F-14 Design Evolution
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- Опубліковано 29 лис 2014
- A historical perspective of the evolution of the Grumman F-14 Tomcat design presented by former Northrop Grumman VP Mike Ciminera. Produced by Betty Wheaton and Jarel Wheaton for Peninsula Seniors pvseniors.org
If you're an "Aircraft Guy" set aside an hour for the most informative narration of an aircraft's evolution and development by the most articulate and informative narrator I've ever heard.
Wish more people could appreciate stuff like this these days..
Mike Ciminera is second to none. A brillant explanation of several difficult subjects. Thanks to Cindy and Betty for the video.
He’s bad ass right!
I agree. Fantastic presentation.
wow great information. my father worked at Hughes and was one of the lead engineers on the AWG 9 and aim 54 Pheonix ,he drive me to Sandiego to a motel where I spent 2 days just wat hyung the f14s take off and land ,it never got old .
Superb presentation and videos. As a RIO (with 3200+ hrs in type), I had the privilege of flying all three versions of the aircraft during a tour with VX-4 from 1987-1989. During that time we re-constituted the Tomcats air-to-ground capabilities and proved beyond a shadow of doubt that it could be the ultimate Navy strike-fighter. In mid-1989, during a Topgun class at Fallon, VX-4 provided the striker role. We loaded an F-14B with 4 x MK-83 in the tunnel (we were using BRU-9 ejector racks vice the certified fleet standard BRU-32), 2 x drop tanks, 2 x AIM-7 Sparrow and 2 x AIM-9 Sidewinder. Our mission was to do self-escort into the B-19 target area after splitting off of our F-18 escorts. Our initial run-in altitude was 28K' and with that load we were doing 1.2 Mach without afterburners. We split S to the deck and was cruising in Mil power doing about 550 KTS when I got tally on an F15 aggressor at our 3 O-clock /~4-5miles trying to lead turn us. I told my stick who promptly lit the burners and we literally walked away from that F15 without him even coming close to getting a shot. So yes Mr. Ciminera you guys built one helluva of a dynamic yet graceful fighter.
A little more historical data regarding the Tomcat 21and other advance F14 concepts. When these proposals were being developed for presentation in the 5-sided wind tunnel, Sec Def Dick Chaney had just wiped out Naval Aviation ( I was in the Pentagon from 1991-1993) by cancelling the A-12, P-7, A-6F, NATF and truncating the F-14D buy to 55 aircraft. Mac D was all over the building getting face time with everyone touting their Hornet 2000 "upgrade" to the F-18C (became the F/A-18E/F). For what ever reason someone in SEC DEF office or PA&E had a burr up their butt about Grumman and would not take the Grumman presentations. Shortly after the 1st Gulf War concluded, in a social setting Adm Dunleavey OP-05 at the time, commented to RADM "Sweetpea" Allen and myself that they had "picked" McDonnell Douglas to proceed with the Hornet 2000"Upgrade". And that was how the Navy ended up spending 5B$ to grow the Hornet to the same size as an F14 but without the kinematic/range or load carrying capability of the Tomcat.
Again, Thanks Mr. Ciminera for an awesome presentation. I spent 3-4 months in Calverton testing the F-14B/D and enjoyed the steaks at the Town Pump restaurant.
Philip Nelson thank you for your service, though I’m kinda jealous at the same time.
I’m curious about the M1.2 w/ full load-out. How is that even remotely possible? I didn’t think any variant was capable of “super cruise” even in a light / clean config.
Regardless of speed, that load-out is simply amazing - and as I understand it, there were very few limitations on the airframe in that config.
I’m lucky to live only a few miles from the Udvar Hazy museum, being able to look at one of the airframes involved in the Libyan incidents is amazing.
Alex,
Good question. Here's how it was done but I admit not for very long;
1. The GE F110 engines produced 27K thrust in full blower. They produced the same amount of thrust in military that the TF-30 produced in zone 3 afterburner.
2. The MK-83's are carried on the Phoenix rails along the centerline in the tunnel between the engines. The front rails have aerodynamic fairings that reduce induced drag and the aft two bombs are right behind the front two again creating a reduced induced drag condition. Admittedly the two drop tanks created the largest drag index but the additional fuel outweighed that issue.
3. The tactical ranges are not that far from NAS Fallon so we knew we had a large load of gogo juice to blow out the rear and thats what we did.
