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F-14B loadout


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I have been working on and off on a Revell 1/48 F-14B, now extinct from

service and Revell. There is a weapons load of just 4 Sparrows in the wells.

Was this a legitimate weapons load? Shows no Phoenix pylons or any wing

pylons, but I would use fuel tanks. Using VF-143 Pukin Dogs decals. Thanks---John

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I have been working on and off on a Revell 1/48 F-14B, now extinct from

service and Revell. There is a weapons load of just 4 Sparrows in the wells.

Was this a legitimate weapons load? Shows no Phoenix pylons or any wing

pylons, but I would use fuel tanks. Using VF-143 Pukin Dogs decals. Thanks---John

I've seen photos of F-14's carrying 4 AIM-7's, all on stations 3, 4, 5, & 6 but I've never personally loaded four, only two on stations 1b and 8b (the wing LAU-92's). There wouldn't be any Phoenix pylons for this load, the pallets conceal the LAU-192's in the belly staions, even the centerline, stations 5 & 4; the LAU-92 is visible but the pylon takes up too much room on both sides. Re. the wing plyons, (LAU-92 / LAU-7) I've never seen an F-14 without stations 1 and 8 having at least the pylon and a LAU-92 or 93 loaded, even the demo birds in 101 & 124. They'd fly the jet pretty "clean" for less drag but they still had the wing glove pylons, especially a fleet bird like the Pukin Dogs.

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Thank you. I will go with shoulder pylons on 1 and 8 with LAU 92s, Aim 7s in stations 3,4,5 and 6,

fuel tanks on 7 and 2. Sounds easy to me. I already have enough work in building and filling seams.

It's decent build for the bucks but takes a bit of elbow grease to fill the gaps.---John

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If it's anything in the recent scheme of things, then it's been a looooong time since that kind of load out has been flown. Our last Tomcat cruise in '04 had us occasionally flying Sparrows on Sta. 2, and 9M's on station 1A. Very rarely we would actually load on station 4 in the trough on the belly, but that was only in the event that we had a down 92 pylon, and couldn't come across a replacement quick enough. God, how I do not miss swapping those 92's out, or the cavity plugs that would blank them off if not in place. I miss that plane, but I don't miss the life support issues we had there towards the end.

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If it's anything in the recent scheme of things, then it's been a looooong time since that kind of load out has been flown. Our last Tomcat cruise in '04 had us occasionally flying Sparrows on Sta. 2, and 9M's on station 1A. Very rarely we would actually load on station 4 in the trough on the belly, but that was only in the event that we had a down 92 pylon, and couldn't come across a replacement quick enough. God, how I do not miss swapping those 92's out, or the cavity plugs that would blank them off if not in place. I miss that plane, but I don't miss the life support issues we had there towards the end.

No **** dude! That and phase on the gun - pain in the six! We flew bloc 90 and 110 A's, a lot of our cavity plugs would get stripped and it would take forever to get the damn things out.

Back to the topic, yea like I said while I was in I never saw a Tomcat loaded with 4 Sparrows, just pics. On cruise we'd fly a pair on sta. 1B & 8B. We loaded one at Fallon on sta. #4 and the damn thing didn't pickle and we had to download it, we're we ******! It wasn't our fault though, something with the 92, we had to pull the damn thing and sent it to AIMD. As far as AIM-9's and two LAU-7's, yes and no. We were on det. at Nellis AFB and again the LAU-92 on either the port or starboard side was down, can't remember which. We loaded an additional LAU-7 so we could fly a CATM-9M and a TACTS pod, we were a part of red air for a Red Flag class. That was a great det. by the way! 21 y.o.a. in Vegas, look out!

I miss it too, she was a wonderful airplane and I'm very proud to say I was apart of the F-14 community; not every community can say that they went out on top and were replaced by an inferior airplane. "Scrapilot," we're you with VF-201? I see you're from Ft. Worth.

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No **** dude! That and phase on the gun - pain in the six! We flew bloc 90 and 110 A's, a lot of our cavity plugs would get stripped and it would take forever to get the damn things out.

