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F-14D (2004) appropriate weapons loadout?


BikingLampy

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Hi,

 

Normally a WWII builder, but my parents unearthed a Hasegagwa 1/48 F-14D that I started 20 odd years ago. I'm rebuilding it pretty much from scratch and now getting to a point where I need to make decisions about weapons pylons/pallets etc.

 

I'm planning on building a 2004 'plane from VF101/Grim Reapers - either Gunfighter 160 or 165 using the Fightertown decal set. What would be an appropriate loadout for that era? The kit comes with what I think is a TARPS pod, plus a pair of drop tanks (?), Phoenix pallets and 2 variants of wing pylon.

 

My google-fu is being sadly deficient at the moment, so any advice or pointers greatly appreciated.

 

Cheers!

 

BL

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VF-101 was the Fleet Replacement Squadron for the F-14, and as such didn't go to places like Iraq and Afghanistan to fly missions. Most of the flying would have been without any armament, but they did train for weapon deployment. Basically anything that was cleared on the Tomcat could be loaded. So basic Mk.8x's, GBU-12, -16, -10, -24, 31 etc. Targeting pod of choice was the LANTIRN pod, on the right shoulder station. Not sure if BOL rails were used by them, as they would have been more usefull in theatre, but basic LAU-7's were used for the Sidewinders.

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Do you want a realistic load for that unit in that timeframe ? In this case you're not in luck

As said above, VF-101 was a training unit and while their aircrafts could in theory carry every weapon cleared for the Tomcat (and this sometime happened during static displays at airshows), their missions meant that very few items ever hang under the pylons.

In terms of AA missiles, at best they carried a single dummy Sidewinder and sometimes ACM pods.

When it came to AG loads, the first Lantirn pods arrived at VF-101 in late 2004 and only a few aircrafts carried them. It should also be kept in mind that the training syllabis for Tomcat pilots and RIOs saw the more advanced AG training performed at the destination unit, therefore after they had left VF-101. The same happened for recce missions using the TARPS pod. This meant that AG training conducted by VF-101 was in those years mainly dropping unguided bombs and not even real ones. A typical AG load for such a mission would have see the two front pallets with BRU-32 adaptors, each carrying one BRU-42 ITER rack. The ITER was loaded with up to 3 Mk.76 practice bomblets.

Said that, there are very few pictures of VF-101 aircrafts with other loads, I have one with a couple of Mk.83 under the front pallets. I have no date for this though.

 

Overall, a realistic load could be: left pylon with 2 Sidewinder rails (I can confirm no BOL rails in 2004 in VF-101). Right pylon with lantirn on specific adaptor. Front pallets with adaptors and ITER with training bombs. You could even add the tanks! Tanks were used very rarely by VF-101 aircrafts but were sometimes used and there are pictures showing them. An aircraft so loaded would look like this:

 

http://www.airliners.net/photo/USA-Navy/Grumman-F-14D-Tomcat/1071841/L

 

Speaking of wing pylons, the ones you have in the kit are one for the Sparrow and one for the Phoenix. The true pylon is actually only the "bent" part directly attached to the fixed wing underside. Onto this, a number of different adaptor/launchers could be attached. The webpage below helps in describing the pylon and some adaptors:

 

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

 

Often VF-101 aircrafts flew with only the fixed part (the proper pylon) attached and no adaptor at all. Thinking about it, a configuration with the fixed pylons and nothing else is probably one of the most common they flew in.

 

 

 

 

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Thanks for the replies.

 

Training unit makes life easier & cheaper - no need to buy extra weaponry and no need to assemble and paint it all.

 

I have actually just managed to find a pic of 165, which is completely devoid of any dangly bits, so I'll use that as my reference!

1128026.jpg?v=v40

 

Cheers!

 

BL

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Careful with linking pics from Airliners.net, they have a policy against direct image embedment, better paste the link only.

In any case, it's a very nice picture that shows some feature very well. In particular the pylon is in the configuration for 2 Sidewinders, one on the side and one below the pylon. It was actually quite a common configuration also for aircrafts in frontline units, however for some reason it's no commonly reproduced in kits, I can't remember any Tomcat kit with this kind of arrangement

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  • 5 months later...
On 4/16/2018 at 11:30 AM, Giorgio N said:

Careful with linking pics from Airliners.net, they have a policy against direct image embedment, better paste the link only.

In any case, it's a very nice picture that shows some feature very well. In particular the pylon is in the configuration for 2 Sidewinders, one on the side and one below the pylon. It was actually quite a common configuration also for aircrafts in frontline units, however for some reason it's no commonly reproduced in kits, I can't remember any Tomcat kit with this kind of arrangement

The Tamiya 1/48 Tomcats offer the dual sidewinder load out of the box.

 

Neal

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