4. Acting like the fighter escort, we started a few miles behind and couple of K' higher in full blower then our F-18 escorts at 28K' We got to 1.2Mach at which point we started a gradual descent in military passing our F-18 escorts at around 28K'. We were trying to confuse the bandits as to who was the real strike aircraft. That's when I noticed we were still doing 1.2M. How long that lasted I'm not sure but probably not that long. That was also about the time we split S away from the F18's and proceeded on our own.
So I wouldn't go so far as saying we were super-cruising but we had some good smash on for the loadout we were carrying. And we did walk away from the F15 aggressor down on the deck.
The GE F110 engine was the engine the Tomcat was designed to run with. It was a sweet engine with unrestricted throttle movement in all flight regimes and AOA, had rapid response with eye-watering acceleration and was down right dependable. The only fighter that could accelerate with a clean Tomcat was a clean F-16N that also had the F110 (At VX-4 we did clean F-14B side-by-side acceleration races with F-18A/C, F-4S, F-5E, F-15C/F-16C from the Air Force 422nd Test Sqd and F-16N from Topgun/VF-126).
Something I find currently interesting is the upcoming integration of the F14D AAS-42 IRST (upgraded) on the F-15C and F/A-18E/F. Should have had those a long time ago and the F22 should get it as well.
Everybody is talking about Link-16/MIDS and the F-35 MADL? data link capability. We had that on the F14D in the 90's. Of course it's undoubtably more complex and capable today.
Anyway appreciate the interest.
Yes sir! I was an AT in VX-4 from 90-93. By the time I got out in 93 the F-14D was developing into an incredibly advanced machine IRST and JTIDS the new radar etc. While repair man hours per flight hour were higher than the hornets all the tomcats were still up on the line the next morning just like the hornets. Maybe it was too expensive? Or was it political?
@@willwarden2603 Politics and stupidity.
Say what you will about the Tomcat's maintenance record, the airframe had more inborn capability built into it and MORE growth potential than the F-18 in EITHER of its base forms! The Super Hornet STILL cannot match the speed or range capability of the F-14. They've been talking of producing conformal tanks for the Super Hornet to extend its range but those will STILL have a parasitic drag effect and reduce its performance. It's already the slowest of the fighters evolved from the 1970s in the US. The Super Hornet actually accelerates and climbs slower than the F-18A-D models. The original Hornet was notably slower than the F-15, F-16, and F-14B/D.
There were definitely politics involved with the F-18 Super Hornet procurement decision just like the ATF buy was settled on perception, too. At least with the ATF they flew two prototype designs before a decision was made. There was fly-off between an advanced F-14 and the F-18 Super Hornet... It was a paper decision based on flawed assumptions made about the Super Hornet before they even flew a prototype plane!
The ATF decision was based on a generally more impressive flight demo by the Lockheed team. Even Northrop's lead test pilot on the YF-23 admitted that in the end it looked like Lockheed flew a more impressive test demo with its YF-22s. They did a number of things that made great-looking photo ops like weapon test releases and high angle of attack maneuvers. BOTH planes satisfied the base requirements of the USAF but the service chose the F-22 because it put on a better-looking show. There are people to this day who believe Northrop was cheated but anybody reading the books written back then would have to conclude based on visual evidence that the YF-22 flew a more challenging program. The fact of the matter was NEITHER plane was flown as rigorously as originally intended. They only did about 50 flights apiece for both prototype instead of 350 as originally intended AND the program began the testing in August of 1990 INSTEAD of January that year as originally intended! It was a much more truncated program.
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The F-18 had a troubled development cycle in its first two forms, the YF-17 and the YF-18. Compared to the other Teen Fighters of the 1970s, the YF-18 underwent the most radical re-engineering from base prototype to final production form. They had to redesign the wings and LERX because of drag issues that reduced roll rate, acceleration, and range. NONE of the other planes (F-14, F-15, and F-16) were as radically redesigned as the F-18! They ended up stiffening the wing more because it flexed too much and reduced roll rate, there were issues with the wingtip mounted missiles reducing roll rate (there were assymetry bomb release issues with the Legacy Hornet through its carrier career), and most importantly the drag issue that followed the YF-18 from its YF-17 predecessor. You know they LOST the Air Combat Fighter program to the YF-16 because the YF-17 just could not accelerate or roll as fast as the YF-16 and that was because of a drag issue that they didn't anticipate in the wind tunnel studies. They were NEVER able to resolve that problem fully in the F-18 program -- and it actually got worse in the Super Hornet redesign! -- and the F-18 has NEVER met the specs for range and acceleration requirements. There were many aviators upset that the Navy bought a new strike fighter (F-18) with less range and payload carry than the A-7! Heck, the F-4 chase planes, if they didn't throttle back during their test duties would actually PULL MILES AHEAD of the F-18 test planes before the end of the test cycle. A plane 20 years older than the F-18 Hornet was faster than its replacement!
