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VF-1 tomcats USS Enterprise Vietnam 1974


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50 minutes ago, Darren Roberts said:

 

The Hasegawa parts are too narrow. I was surprised at how narrow the Hasegawa kit is between the engines. You could modify it using plastic shims and two part epoxy.

I'm assuming you're talking about your resin parts......I meant the plastic bits in the kit

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E left from and returned to Alameda on that first Tomcat cruise. 

I do recall seeing some dielectric covers on beaver tails during the cruise. Perhaps they were on replacement ac for some of the lost Tomcats during cruise. 

We did operate off SVN during that cruise, at times, but there was  about a two week period right at the end (when Saigon fell) where we were on alert with bombs loaded (I was with A-6's). Don't know what the Tomcats were doing when they flew during that period but couple of their troubleshooters said they were doing show of force around Saigon area to make sure Migs didn't come in the area and interfere with the helo evacuation activities. 

Not many Tomcat pics in that cruise book but I you can find the Famous Aircraft of the World (FAOW) issue on the F-14, there are a number of nice pics of Tomcats from that cruise. 

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On ‎20‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 8:01 PM, Finn said:

 

edit: here is a pic, the caption says it's over South Vietnam:

 

f76e612c401bec40ef700b2f7c243895.jpg

 

Jari

Hi,

 

It seems to me like NK103 is equiped with a IRST pod in that picture.

Which one of the Hasegawa pods is the correct one for the first cruise? I figure it's the one made up of E29 and E30?

 

Cheers, Stefan.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 21.11.2016 at 8:07 PM, Falconxlvi said:

Does anyone know if Wichita 101 had the IR sensor installed for the first cruise?  I've seen a couple of web photos of 101 with and without the sensor but can't determine the time frame.

The IRST probe was a switch on / off device that proved as quite ill functioning and unreliable. It had been abolished rather quickly and didn't resurface before it was integrated in the double chin pod of the Delta. It was frequently interchanged and switched between several birds of the two squadrons so you will find images of quite a few VF-1 and VF-2 first cruise birds sometimes with and sometimes without the IRST attached. There are plenty of pics of 158627 (Wichita 101) depicting her apon delivery in June 73 just with the ALQ, i.e. without IRST, during workups in late '73 / early '74 with the IRST, there are some showing her aboard CVAN-65 in late '74 also with IRST attached and yet you have some aboard without in early '75. You just do as you wish there. Both are fine.

Edited by bushande
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On 24.11.2016 at 4:54 AM, Reddog-03 said:

Bureau Numbers and Modex's for VF-1 and VF-2 for the first cruise...

 

http://www.gonavy.jp/CVW14-NK1974.html

 

Some of the BuNos are wrong. Just for instance: NK-101 was 158627 during the first cruise. The serial given in the link is from the second cruise.

VF-2s first NK-201 was sistership 158629. I'm sure there are other inconsistencies there as well. The NK-201 featured in the Tamiya kit is a follow on bird in '76, i.e. 159625. Not the same bird as VF-2s first NK-201 in '73-'74 (158629 had the boat tail and the ENterprise on the intakes rather than on the tail fins) plus other little things that changed depending on the time frame.

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8 hours ago, bushande said:

The IRST probe was a switch on / off device that proved as quite ill functioning and unreliable. It had been abolished rather quickly and didn't resurface before it was integrated in the double chin pod of the Delta. It was frequently interchanged and switched between several birds of the two squadrons so you will find images of quite a few VF-1 and VF-2 first cruise birds sometimes with and sometimes without the IRST attached. There are plenty of pics of 158627 (Wichita 101) depicting her apon delivery in June 73 just with the ALQ, i.e. without IRST, during workups in late '73 / early '74 with the IRST, there are some showing her aboard CVAN-65 in late '74 also with IRST attached and yet you have some aboard without in early '75. You just do as you wish there. Both are fine.

Fantastic information - thanks!

 

Steve

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On 11/22/2016 at 5:40 AM, jbryan911 said:

There are any picture per say, but check out "Roger, Ball." It's Capt.John "Hawk" Smith's bio. There's a chapter about the VF-1 Vietnam cruise with the Tomcat.

https://www.amazon.com/ROGER-BALL-ODYSSEY-MONROE-FIGHTER/dp/1605280054

 

Great book and the stories about Top Gun were interesting.  In particular one engagement with the legendary "Hoser" during ACEVAL/AIMVAL.

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5 hours ago, Aigore said:

The big picture is getting clearer.... think I'll do mine with the dielectric panels still attached and the IRST pod.

Did they have the hexagonal reinforcement plates on the fins or do they need to come off?

I believe the hex stiffeners should be removed.

