Tomcats 101 Article

[VFA-103guy]

Gents-

I have this small series of articles on the 3 different variants of the F-14 pinned on ARC and Z5, so I thought it would be good to have them here as well.

Tomcats 101 Part 1, The F-14B

This is part 1 of a 3 part article I decided to write to help better educate the modeling community about the external differences of the 3 variants of the F-14 Tomcat.

I will also be including modelers notes where necessary telling you what parts either in your kits or what aftermarket items you'll need to make each variant as the articles come out.

I highly recommend that modelers purchase the DACO Uncovering the F-14A/B/D book. While it's coverage of the F-14A and it's different blocks/modifications is minimal, it's coverage of the F-14B and F-14D are superb.

I won't be going into the history of the F-14, the history of different BuNo's, or the history of weapon systems or internal upgrades. That type of information is readily available through Torsten Anft's Home of M.A.T.S. F-14 site found here: M.A.T.S. F-14 Site

Part 1. The F-14B (Upgrade)

Let's take a look shall we. Our samples here, are F-14B 163217 (Victory 103) & F-14B 161435 (Victory 110). Both are F-14B TARPS UPGRADE jets and were equipped with the Sparrow/Hawk HUD. The Sparrow/Hawk Hud started coming on line in 2003, and was added to the remaining F-14B fleet. 163217 was one of the first VF-103 F-14B's to receive the modification. Both 163217 and 161435 started off life as production F-14B's, but were modified to carry TARPS in some time between late 2003 and early 2004. Like the remainder of VF-103's F-14B's, both jets were equipped with the PTID screen and LTS control stick in the RIO's pit.

Starting up, the ECM fairings or RHAWS blisters. ECM fairings (next to the ejection seats and chin pod) are literally what set the F-14B appart from the F-14D and earlier block versions of the F-14A. Towards the end of the F-14A's career, A model Tomcats were fairly identical to the F-14B and had pretty much rec'd all of the external modifications except for the engines and the deletion of the glove vanes.

**Modelers Note: All of the ECM blisters that are needed to build an F-14B are found in the Hasegawa 1/48 F-14A/B/D kits. If you're building a Revell F-14, Steel Beach Accessories has a resin update set with the blisters included.

Here in photograph 1, on the port side, there are 4 ECM blisters. 1 on the left nose gear door, 1 located just fwd of the wing glove, and 2 located just under the wing glove area.

Here in photograph 2, the ECM blisters on the glove vane area, are repeated on the starboard side.

** Modelers Note: When building either an F-14B or F-14D, you will need to fill the hole on the right nose gear door of the Hasegawa kit part or, if you're building a Revell kit simply remove the antenna.

Photograph 3 shows the ECM fairing next to the fuel dump on the beaver tail. Also of note are the GPS dome, and the angles of the TACAN and UHF antennas.

Here's a closer look at the turtle back and a better look at the antenna arrangement for an F-14B.

Thanks to Dana Potts for this photo.

Photos 4 and 5 show the ECM antennas on the aft ends of the horizontal stabs and the open position of the GE engine nozzels. Also of note are the horizontal stabs at rest, just touching the undersides of the wings.

The F-14 went through a series of both chin pods and gun gas purge vents. The TCS chin pod was a prominent feature on both the F-14B and the F-14A. Also of note in this photo are the 3 NACA gun gas purge vents. These vents would appear on modified F-14A's, the F-14B and F-14D.

In this next photo, some other main features can be seen. The LTS pod and pylon, the late style wheel hub on the main gear, the TACAN antenna, and the LAU-138 BOL rail.

Another feature that was common on the F-14B was the strengthening plate located around the RIO's boarding step. This feature was hit and miss between the F-14A and F-14D.

The F-14B's powerpalnt was none other than the GE-F110-400 engine.

Craig Scaling is to be credited with this photo.

Tomcats 101 Part 2, The F-14D

The F-14D also known as the "Super Tomcat" is probably one of the easiest variants of the F-14 to become familiar with.

The F-14D and it's variants included both new build F-14D's and F-14D R's which were rebuilt F-14A's that were converted to D's.

Prominant features are the dual chin pod, NACES SJU-17 ejection seats, and of course the GE-F110 engines.

We have a couple of examples from VF-31 and one from VF-101, so let's see what we have.

Starting off, here are a couple of shots of a dual chin pod. The IRST portion of the pod is on the left side, while the TCS portion is on the right.

There are a total of 6 ECM blisters on the F-14D. 1 on the left nose gear door (as shown above in the first photo), 1 on each side of the fwd portion of the glove vane, one on the top aft of the starboard tail, and one on the beaver tail next to the fuel dump.