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The F-14 itself developed a reputation for having certain bugs and reliability issues.
The main problems were A) the powerplant selected for the A-model was AWFUL;
B) the basic airframe was ahead of its time and very heavy. There simply wasn't an engine available in the early 1970s in the minimum thrust class (28,000lbs) needed to make the F-14 a GREAT fighter so they had to make do with the TF30 (21,000lb class) which already showed problems on the plane it was originally designed for, the F-111. It wasn't until 1980 that a decent prototype engine was available to test on a free F-14 prototype.
The 1970s was NOT a good era for afterburning turbofans. The TF30 mentioned had problems. The F100 entering service with the F-15 (and later F-16) also had significant problems and was to be the basis of the DEFINITIVE engine (the P&W F401 turbofan) that would power the original F-14B production plane but the F401 NEVER went into production because of technical issues (the engine wasn't durable enough and blew up on the test stand at least once) and the Navy didn't have the funds to properly develop the engine and make it reliable for service. The F100 itself didn't become reliable until the mid-1980s after a redesign and upgrade with digital engine controls.
The F-14 entered service significantly underpowered with a very complicated swing wing system just as there was a renewed emphasis being put on maintenance man hours.
(The F-18 spent a protracted period -- close to ten years from the first flight in 1974 of the YF-17 to service entry of the F-18 in 1983 -- being tweaked to AVOID many of the problems the F-14 had. The F-14 was in flight test just barely over 3 years before the Navy put in into frontline service in late 1974.)
The F-4 itself had reliability and high maintenance requirements (70 maintenance man hours per flight hour), too, but that perception didn't bite it as much as the F-14 AND the F-4's prototype DIDN'T crash 10 days after its first flight in the middle of the drawdown of US involvement in Vietnam.
The F-14 had a lot of things going against it from the beginning. The Defense establishment was PO'd that the F-111B was scuttled by "disloyal high-level naval officers" and that a company that was on the outs with part of the Pentagon (Grumman) had been given the contract for a heavy fighter after not having built their own new design for at least ten years at that point!
There were many decent ideas to improve the F-14's reliability AND increase its capability at the same time BUT every time they were about ready to put hardware into production to fix issues the funding "mysteriously" got cut at the last minute and transferred to other programs, half the time that funding going to the F-18.
They were playing favorites in the Pentagon for sure. The F-14 head guys DIDN'T want to spike the F-18 program because they Navy NEEDED a light fighter to replace the A-7 and some F-4 squadrons in the Navy and Marine Corps but the F-14 upgrades were desperately needed, too. Very few officers wanted to stick their necks out because they KNEW going against the general trend at the Pentagon would mean the end of their careers or deferred promotions.
@@philipnelson1274 Just wanted to say thank you for your service and for sharing your experience with us. I envy you for getting the opportunity to fly such an amazing aircraft. Best wishes.
So proud my family's machine shop made tooling for assembly, inspection, and machining of parts for Grumman from 1952 until they quit making aircraft. We were their #1 quality supplier of tooling with tooling for the C-2, E-2C, F-14, A-6, EA-6, EF-111, X-29, and many more.
I made F14 wing parts at Grumman in late 1980's.....Was a hell of a bird
Bethpage.? Calverton.?
Impressive presentation by such a humble engineer, "You never do anything alone", well said. It's great that he acknowledged the progress made by GD in the development of the F-111 as part of the input for the F-14 design. Y
It's great seeing this. My Dad worked for Grumman in the 60's-70's and worked on the Tomcat and the C-2 and E-2C as a draftsman and mechanical designer. Was probably the work experience he most enjoyed and was most proud of.
The F-14 was a fabulous aircraft and brilliantly designed. I was always a huge fan of it because The Final Countdown was one of my favorite films. My father in law was on the Nimitz and he was a mechanic for the F-14. From his perspective he did not like the F-14 and I can see why. It was a great fighter but as my father in law said... it was horrible to work on. He said that everything on the F-14 was incredibly complicated especially compared to the F-18 and on a carrier that is not good. But in the air it was unbeatable.