Back to the topic, yea like I said while I was in I never saw a Tomcat loaded with 4 Sparrows, just pics. On cruise we'd fly a pair on sta. 1B & 8B. We loaded one at Fallon on sta. #4 and the damn thing didn't pickle and we had to download it, we're we ******! It wasn't our fault though, something with the 92, we had to pull the damn thing and sent it to AIMD. As far as AIM-9's and two LAU-7's, yes and no. We were on det. at Nellis AFB and again the LAU-92 on either the port or starboard side was down, can't remember which. We loaded an additional LAU-7 so we could fly a CATM-9M and a TACTS pod, we were a part of red air for a Red Flag class. That was a great det. by the way! 21 y.o.a. in Vegas, look out!

I miss it too, she was a wonderful airplane and I'm very proud to say I was apart of the F-14 community; not every community can say that they went out on top and were replaced by an inferior airplane. "Scrapilot," we're you with VF-201? I see you're from Ft. Worth.

No, my Navy days are over. I did a tour with VF-101 back in 2001 (I checked in three weeks before 9/11, so much for all them glory stories of six month booze cruises around the Med), and in 2003 I shifted across the flightline to VF-143. Was there from '03 - '07. Transitioned from the Tomcat to the Super Hornet. Feels good reliving all the war stories of 56 day inspections, and god awful parts. lol. Although I must admit, PITA doesn't even begin to describe configuring those pony's for a Phoenix shoot after they haven't had any Phoenix gear on them for years. THAT sucked!!! I remember we had to literally hammer the bolts out of the access panels on the side of the Lau-93 pylons to gain access inside. It was rough. After four days of configuring, troubleshooting, and flush and fills....they cancelled the shoot. lol. So we took all that stuff off only for them to give it the green light again four days later .

We were not happy Ordnancemen. :rofl:

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No, my Navy days are over. I did a tour with VF-101 back in 2001 (I checked in three weeks before 9/11, so much for all them glory stories of six month booze cruises around the Med), and in 2003 I shifted across the flightline to VF-143. Was there from '03 - '07. Transitioned from the Tomcat to the Super Hornet. Feels good reliving all the war stories of 56 day inspections, and god awful parts. lol. Although I must admit, PITA doesn't even begin to describe configuring those pony's for a Phoenix shoot after they haven't had any Phoenix gear on them for years. THAT sucked!!! I remember we had to literally hammer the bolts out of the access panels on the side of the Lau-93 pylons to gain access inside. It was rough. After four days of configuring, troubleshooting, and flush and fills....they cancelled the shoot. lol. So we took all that stuff off only for them to give it the green light again four days later .

We were not happy Ordnancemen. :rofl:/>

***?! After they cut half of the fleet, (VF-114 included) I thought more parts would become available, guess not. We were cannibalizing jets in the 90's too. As soon as they broke down the line at Bethpage parts became almost impossible to get. We were getting stuff from 213, Grumman, AMARC, rarely was anything new, most of it was taken off other jets. "Six month booze cruises," yea sorry pal, you did miss out. I did one WESTPAC and a World Cruise; Cubi Point P.I., Pattaya Beach Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore. All we did was party and other things...I was a very rich AOAN! We did have a 52 day line period though in the Gulf, cyclic ops. But, we were strictly Fleet Air Defense then; AIM-9L, AIM-7F, single AIM-54C, no A/G then either. We flew a lot of BARCAP and ran intercepts and escorts with the Russians; life was good post TOPGUN!

Your airplanes didn't have any Phoenix gear on them for years? Really? Everything get yanked for the A/G role? I guess, it makes sense. You were a part of history though man; as much as it sucked taking care of them its guys like you that helped keep her alive until 2006. I did get pretty experienced with the whole hurry up and get this done and then it would get cancelled stuff, those days fade the longer you're out man. What did you think of the Rhino? It had to be nice working with a new airplane. I have a good friend of mine who's a RIO, I mean WSO with the Diamondbacks. He said it isn't a Tomcat but it's a very capable a/c.

One other thing, when you were with 101 was your Skipper "Slammer" Richardson? He was a J.O. when I was with the Aardvarks, coolest zero I ever worked for and an awesome driver. We're you with the Dogs when they lost their Skipper in that class A? Hea man, awesome to chat with another VF AO.

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Related question---whats a real weapons load for an F-14A with a TARPS pod and 2 phoenix forward pylons?

