AP 118 · No. 10 Section II · Aircraft Plate 280 / 315

Plate 280 of 315 · Cold War · Carrier fleet defence fighter

Grumman F-14 Tomcat

F-14D BuNo 161159, painted as Grumman F-14D Super Tomcat BuNo 161159, ‘AJ 204’ of VF-213 Black Lions, which flew the Tomcat’s last combat mission on 8 February 2006 and is displayed at the National Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola, Florida: the US Navy’s two-seat swing-wing fleet defence fighter with two General Electric F110 turbofans, variable-sweep wings shown swept to 68 degrees, box intakes, twin canted fins, all-moving tailerons and the side-by-side chin sensor pod: Tactical Paint Scheme greys, a dark blue gold-edged band over the nose and canopy sills, black ‘204’ on the nose, dark blue fin leading edges with small yellow stars, a black lion on the outer fin faces and ‘AJ’ on the inner faces, as photographed at Pensacola (no F-14 is preserved in a UK museum; shape from a five-view drawing of the F-14D checked against photographs of the airframe).

3D model

Turn it over

A procedural model built in Blender from published dimensions, drawings and photographs, painted as Grumman F-14D Super Tomcat BuNo 161159, ‘AJ 204’ of VF-213 Black Lions, which flew the Tomcat’s last combat mission on 8 February 2006 and is displayed at the National Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola, Florida: the US Navy’s two-seat swing-wing fleet defence fighter with two General Electric F110 turbofans, variable-sweep wings shown swept to 68 degrees, box intakes, twin canted fins, all-moving tailerons and the side-by-side chin sensor pod: Tactical Paint Scheme greys, a dark blue gold-edged band over the nose and canopy sills, black ‘204’ on the nose, dark blue fin leading edges with small yellow stars, a black lion on the outer fin faces and ‘AJ’ on the inner faces, as photographed at Pensacola (no F-14 is preserved in a UK museum; shape from a five-view drawing of the F-14D checked against photographs of the airframe). Drag to orbit, scroll or pinch to zoom · download .glb (1.1 MB)

Data plate

Specification

First flight, number built and top speed are for the whole family (F-14A, B & D); engine, crew and dimensions are for the F-14D BuNo 161159 modelled here.

History

The F-14D Tomcat

In 1968 the US Navy gave up the F-111B, the carrier version of the General Dynamics swing-wing bomber, which had proved far too heavy for its decks. It still needed a fighter to defend the fleet against Soviet bombers armed with long-range missiles, and in January 1969 it chose Grumman’s design to replace it. The new fighter kept the F-111B’s AWG-9 radar, AIM-54 Phoenix missiles and TF30 engines, but was a much lighter two-seater with twin fins and variable-sweep wings that a computer moved in flight between 20 and 68 degrees. The first prototype flew at Calverton, Long Island, on 21 December 1970 and was lost nine days later when its hydraulics failed; both crew ejected. Squadrons VF-1 and VF-2 took the Tomcat to sea on USS Enterprise in 1974, and in April 1975 they flew cover over the evacuation of Saigon.

The Phoenix, with a range of over 100 miles, let one Tomcat track two dozen targets and attack six at once. Iran was the only export customer, taking 79 before the 1979 revolution, and flew them against Iraq through the 1980s. US Navy Tomcats shot down two Libyan Su-22s over the Gulf of Sidra in August 1981 and two Libyan MiG-23s in January 1989. The TF30 engines were prone to stalls and caused many losses, so from 1987 the F-14B was re-engined with General Electric F110s. The Tomcat also carried the TARPS reconnaissance pod, and the 1986 film Top Gun made it the best-known fighter of its day.

The F-14D added the F110 engines to a new APG-71 radar, digital cockpit displays and a chin pod with infra-red and television sensors; it first flew in 1990, and 37 were built new and 18 rebuilt from F-14As. In the 1990s Tomcats were fitted to drop laser-guided bombs, and as the ‘Bombcat’ they struck targets in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq. The US Navy retired its last Tomcats in September 2006, replacing them with the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, after 712 had been built. Iran still flies a few. No F-14 is in a UK museum.

This airframe

F-14D BuNo 161159

161159The airframe modelled

BuNo 161159 was built as an F-14A and later rebuilt as an F-14D. As ‘AJ 204’ of VF-213, the Black Lions, it flew the Tomcat’s last combat mission, over Iraq, landing on USS Theodore Roosevelt on 8 February 2006, and on 13 April 2006 it was flown into Sherman Field, Pensacola, to join the National Naval Aviation Museum, where it is displayed. The model shows it as photographs of it there do: Tactical Paint Scheme greys, a dark blue band edged in gold over the nose and along the canopy sills, full-colour national insignia on the forward fuselage, black ‘204’ on the nose and ‘04’ on the nose-gear door, and the squadron’s fins, with dark blue leading edges carrying small yellow stars, a black lion on the outer faces and ‘AJ’ on the inner faces. The wings are swept to 68 degrees, as it is displayed, with two fuel tanks under the intakes. Its shape comes from a five-view drawing of the F-14D, checked against the photographs; no overhead or underside photograph was found, so the wings carry no insignia, and the small inscription the museum has painted on the nose is shown as fine lines.

Where to see one

Not on charge

Many survive in US museums, among them F-14D 161159 at the National Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola. None is in a UK museum.

All 315 plates

Profiles and models are procedural interpretations built in Blender from published dimensions, three-view drawings and photographs of each airframe. Treat the museum aircraft as the reference.