I swore I wasn't going to watch this whole thing...
I watched the whole thing. Couldn't stop listening to this guy talk about this phenomenal aircraft.
That's okay. I'm on my third time through.
I touched on it because the F-14 is one of my favorite if not my most favorite jet aircraft. I figured I'd watch some of it when I saw how long it was and maybe pick up on it later. The speaker was so engaging with a lot of really good information here I am at the end commenting on your post.
Exactly its like your favorite grade school teacher talking about your favorite subject. This is great material!
Mike has published a book on Grumman, I purchased mine through the Grumman Store. Great reading. They have some interesting items for sale. I worked for Grumman for 8 years in assembly in Plant 6 in Calverton, NY. I left just before the F-14 was delivered for assembly. Had worked on the S2 and the A6 group of birds. A great company with a great history.
This lecture is a treasure trove of information. His presentation and delivery was top notch; no unnecessary flash just 100% information (but in no way dry). I couldn't believe it was an hour it went by so quickly and effortlessly. I can't say enough good things about it.
The best technical presentation of any airplane anywhere...
I have tons of respect to the engineers involved in the program.
Imagine doing all these development without Matlab and 3D CAD.
This is one of the most thorough, most detailed presentations on an aircraft development I've ever seen. He got in most of the VFX model 303 design variants, he mentioned the Vought and North American competitors (with pics!), and really, really delved into the actual production design. Absolutely top notch, thanks so much for posting.
The first time I've ever heard the F-11 Tiger mentioned in a F-14 presentation.
These engineers are Giants of American Inovation!
Fantastic technical talk on the F14.. LOVE IT Discovery wings didn't even get to the tip of this iceberg..
The F-14, is and always will be my favorite jet of all time. Runner up is the F-22. I wish the F-14 was still in service. :(
It should. And had most powerfull long ranged missiles for that era in world. And i was exclusive for this aircraft. AIM-54 Phoenix. (with todays tech this missile is totally enhanceable)
it is in service and modernized...In Iran ;) 20-24 are fully operational. They managed to produce quite a lot of parts and refurbish others.So that is why they are still flying + US selling parts in late 80s
@@nikolaivasilev7371 Was about to write the same. Iran is keeping old US planes alive. They also still fly B727 over there :)
I'm happy to have stumbled onto this video - it is packed with information not found in any of the videos I've seen !
Thank you very much for providing this !
An absolutely fascinating account by an articulate, knowledgeable and intelligent gentleman. Outstanding!
As an Iranian F - 14 saved Iran from Saddam invasion. It was actually a MIG killer. Even MIG 25 and French Mirage were no match for it. Here it is considered a legendary warplane. Much respect for this Learned man; how well he explained everything.
Saeed M
It would be great to hear the Iranian pilots debriefing. From a professional point of view, without any political commentary.
It would have been nice if the speaker mentioned the IRIAF’s successful employment of the aircraft in their air battles with the Iraqis
MiG-25 was not used properly by Iraqis...nor much of their air force. They would send MiG-25 head on,which was as dumb as it gets.MiG-25 was never an air superiority fighter,it was an interceptor-bomber.Its advantage,if they were smart to use it,would have been to have kept MiG-25 high enough to avoid getting hit by F-14 and at a distance...Patrolling and scanning with its powerful radar and waiting for the right time to go down and fire its missiles and ran back.That was the only way to fight F-14,since it had zero air superiority and dog fighting fighter,while F-14 was best of its time.Iraqi's would often try to invade Iranian air space deep,which,again,was not smart.Iran had great ground radars as well and F-14 that could attack fighters from even further range than MiG-25s.Thou at long ranges,hits were a rarity and still are and AIM-54 did not prove reliable at the extremely long ranges.ITs advantage was its range and its massive warhead that ensured a kill if it hit anywhere near the aircraft,but wasn't as reliable as many think.
Iraqi's trying to use MiG-25 to invade Iranian air space and to do hit and ran tactics was dumb,as well as trying to engage F-14 directly.It had no chance in such application.
Good part is,despite bad strategies and tactics used by Iraqi higher ups,Iraqi pilots gained some great experience...well,those that survived.
I do not deny success of the Iranian Tomcats but it is most likely unfair to attribute it to the superiority of the bird (and I am not saying it is not great plane).