The glove vane blister on the port side can be seen in this shot of Tomcatter 107 below.

Modelers Note: In this photograph, notice the small antenna on the right nose gear door is covered or filled in. When building an F-14B or F-14D, you will need to fill this in on the Hasegawa gear door and remove it from the Revell.

In this photo, the TACAN antenna is visible from the side as well a clearer shot of the ECM configuration on the fwd glove vane area. Note the single ECM blister. Also of note, the pilot's SJU-17 has taller canopy breakers or "bat ears" than the RIO's seat. Also visible is the Sensor Slaving Panel affixed to the RIO's instrument coaming.

Here's a shot of the ECM blister on the aft end of the starboard tail just below the light.

Below are some random F-14D shots.

Tomcats 101 Part 3, The F-14A

This is the 3rd and final entry for the Tomcats 101 series. I was not able to document the F-14A until it's final days, so all I have are late model F-14A pics with all of the final modifications.

Here we have F-14A 161612 from VF-101 . This F-14A was manufactured as a block 125 airframe and has all the latest modifications to include: NACA gun gas purge vents, TACAN antenna, PTID screen in the RIO's pit, and a GPS dome. Also, late modified F-14A's did not have the antenna present on the right nose gear door. Some, not all F-14A's had rec'd PTID screens in the RIO's pit. Even without the PTID, A's were still LTS or LANTIRN capable, but only if they had GPS. PTID just basically offered a clearer picture as opposed to the fishbowl or round scope.

**Modelers Note: If building an F-14A as a bombcat, check your references concerning the PTID screen being present in RIO's pit.

** NOTE: ECM blisters are repeated on the right side of the glove vane area**

The antenna configuration on the turtle back was also identical to the B. The smaller AN/ALR-50 antenna was removed and replaced with the GPS dome, however initially, some F-14A's retained their AN/ALR-50 antennas even when the GPS dome was installed.

The F-14A was powered by 2 Pratt and Whitney TF-30 Turbofan engines. The nozzles of the TF-30 were typically poised as one open, one closed when the F-14A was parked on the ramp. Pilots would typically shut down one engine and taxi on the other, thus causing them to appear this way. Also shown is the ECM blister on the beaver/boat tail.

Tomcats 101 Part 4, LTS (LANTIRN), ROVER, and other details

Some random shots of the different color arrangements LTS pods were in.

Below are some shots of the ROVER antenna that was added to VF-213 and VF-31's F-14D's. Nick Kessel quoted the following: "ROVER WAS UNIQUE TO VF-31 AND VF-213 FOR THE TIME FRAME OF DECEMBER 2005 TO FEBRUARY 2006 ONLY. APART FROM A NON-FLYING TEST AIRFRAME THAT WAS USED IN VF-101, NO OTHER SQUADRONS CARRIED ROVER. ALL 22 TOMCATS FROM THE FINAL CRUISE WERE MODDED."

Thanks to Nick Kessel for the use of these photos

[Antoine]

That's very interesting.

Many thanks, Brian.

[Shaun]

Good stuff, never noticed the Rover antenna before

Shaun.

[SaintsPhil]

Thanks for this, loads of info, all really useful to a tomcat novice in the GB!!

[Tailspin Turtle]

Oompa, excellent! I've linked my Tailspin Topics blog to it. My only contribution was a discussion of the unique main landing gear side brace: http://thanlont.blogspot.com/2012/01/carri...weigh-more.html

[Giorgio N]

Brian, that is terrific information, very clear and useful, thanks a lot for posting. It will help all the modellers here that are building a Tomcat for the group build dedicated to the type.

Oompa, excellent! I've linked my Tailspin Topics blog to it. My only contribution was a discussion of the unique main landing gear side brace: http://thanlont.blogspot.com/2012/01/carri...weigh-more.html

The Monogram kit had some kind of reproduction of this feature, it's great to see it in detail !

[crobinsonh]

Great information - thanks for sharing

[Bri48]

Excellent stuff...

[VFA-103guy]

Gents-

Glad you are finding the article useful! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!

[VFA-103guy]

Oompa, excellent! I've linked my Tailspin Topics blog to it. My only contribution was a discussion of the unique main landing gear side brace: http://thanlont.blogspot.com/2012/01/carri...weigh-more.html

Awesome!!

[Tomcat18]

What F-14B squadrons had the PTID without the sparrowhawk HUD?

Edited July 4, 2012 by Tomcat18

[HOUSTON]

WONDERFUL, Interesting thread on Tomcats , ONE of MY FAVORITE jets..

Thanks ...