 

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On ‎7‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 10:42 PM, Darren Roberts said:

I believe the hex stiffeners should be removed.

 

Hi, Darren.

 

Do you mean the hexagonal stiffeners like the ones in the new Tamiya kit, not the later L-shaped stiffeners?  

I thought that the ones like in the Tamiya kit had always been there. I had a quick look at some early Tomcat photos, but of course it is very hard to see if there is anything there or not.

 

Cheers, Stefan.

 

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43 minutes ago, Stefan buysse said:

Hi, Darren.

 

Do you mean the hexagonal stiffeners like the ones in the new Tamiya kit, not the later L-shaped stiffeners?  

I thought that the ones like in the Tamiya kit had always been there. I had a quick look at some early Tomcat photos, but of course it is very hard to see if there is anything there or not.

 

Cheers, Stefan.

 

Early Tomcats didn't have any stiffeners. I believe they were put on soon after the first couple of years.

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11 hours ago, Darren Roberts said:

Early Tomcats didn't have any stiffeners. I believe they were put on soon after the first couple of years.

 

Thanks, Darren.

 

I have an interest in the really early Tomcats. Some day I might build one with your early gun muzzle. The big fences seem like a daunting prospect for me, but now that the Tamiya kit is here I might some day get adventurous on a Hasegawa Tomcat .

 

Cheers, Stefan.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Aaaahhhhh!! Folks, check your ressources before you tell people things that are flat out wrong!

The hexagonal stiffener plates have been there all along, also on the very early birds. Even the last few prototypes had them attached. It was the L-braces that were introduced by beginning of the 80's. Your VF-1 bird DOES NEED the hexagonal stiffeners just as they are already provided in the kit!!! Do NOT remove them!!!

 

(Sorry for the small size but for some reason I seem to be only allowed to upload pics of no more than 102 kb. What's the issue with that though?)

Old Tail Stiffener detail 1 small.jpg

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Great thread!
Then, to sum up, in order to build-up a VF-1 bird with the tan radome, but with standard tail provvided in the Tamiya kit (I'm not too confidend in my surgery skills), I've find out that is possible to select Bu.No. 159858 F-14A-90-GR NE112 in dec-78.  Any other choice, as far as you know?  Thanks!

 

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4 hours ago, bushande said:

Aaaahhhhh!! Folks, check your ressources before you tell people things that are flat out wrong!

The hexagonal stiffener plates have been there all along, also on the very early birds. Even the last few prototypes had them attached. It was the L-braces that were introduced by beginning of the 80's. Your VF-1 bird DOES NEED the hexagonal stiffeners just as they are already provided in the kit!!! Do NOT remove them!!!

 

(Sorry for the small size but for some reason I seem to be only allowed to upload pics of no more than 102 kb. What's the issue with that though?)

Old Tail Stiffener detail 1 small.jpg

Good picture. I'm going to have to research this a bit more. It was my understanding that the early jets didn't have them, but they were added pretty quickly. I've linked a picture that seems to show no braces. I magnified it as best I could to look, but because of the red paint, I may have missed them. I'm going to be doing a prototype, so this is information I need. 

 

VF-1-F-14A-706x520.jpg

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1 hour ago, rotaliscia said:

Great thread!
Then, to sum up, in order to build-up a VF-1 bird with the tan radome, but with standard tail provvided in the Tamiya kit (I'm not too confidend in my surgery skills), I've find out that is possible to select Bu.No. 159858 F-14A-90-GR NE112 in dec-78.  Any other choice, as far as you know?  Thanks!

 

I think you've got it.

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3 hours ago, Darren Roberts said:

Good picture. I'm going to have to research this a bit more. It was my understanding that the early jets didn't have them, but they were added pretty quickly. I've linked a picture that seems to show no braces. I magnified it as best I could to look, but because of the red paint, I may have missed them. I'm going to be doing a prototype, so this is information I need. 

 

VF-1-F-14A-706x520.jpg

I have a higher resolution version of that image and some from other angles where the hex-braces are visible. That image is from a photo ops flight in July '73 just one month after delivery of 8627 to VF-1 in June. I also got some shots of the transition flight from the Grumman plants in Bethpage to Miramar in VF-1 colors but still with the skunk stripe going all over the spine and the hex braces were there already.

 

They really should be there right from the start ;-)

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9 minutes ago, bushande said:

I have a higher resolution version of that image and some from other angles where the hex-braces are visible. That image is from a photo ops flight in July '73 just one month after delivery of 8627 to VF-1 in June. I also got some shots of the transition flight from the Grumman plants in Bethpage to Miramar in VF-1 colors but still with the skunk stripe going all over the spine and the hex braces were there already.

 

They really should be there right from the start ;-)

Good to know! Now the question is did the development/prototype aircraft have them?

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