The jet needs weight in the front to balance the TARPS pod. Normally that would be a pair of empty Phoenix pallets, but I have read of Sparrows rarely being placed up front. The Sparrows would be pure ballast, as they could not be fired in that configuration.

I have a photo of an F-14A in OEF with a TARPS pod, two Phoenix pallets forward, and two Sidewinders.

TARPS equipped F-14Ds have dropped GBU-12 and Mk 82 dumb bombs from the forward pallets, but never with the LTS pod, as the two systems used the same wiring and control panel. JDAM could not be carried with the TARPS pod, as the JDAM was too big.

My source is US NAVY F-14 Tomcat Units of Operation Iraqi Freedom, by Tony Holmes.

Edited by Rocky
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I have been working on and off on a Revell 1/48 F-14B, now extinct from

service and Revell. There is a weapons load of just 4 Sparrows in the wells.

Was this a legitimate weapons load? Shows no Phoenix pylons or any wing

pylons, but I would use fuel tanks. Using VF-143 Pukin Dogs decals. Thanks---John

Yes, it was a legitimate load, and I have seen photos of F-14As with four Sparrows in the wells and four Sidewinders on the wing pylons. You could also have six Sparrows and two Sidewinders, but I have never seen evidence of that configuration actually being used. I recall that an F-14B demonstrated the ability to supercruise with the wing pylons removed, and four Sparrows in the missile wells, but I doubt it was ever used operationally.

Edited by Rocky
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In regards to the OP's original question, it's a legit loadout... if not one often seen on a F-14B. It would've been a bigger possibility when the F-14B (then called the F-14A Plus)first hit the fleet in the late 1980s... as one progresses through the 1990s with the development and employment of the bomb shackles it would've become a lot less common occurence.

Someone asked about the quad-sidewinder loadout if it was legit, When "Wichita 103" from VF-1 shot down a Hind in the first Gulf war, it was configured 4x4 'winders and sparrows and two wet. I'll wager that was a typical combat loadout at the time.

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Yes, it was a legitimate load, and I have seen photos of F-14As with four Sparrows in the wells and four Sidewinders on the wing pylons. You could also have six Sparrows and two Sidewinders, but I have never seen evidence of that configuration actually being used. I recall that an F-14B demonstrated the ability to supercruise with the wing pylons removed, and four Sparrows in the missile wells, but I doubt it was ever used operationally.

Operationally, for the B it wasn't common, but for the A it was. I think the B's pretty much went the way of the AIM-7 adpater on the shoulder pylons, and by the time LTS hit the fleet and the AIM-54 was phased out, the AIM-7 adapter was pretty common on the port shoulder pylon.

Still, I say load your B however you want. My only pet peave is when I see 2 GBU-24's loaded side-by-side in the tunnel on a tomcat model..lol

Edited by VFA-103guy
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When we flew against Libya (really dating myself here) both us (VF-33) and sis (VF-102) were configured 4/4/0 plus the two drops. We had deployed configured for 2/2/2 but the Battle Group commander was afraid one of the Tomcats would take a long range Phoenix shot and start a war. We got the word to reconfigure all our jets one night early in the cruise...what a circus that was! The ship actually ran out of the LAU-92 B-stations so we had at least one jet 2/6/0 for a while until they flew more in from the beach. I was in IWT, fun times trying to get all the missile checks done! We kept the 4/4/0 config for the rest of the '86 cruise (on the late great USS America).

-CJ

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When we flew against Libya (really dating myself here) both us (VF-33) and sis (VF-102) were configured 4/4/0 plus the two drops. We had deployed configured for 2/2/2 but the Battle Group commander was afraid one of the Tomcats would take a long range Phoenix shot and start a war. We got the word to reconfigure all our jets one night early in the cruise...what a circus that was! The ship actually ran out of the LAU-92 B-stations so we had at least one jet 2/6/0 for a while until they flew more in from the beach. I was in IWT, fun times trying to get all the missile checks done! We kept the 4/4/0 config for the rest of the '86 cruise (on the late great USS America).

-CJ

Yep, that's about when I built mine with the 4 Sidewinders, give a couple years....

Yes you are correct. Sorry I wasn't clear. Also those were F-14As, so maybe not exactly what the OP was looking for.

-CJ

That was me shoehorning in my request for a bit of info, thanks, I think the 4 Sidewinders looks neat.

Curt

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