Odd ET/Pod on early F-14A

[stu_fishing]

Hey guys,

 

as I´m always looking out for odd loadouts for my Tomcat collection in 1/144 i came across these two ladies in David Browns book Tomcat Alley:

 

One is clearly a travel pod (although i`ve never seen any photos of Tomcats carrying them).

 

But what the heck is the other? Looks like an A-4 or A-7 Fuel can to me???

 

[stu_fishing]

[GW8345]

Those are CNU-188 Baggage pods, basically, a modified old AERO 1D External Fuel Tank (the kind used on the A-7, A-4, A-6, EA-6B, S-3, etc).

 

In the old days it was allowed to be carried on the front stations but after several engine FOD's due to the fasteners coming out of the cargo door it was only authorized for the aft stations.

[stu_fishing]

20 hours ago, GW8345 said:

Those are CNU-188 Baggage pods, basically, a modified old AERO 1D External Fuel Tank (the kind used on the A-7, A-4, A-6, EA-6B, S-3, etc).

 

In the old days it was allowed to be carried on the front stations but after several engine FOD's due to the fasteners coming out of the cargo door it was only authorized for the aft stations.

Great Thx a lot!

 

I will iclude that on the next early tomcat!

[GW8345]

Depending on the time frame you are doing will determine what bomb rack will be needed in the weapons rail.

 

If you are doing before 1990, you will need to scratch build the bomb rack since there are no aftermarket available. Here is a pic of the adapter and bomb rack installed in a Phoenix Pylon, it's the same adapter/rack used in the weapons rail for the CNU-188 prior to 1990;

 

 

Here a drawing of the CNU-188;

http://www.anft.net/f-14/f14-detail-baggcont.htm

 

Now, even though it was illegal to fly the pod on the forward station after 1990, west coast squadrons continue to do it for a few more years since they were a little "slow" in follow regulations.

 

BTW, the top pic you posted used the later bomb rack (BRU-32), the bottom pic has the BRU-10.

 

hth

GW

Edited April 9, 2018 by GW8345

[Martin @ AMK Models]

Great Pic Gerry

[stu_fishing]

Thanks a lot GW!

 

In 1/144 the options are actually quite limited, but the Platz A-4 fuel cans come with a rack that should make an easy conversion for the early version and BRU-32s are available through several sources.

 

However I do like your pic with the Harpoons, that is something to follow upon for another project.

 

Br Thomas

[GW8345]

Thanks but I can't take credit for the pic, it was the best one I found online that showed the BRU-10 and Adapter so I just copied the URL and pasted in the post.

 

Stu, missed that you are doing 1/144 scale so I wouldn't worry about scratch building the BRU-10/Adapter, at that scale you won't see much of it and what you would see would look like a Lego brick.

[GW8345]

Came across this set of walk around pics of the gate guard F-14D at NAS Oceana that has the BRU-10 and Adapter installed, there are several shots that show the old set used before the BRU-32/ADU-703's set up. The BRU-10 and adapter were only used for ALQ-167's and baggage pod, the only known time it was used for air to ground ordnance was for testing by VX-9.

 

Thought I'd pass it along incase anyone was interested.

 

http://www.carrierbuilders.net/element/element.php?id=582