Rapier Posted September 29, 2008 Share Posted September 29, 2008 Hi there, just want to build a early Tomcat from Hasegawas K39 1/72-kit. There are two options for VF-1 Wolfpack NK-100 158979 and NK-111 158993 Both differing by the kind of used "Beavertail" and the amount of stencilling or silver leading edges. In John Lakes book is a profile of NK-100 which confuses me more in comparism with Hasegawas building instruction. Anyone able to tell these details in early tomcats? :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skull Leader Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 I'm not sure if I understand the question.... are you asking which beavertail the jets would've had during "frequent wind"? If so, they had this one: In terms of stencilling, the longer a jet is at sea (and consequently has the paintjob touched up), the fewer stencils you are likely to see. I would imagine that all of the jets had full stencilling at the time they deployed for Yankee Station. Late in the cruise? it's hard to say. As far as bare-metal leading edges, almost ALL of the tomcat paintschemes of the 1970s featured BMF leading edges on every flight surface. I know one of the pilots that deployed with VF-1 on that cruise, I'll forward these to him and ask. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rapier Posted September 30, 2008 Author Share Posted September 30, 2008 Thanks in advance, Skull Leader, and you understand my question quite well... Hasegawas building instruction stated for NK-100 like your picture from home of the m.a.t.s.. There I can't find information on circumstances for taking off the dielectric panels. NK-111 is stated to have the dielectric panels installed while cruising. Are these panels taken off at Grumman or at the Enterprise? NK-100 is in full, NK-111 is in minor stencilling. Color Instruction stated for both planes only wing leading edge and tail leading edge as bare metal, not for the horizontal stabilizers. Homepage of VF-1 doesn't cover this early Tomcats by shown pictures. ;) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rotaliscia Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 (edited) As for World Air Power Journal book (I'm not at home now, and don't remember the title) the dielectric panels were removed due to the vibrations they generated. Regards Paolo Edited January 5, 2011 by rotaliscia Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rapier Posted September 30, 2008 Author Share Posted September 30, 2008 Thanks rotaliscia, Next question appeared: Do the planes have an Alpha-probe or not. What IRST-/TCS-pod do they carry? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brian P: Fightertown Decals Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 No alpha probe. No TCS. They did have the old IRST on some jets during the first cruise, but I don't know if that was on all of them. -brian Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rapier Posted September 30, 2008 Author Share Posted September 30, 2008 Thanks, Mr. Plescia! Your outstanding hints were the cause for building Hasegawas early Tomcat! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VFA-103guy Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 A lot of what you're asking depends on the production block you're wanting to build. I can almost guarantee VF-1's first deployment F-14's were block 70 or 75 jets, or a mix of both as Brian stated. If memory serves correctly, here's a quick break down. Block 70 jets were fitted with the dielectric panels and the ALQ-100 receiver under the nose. Block 75 jets were fitted with the IRST with the dielectric panels removed. Either way, there was no Alpha probe on either version. The Alpha probe didn't appear on the F-14 until the block 95 upgrade. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rapier Posted September 30, 2008 Author Share Posted September 30, 2008 Thanks, VFA-103guy! As posted in the headline both serials belonged to block 70 according to my referrences. :mellow: But I've found no pictures from operation "Frequent Wind". In John Lakes book a flight of VF-1 is shown but in low resolution. Nothing to see for sure. But till now it's good to know: - no Alpha-Probe, - ALQ-100 - dielectric panels all this stated Hasegawa for NK-111, BuNo 158993. This aircraft should have full stencillling - but color-instruction tells only minor stencilling. So not every question ist answered till now. :unsure: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skull Leader Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 If the paintscheme is calling for gull grey with the bottom of the aircraft being white, I'd go full-stencilling. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skull Leader Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Ok, I just got an email back from "Turk" and he confirmed that some of the jets went to cruise with the dialectric panels installed, but those were all removed at some point during the cruise (so I guess in theory you could build them with or without and still be accurate). He wasn't the CC officer for VF-1, so he could not say for 100% certain, but as near as he could remember, all the jets had full, standard stencilling (with the gull grey over white paintjob). I had asked him before about the IRST sensor, and I seem to recall him saying they only took one or two of those pods with them, and they almost never got used. I'll email him again to see if he remembers which jets had them installed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rapier Posted September 30, 2008 Author Share Posted September 30, 2008 Thanks, Skull Leader! Yes it's 16440 over 17875 with a 33613 nose. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skull Leader Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 I asked him again about the IRST pods, and this is all I got from him: "Some of the jets had them, but we never used them... I think the pods were empty by that point" He gave me the email of a guy who used to be a grumman tech during those days, I'll ask him more about frequent wind tomcats. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rapier Posted October 1, 2008 Author Share Posted October 1, 2008 He gave me the email of a guy who used to be a grumman tech during those days, I'll ask him more about frequent wind tomcats. I'm looking forward to your reply! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sig Saur & Son Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 According to my research, the following Tomcats were assigned to VF-1 during OPERATION FREQUENT WIND timeframe. However, the squadron only took ten on deployment. 158979 158981 158982 158984 158989 158990 158991 158993 158994 158996 158998 159000 159001 (Lost 1-75) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rapier Posted October 1, 2008 Author Share Posted October 1, 2008 Great, Sig Saur & Son! Both - 158979 and 158993 are confirmed for Frequent Wind by that. First Part of the model (display card) ist done. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rotaliscia Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 (edited) Thanks for the infos and for sharing your contacts, Skull Leader. Please, extend our thanks to both them. And obviously thanks to Sig Saur & Son as well. There's a lot of us here interested on VF-1's First Cruise. (...when a new and correct decal sheet?) Paolo Edited October 1, 2008 by rotaliscia Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sig Saur & Son Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 My confidence is high in those BuNos because they came right from the VF-1 Command History. Cheers, dave Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brian P: Fightertown Decals Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 Sitting on about 3000 pictures from the first Tomcat workups and cruise, effectively their first 4 years of Tomcats from a photographer in the squadron that just happens to live down the street!! VF-1 and VF-2 Delivery-first cruise (and more) is high on the priority list. It's taking a while but the result will be a heckuva decal sheet! -brian Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RedHeadKevin Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 ON an unrelated topic... I just decided that after a big meal, or lots of fiber, that I'm going to start euphemistically calling the aftermath "flying in Operatioin Frequent Wind." Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rapier Posted October 1, 2008 Author Share Posted October 1, 2008 My thanks once more to Paolo, Dave and Brian. I see we aren't at the end of this topic... But there be a lot more to discuss around Tomcats first cruise. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Firehawk Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 Well I can confirm that Bu.No. 158998 was involved with Operation "Frequent Wind". I work with an aviation museum that has this bird in our collection. Just a little bit on the aircraft: Our F-14 has a total of 1599 flight hours, 387 carrier landings and 375 carrier catapult takeoffs (known as cat shots). This aircraft was the 59th built and the 57th to be delivered to the Navy on February 20, 1974. It first served with VF-1 "Wolfpack" aboard the USS Enterprise from May 1974 through July 1976. VF-1 along with VF-2 "Bounty Hunters" were the first operational Tomcat squadrons ever deployed on an operational Cruise. During this time, our Tomcat flew missions during a WestPac cruise under the code name Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of Saigon, South Vietnam. This makes our Tomcat a true Vietnam vet. The aircraft was transferred to the training squadron VF-124 "Gunfighters" in July of 1976 were it spent approximately 1 year. In June of 1977, it was transferred to VF-2 "Bounty Hunters", the sister squadron to VF-1 aboard the Enterprise again. While with VF-2, this aircraft also flew off the USS Ranger and USS Kitty Hawk. After serving aboard ship, the aircraft was assigned to 3 prominent Naval Air Stations: * NAS Point Mugu from August 1986 to September 1989 * NAS Patuxent River from April 1990 to March 1991 * NAWC Warminster from September 1989 to April 1990 and again from March 1991 until it was stricken on April 7, 1992. As a slightly more interesting note, the E-2B Hawkeye (Bu. No. 152484) in our collection was also aboard the USS Ranger at the same time in 1981. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rotaliscia Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 Good to see this interesting old thread on early VF-1's Tomcats re-upped. An F-14 with just 1599 flight ours in total, before to rest in a museum? From 1974 thru 1992? Seems to me really few, I wouldn't have never guessed. But it's normal? How many flight ours can be considered the standard for an F-14's operative life? Regards all! Paolo Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jennings Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 387 carrier landings and 375 carrier catapult takeoffs Can somebody 'splain me how you can have 12 more landings than takeoffs? I went back through all of my log books, and (thankfully) so far, the ratio of takeoffs to landings is exactly 1:1. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Milo Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 Can somebody 'splain me how you can have 12 more landings than takeoffs? I went back through all of my log books, and (thankfully) so far, the ratio of takeoffs to landings is exactly 1:1. You're kidding, aren't you? It's pretty obvious. 387 carrier landings and 375 carrier catapult takeoffs (known as cat shots). I'm not a Naval Aviator, but I'm pretty sure they can take off from a land-based runway and fly to a carrier at sea. I think I saw it on TV once.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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