But the Iraqi pilots were most likely not trained on par with those in Iran neither I have ever heard that export version of the Tomcat had been ever made. While soviet weapons sold to the 3rd world countries often had greatly reduced capability.
Mig-25 was 100% pure interceptor but if used properly and at its full capacity it would be nasty opponent even for the Tomcat.
The most well presented and interesting briefing of it's type I've ever heard. Gives me as a novice, but big fan of the Tomcat, a much greater understanding and appreciation of the effort that went into design and manufacturing of the aircraft. To me the aircraft represents American exceptionalism at it's best. Sure wish they had been able to get that F-14B in service early 70's.
Great presentation. I worked as a avionics installer when I was 20 at the Bethpage plant. To see the plane fly brought goose bumps and made me so proud to be an American. Now at the twilight of my time here your story again makes me so proud that I helped to build the F14..
I was in a Navy air squadron from 1971-75. We were at Miramar for war games and I was out at the refueling stations, which were right off the runway, and waiting for our planes to return from the day's exercises, when the first operational F-14's came in. It was an incredible sight to see. Those F-14's came in so slow, with their wings full forward, and touched down so lightly, and then were able to turn off the runway in an incredibly short distance...I dunno...maybe 50-60 yards...? It was amazing to watch. Our squadron shared the same hangar with the Top Gun squadron...that was cool. And no...I didn't see Tom Cruise..LOL..!!
I got to arm one of these bad boys while I was overseas for OIF. We got to stand about 150ft from it when it took off with full ab's! My insides vibrated and my teeth chattered! I will NEVER forget that feeling as long as I live!!
I am not an American , my country never flew the F-14 but i love this plane so much it's my all time favorite plane in the world i just love to watch it fly , look at the movies it stared in , read about it and look up anything related to the F-14. Such a beauty and remarkable plane
I absolutly loved this plane. The noise they generated in afterburner was so great that 30 feet away you could not hear yourself scream. I always volunterred when they needed someone to ride in the back seat when they trimmed the engines at full thrust. It fellt like sitting inside a sustained explosion that would go on for minutes at a time. An afterburner blow out would nearly make you soil yourself in fear. I just could not get enough of the plane.
I'd have to say that the F14 is one coolest looking aircraft ever made.
Nice job on production of this clip...I was plane Capt with VF_41, share the same hanger as these guys...every thing mentioned here is right on and boy do I miss it ...to me F14 will always be the best...
Mustang P51 and F14 remains among the beautiful planes ever designed.
The spitfire is more beautiful than the mustang
As well as aircraft like the Corsair. People are so fickle, they think something is better simply if it’s prettier than another. Yes, if it looks right it’s usually right, but you can’t limit your brain like that.
I really miss working on all versions of this wonderful aircraft.
Incredible story very eloquently told. Thanks so much for sharing.
F-14 Plane Captain, Ordnanceman, Rescue Swimmer.......The roar of the Tomcat launching over you in the waste cats would make your teeth literally chatter ! I felt safe knowing Tomcats were protecting the carrier at all times ! Once alerted the Tomcats were launched in five minutes launch bar hooked in kneel at all times. I can't believe the Phoenix missiles are either destroyed at a million dollars a copy or sitting in an ordnance bunker. What an honor and privlidge as a young man to have been apart of the Tomcat.
John Shell
What squadron(s)? I was assigned to VF-124, 24 and 211 at Miramar, 80s
This was always THE plane to me. Excellent presentation. This man does an incredible job here. I hope he was a teacher ar some point because he's fantastic and engaging and energetic. Plus this was well edited, clear audio, the slides were shown at the right times. Just overall a great production. Thank you!
The Russians were kind of afraid of it. It is mentioned by name in "Mig Pilot" by Viktor Belenko, "an aircraft that had the ability to track and engage 12 targets at the same time". "If what they were saying is true, this Tomcat will destroy us before we ever see it!" Thought Belenko... also they told the truth about American pilots in Vietnam, "they would drive on to the target no matter how many missiles or how much flak was fired at them".
I worked for Grumman in the 90's (Calverton - Flight Test). Really miss that place. On the crash they show at 43 minutes, my brother was a witness to that crash out on Long Island (he was out on the LIE driving for work that day).
It was a great pleasure to listen to your words and stories. A proper presentation about the most beautiful plane ever crossed the skies. Thank you Sir.
