Top Gun flick! That too, was the too often UNSPOKEN REALITY of the F 14. (Am I wrong, or wasn’t it that flameout that killed Goose in the movie?) Too many fell in love with the F 14 from both Top Gun and The Final Countdown. Just perhaps, many see it more as a beloved piece of movie “perfection”, like a Star Wars X wing, and can’t see past the movie image. They are FORGETTING that the flameout IN one movie WAS the F14 as it existed in reality. If it were so perfect, the Navy would not be flying Super Hornets instead today.
Had cats my whole life…still the Tomcat is my favorite Pheonix truck. What an airplane!