Capt.Hunt Posted August 27, 2022 Share Posted August 27, 2022 (edited) I'm working on an Academy F-14A, which is going to represent Fast Eagle 102 from the Gulf of Sidra Incident, I'd like it to look like it has just landed back on the Nimitz after shooting down the Libyan Su-22. However, I'm having trouble finding reference material for how the rocket on a Sidewinder might effect the aircraft's finish. I've heard anecdotally that the missiles do leave burn marks and soot on the pylons when fired, but I haven't been able to find pictures illustrating it. A pic of a Tomcat that has fired a sidewinder would obviously be ideal, but anything that shows a fired Sidewinder rail would probably help. As for this plane in particular, there's only one or two grainy black and white pictures I know of that show the aircraft from this incident immediately after they returned to the boat. Edited August 27, 2022 by Capt.Hunt Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GW8345 Posted August 28, 2022 Share Posted August 28, 2022 I don't have any pics but can tell you that the back outboard side of the launcher will be heavily covered in soot and the horizontal stab will have a scorch mark on the leading edge (both top and bottom) going back about six inches. The scorch mark would be light gray/tan color and the back end of the launcher would be covered a dark gray colored soot. There may also be soot marks/very light scorching on the stab going back about half the cord of the stab. hth Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nate Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 Not sure about missiles, and I know it's not the right F-14 timeframe, but the F-14 Tomcast Episode 23 (OEF Ops) had an interesting discussion about how the BOL chaff/flare made a huge mess on the H-Stabs. They came back from a mission after expending almost all of their countermeasures and the maintenance crew was pissed about the mess until they realized how many MANPADs/SAMs they had to evade and that they legitimately needed all of them ...might be worth investigating to at least figure out where the weathering occurs in the H-Stabs since it's the same pylon location? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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