Superb vidio ! NAS Mirimar & the F-14 were the pride of San Diego until Clinton turned over the base to the Marines & they sent Top Gun to NAS Fallon, the base has never felt the same, those were great times.
scott satren Ah yes the Clinton era. It was a great time to NOT be in the military! I left active duty in 1992 because it didn’t take genius to figure out which direction things would go under him. I stayed in the reserves until I retired in 2003. When I was at an active duty installation you could see how moral was low. Coming out of Desert Storm the HQMC estimated it would take 7 years to reset / rebuild its forces to prewar levels.
Before Clinton mind you. Under Clinton, units went without combat essential equipment for years. It was a hollow force. It stayed that way until George Bush the 2nd was elected, and the GWOT began. Things were so bad in under Clinton that when you went into the restrooms on base you were not going to find soap, or paper towels. If you found a role of toilet paper in a stall you took it with you when you left and hid it. You did not see any pens laying around. Those were fare game and stolen on sight.
And our forced got to relive those years under Obama with sequestration. Even today the services are trying to rebuild their air components, and increase the number of pilots, and planes.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful lecture. I tremendously enjoyed it. Mr. Ciminera is a great presenter, excellent communicator and a very smart man. Our country is fortunate to have talented engineers like him.
One quibble in the Q&A the speaker says 'the F-111 could do 1.2 Mach on the deck, no other aircraft could do that" - well the 1950's era F-105 routinely did 1.2 to even 1.3 Mach on the deck in egress from North Vietnam - and it accelerated to that speed quickly. Post-strike in SAM country with MiGs, the F-105 would often dive to the deck and egress at 100 ft AGL at 941 knots or better, then zoom up to tank after leaving the danger zone and fly back at cruise altitude. For many decades, nothing beat an F-105 on the deck.
F104 could also do that
Wonderful lecture. Mike, if you're out there, you owe us a story about the testing of the 20mm Vulcan cannon.
This has got to be my favorite video on UA-cam. As Norman said, the information is so articulately presented even with its complexity. I wish more videos like this existed.
Complex but he presented it in such a way that it was very understandable. I am sure it helps to have a basic understanding of how fighters operate but I think even some one with no real knowledge would have been able to follow along well enough. I too wish there were more videos out there like this. Would love to hear this stuff about the F-15, F-16, F-22, A-10 and F-35. Not to mention some of the planes overseas like the Typhoon or Rafale.
Wow, this was THE best technical explanation I've ever seen! TYVM! He carefully, yet concisely explained complex stuff so we all can understand it. I can't even explain what I had for lunch yesterday this accurately! Also very much appreciate his professionalism to repeat each question asked. Most just answer, leaving subsequent audiences guessing and less informed, & angry...haha!
Superb - lots of interesting detail not seen/heard elsewhere.
Amazing video. I didn't know this aircraft was so revolutionary.
I could listen to this guy talk all day!
The airbag concept was fascinating to me. Nice video. Thank you.
Thank you sir for that insight on my favorite aircraft!!
VERY informative. Quick moving video. You never lose focus in this video. Trust me, you will enjoy this one. Thank you for posting.
I sent away for a free F-14 owners manual, back in 1975. I got and still have it.
+Jack Frost I tried to order a NATOPS F-14 manual when I was in college LOL. No dice :(
hi, I knew Bob Kress, he designed the swing wing on the F14 Tom Cat and the software to make it work! he was also an avid RC modeler. he was a genus***** Nick Ziroli also worked on the F14 design and is a RC model aircraft designer too. but again, I knew Bob Kress and got a couple of his wonderful nitro Ducted Fan units, the RK740 and the RK 720. all the best***** Gary
I've watched this 3 times, absolutely amazing briefing! Thank your so much for posting this !
I'm having a Tomcatgasm!
If you're not sure if it's worth watching.... such a long video... It is!!! It was AWESOME!
Great video! Now waiting for part 2: Evolution from F-14 to Veritech Valkyrie.
I was an enlisted sailor on both The USS Forrestal and USS Saratoga in the early to mid 80s. Loved watching F-14s during Flight Ops from Vultures Row
Amazing Talk. Thank you. Its was very educational. I have a whole new respect for this airplane.
An outstanding and comprehensive lecture on the greatest fighter aircraft ever!
Best technical talk on the F-14. Now declassified...finally.
Just an excellent video by Mike Ciminera!
this guy manages to make all that aero stuff interesting and that's not easy to do! Never boring. Better then half the stuff on Mil channell.
Not because of the movie, the F-14 is still the sexiest fighter ever.
Adventure Ryan yeah
It really is.
RyanKC I liked the plane before I even saw the movie, the plane caught my attention after reading up about it, those wings make it look so awesome, I bet if they had not gotten rid of it we would still be using it and probably reduced size, made it a 1 seater and expanded its arsenal of useable equipment
No way...The panther was far sexier...then the Grumman goose....!..
Negative, F86 prettiest fighter ever made.
absolutely fantastic presentation!
I grew up just outside of Bethpage, NY, where the Tomcat was engineered and constructed. Seeing the early test article in the Cradle of Aviation at a young age doomed me to pursue a degree in aerospace engineering. My only regret is that Grumman is not here any longer to employ me, but this lecture is a sweet taste of what that may have been like.
To Pennisula Senior, is it possible to re-edit this fantastic presentation into HD version? I could almost use it as a lecture to my student for advanced aeronautic and weapon studying. A classic no doubt!
Top Gun 2 is coming. This video will get a lot of attention.
This is a remarkable document for an aviation passionate like me.
Thank you.
One of the most beautiful fighters ever
I would dare to go so far to say the most beautiful fighter even more beautiful than the spitfire.
A number of Russian fighters look better
Huxxy Have you ever seen a F-14 in person? They are beautiful
Huxxy I have seen one in person
They are the most beautiful fighter jets ever, bar none ( my opinion , of course).
Outstanding video! Absolutely loved it! The Tomcat is my all time favorite and I've learned so much from your channel! Big thanks!
*Great speech and video for a great plane.*
Fantastic documentary piece of history. So proud!!!
The most beautiful flying ever produced
Best Modern Jet Fighter documentary I've watched since that 2hours long about SU27
If anybody is reading this, you can see an F-14 displayed outside the Point Mugu NAWC if you are close to Oxnard California. Beautiful machine.
Couldn’t be better lecture about the Tomcat! Thank you so much!
MOST EXCELLENT PRESENTATION, THANK YOU ALL
What a marvellous video
the tomcat looks beautiful than the new figther jets of today
yes you are so right.
miko ken i personally believe the F/A-18 super hornet is better looking but just my opinion
F-14 is the most gorgeous and beautiful fighter ever made. It was the real star of the "Top Gun" movie. Anything else would look comical in place of it.
That’s when you use pencil to draw an outline of aircraft when they design it. That what computer will never able to replicate.
ZMartian Mine too! the F/A18 is dangerous. Looks it, too.
Excellent presentation, thank you Sir!
Thanks for posting, very enjoyable. I miss this bird, wish they kept upgrading this airframe instead of the super bug
What a gem of a video. This man loves the Tomcat as much as I do!
Thanks for sharing.Fantastic video.
First thing I want to say ts thank you to all the men and woman that create these beautiful machines. Now i have to say that this was simply amazing to listen to and watch. So comprehensive yet easily digested. I fell in love with military planes as a kid mostly because of my affinity for Tomcat and I have watched many docs on the Tomcat but this was just something special, to be able to listen to a guy that was integral to the design and development of this phenomenal aircraft was humbling. I think it's just amazing the things that these guys can do. I read the book Skunk Works and it's just truly mind boggling how these engineers are tasked with a project and their ability to solve 'impossible' problems to create these amazing machines that protect our great nation.
Absolutely wonderful treasure.
I would love to hear from Russian designers how the Tomcat influenced the development of the last two generations of Russian aircraft, which to my eye, adopted much of the geometry pioneered by the Tomcat (lifting body, widely spaced engine nacales, twin rudders, forward cockpit, etc.)
Well of course in true russian fashion they smuggled out what papers they could and put their best Vodka on the table. Results come quickly.
Cheers!
Mig-25 first flight 1964 - - F-14 first flight 1970
So if you imply copying of lifting body, widely spaced engine nacales, twin rudders, forward cockpit, etc, Russians were first.
Greetings from Slovenia.
Ohhh... that's the glove vane! I though there's something wrong with my large scale F-14 model (Revell) i assembled in the late or mid 70's when I was a kid. So every time i close the sweep wings it pops out that sharp (i thought it ugly) part. I though I assembled the wing sprocket incorrectly.
My all time favorite jet EVER
36:40
I would have LOVED to see to see the Tomcat 21 come to life with F22 level technology it would have been an incredible long to short range fighter with an impressive payload of bombs and missiles.
tripleflip7 that would be bad ASS! All the new tech rolled into that airframe design.
Great speech and presentation with marvelous DVD video. Excellence! good job love it.
Titanium Wings! Amazing, never guessed it! More reasons to love it even more :) and this jet shold be used more to army than navy. Because you dont need to maneuvar that much when you carry phoenix, you need to shoot them first and then engage with short ranged. There no need to add extra stress takinf off from a ship and landing on it, this jet is intended to intercept serious air threatenings.
Very pleased to see this vid ! :) Thank you team !
The NATF-22 concept is worth a mention. That was a proposal that appeared to combine design aspects of the F-22 and F-14 as a potential F-14 replacement. It was passed on primarily on cost concerns but also on the potential weight and it never made it passed the concept stage. The nose, intakes, and tails of the concept resembled an F-22 but the overall structure and the wings resembled an F-14.
Amazing talk! I had been wondering about the wing glove vanes for years because they are so rarely seen deployed
They welded them shut after a while. I heard in a video from some Tomcat pilots, that they took too much maintenance.
Super lecture! My all time favourite planes are 1.Tomcat & 2.Raptor.
This video extended my curiosity of creating an rc scratchbuilt design of F-14 that has sweeping wing feature. Hopefully I could finish it soon.
NICE THANKS FOR SHARE! THE F14 IS THE MOST ICONIC FIGHTER OF ALL TIMES IN THE SKIES, BLOW UP MY MIND SINCE I WAS A CHILD
Fantastic presentation.
thanks for the video. great engineering team and tremendous achievement.
What a shame that it had to be retired. One hell of a beautiful and versatile aircraft,my all time favorite!!!
My Dad was one of the lead designers. When he was alive he was one of 3 recognized experts in his field in the world. Navy gave him 2 metals for his design contributions. He was still working for Northrop Grumman when Lockheed Martin got the contract for the F22. Well the Navy wanted my father on the project so they told Grumman my dad was now working for Lockheed as the Chief Flight Test Engineer. Which meant that plane wasn't ready until my father said it was!
I do believe it would be a smart to upgrade the Tomcat and produce a modern version of it. From a purely looks aspect! There is no other plane that looks as bad ass as the F14. I used to play with the wooden mock up they made to present the plane to the Pentagon. They didn't have 3D CAD back then . They made models out of wood. I think made like ten hand made models. The wing moved and everything on it for a kid I had the only one to ever do that ! I honestly never thought of that before until now! We also had one of the models for the F111. The TomCat is still not a cat you wanna meet in an ally! But I often wonder how the two planes the F14 and the F22 would do against each other with equal horse power? They basically use the same over the horizon tactics.
Well, if our relationship with Iran continues to get worse, you could conceivably find out. Iran ran out of Phoenix missiles a long while ago, apparently, though, so that kind of answers the question.
My all time favorite aircraft of all time!
The AWG-9 radar was powerful, but had a fatal flaw. In actual service in the fleet, the mean time before failure of the AWG-9 was just about 1 hour. That's right - one hour. So, on average, that means the AWG-9 radar set would work right up until the Tomcat reached the outer bound of its unrefueled intercept range and then would, statistically have a 50 percent chance of not working. Even more problematic was that in the fleet defense role, a 3 hour loiter time was three times longer than the AWG-9 MTBF, and that doesn't include the transit time to patrol station. When the AWG-9 worked, it was the most powerful long-distance air-to-air radar set in any fighter/interceptor of the time. The huge caveat that ruined it as a key part of the weapons system was the ridiculously short MTBF in use in the fleet. As usual, Hughes blamed the maintainers for this. However, when the Navy investigated this problem and had Hughes technicians do the maintenance, the MTBF only increased to 2.3 hours. So the problem was not entirely due to Navy personnel being poorly trained or incompetent. The AWG-9 was rushed into production by Hughes without a thorough shakedown. Early radar tests at Pt. Mugu showed this problem, but Hughes and the Navy covered it up and assumed a fix would be available once the F-14 was ready to be deployed in the fleet. Unfortunately, a significant fix never came, although towards the end of its service life, the MTBF of the AWG-9 in fleet service was increased to 2.1 hours - after decades in use.
Amazing insight!
Just... everything about this talk... AMAZING!!!!
except the q and a when he said it wasn't used operationally. completely ignoring the IrAF.
Spectacular fighter.
And they couldn't have given it a better name either: "Tomcat"...