The F-14 Tomcat always had a mystique about it. She came onto the airshow circuit around the same as the F-15 Eagle. But the Tomcat, with the more "saucy" name, was always presented better; by the Grumman test pilots, and more publicly by the Navy pilots - often Dale Snodgrass. The Tomcat could do things that the F-15 couldn't. She was specialized to land on carriers. She could transform herself right before your eyes by sweeping her wings back - just when you thought she couldn't get any sexier. She had a crew of two, team work, and every one loves a crowd; 2 crew & 1 sexy jet. She was big, heavy, and fast, but still could dance with the best of them; and kill six targets simultaneously from 100 miles away with her Phoenix missile system. And, at the end of the demo, she "bowed" for your approval..., which gave her an endearing character, almost lady-like. Oh, and she was a movie star too! "Presentation" was what made the Tomcat so popular. In a word, "Showmanship". Dale could really make her dance, and he loved to show her off! Tomcat drivers loved their girl, and it showed, in movies, in demos, in books... I think that love was infectious...
Wow this video has so much stuff going for it. The F-14A, the same year that Top Gun came out, the Blue Angels were flying A-4's. That is so cool. And the F-14 is the only aircraft I know that is polite enough to take a bow after each show haha. Love this video and the Tomcat!
mavericvf142: Seems no one has answered your question about the F-14A's seeming more maneuverable. The F-14A did weigh slightly less, but was powered by an inferior engine, when compared to the F-14B & D. The real story in this video is the pilot flying. Dale Snodgrass is, by far, one of, if not, the BEST F-14 driver that have ever lived. He knew how to make the F-14 "Talk" and his exceptional skill and knowledge of the Tomcat is on display in this demo. Dale Snodgrass is probably the only pilot that would dare to take the F-14A to such limits during a low altitude demo, and pull it off with such finesse! Awesome pilot flying an awesome jet. His demos were always the best!
Dale Snodgrass was one of the greatest pilot. Period. Quite possibly the best. I doubt anyone could ever win a dog fight against him in the F-14. You can see him pull 9g turn at 4:54. There is a HUD video of him in an F-14A back in 1985 in a mock dog fight against 3 F-5E simultaneously. The guy "shotdown" all three F-5Es. Anyone who knows the F-5, knows they were very good in close dog fighting situations as they are very small and difficult to spot (though, they could not turn or add energy with the F-14). Dale beat 3 of them simultaneously.
Great video! There aren't many F-14A demo vids on RU-vid - mostly demo videos of GE powered B and D models. I've read so many horrible and scary things about the P&W TF30, that I actually found myself a bit nervous watching this video - especially during the high angle of attack maneuvers where they were reportedly prone to compressor stalls, if the throttles were moved too quickly. There was a quote from an article that said with the TF30 power plant, Tomcat drivers had "fly the engine, instead of flying the plane". Again, great video! Thanks for posting!
At 4:54, you see 'Snort' coming in full afterburner zone 5 at the speed of heat at around 600 knots (mach 0.7 or mach 0.8) wings fully swept back (manually), he pitches the nose up to dump energy for maximum roll rate the rolls the plane two times and executes a 9G left tight turn for a turn and burn. This is also known "tuck under roll".
At 4:54, you see Dale 'Snort' Snodgrass entering the turn at 550+ knots wings swept back and yanks the stick hard pulling 10 - 11 G entering the turn and then completing the full 180 degree turn in less than 5 seconds giving it a 45 - 60 degree/second turn rate. He continued to pull 8 - 9G through the turn as the F-14 bled energy (and vapor clouds over wings appear) as it was only in military power and did not have the afterburners lit. Some people ask how the TF-030 powered F-14 is pulling such high energy maneuvers so effortlessly. Answer is, 'Snort' used to fly the F-14A in the airshows completely slick without drag, with low fuel (around 6000 lbs max) getting it quite close to 1:1 thrust to weight despite the TF-030 engines, which is why it performed so well.
Grumman had fallen out of grace with the new cadre at the DoD. It was all about Boeing and Lockheed. They came out the losers in that struggle in the 1980's.
I tried running the numbers, 1 the F-14 with wings swept stalls at about 200knots, (from F-14 driver's comment that the stall speed was higher than the wheels max rated speed of 195knots, and he knows this because he had to land his plane with the wings swept back), as g climbs the plane's stall speed climbs. So after running the numbers he probably entered the turn at above 500 knots, pulled as much as 11g initially and as the plane slowed down continued the turn at above 9g
I am huge fane of the big cat as much as anybody else but it does baffle me how the Tomcat is so much more popular than most other jets. Yes it's had its fame from Hollywood and its big, fast and drew the crowds at airshows. But there must be something else there that the other jets don't.
F-14 could do a MRT faster than a F-16 in only 1200 feet because of its much lower wing loading of 44 - 48 lbs square foot. It had a much better lift/drag ratio than the F-16 which allowed it to sustain thrust through the entire 360.
hi , perhaps it is because f14 is used in the Japanese cartoon Macross (or "Robotech" in the usa) This is one of the biggest cartoon series in the world and F14 is the main plane and this cartoon started in 1982. somethings you can search on youtube , 1)" Robotech - Opening (1985) " 2 ) in google search "VF-1 Valkyrie "
Does the F-14A seem more maneuverable in this video than any other video? Or is it because the airframe was still fairly new? I mean, Jesus, look at how crisp and tight the turns are...don't really see it in other air show videos in the 2000's.
maverickvf142 another reason this Tomcat is a little more maneuverable visually is it still has the forward glove vane canards. These were discontinued on the later B and D models. I'm assuming they added a little extra body lift to the already massive lifting body. Also as I understand the A model was the lightest of all the Tomcats. Dale sure does know how to work the throttle on those TF30s.
You are right. I can see the glove vanes deployed when the wings are fully swept back. You can see Admiral Dale pull a 9g turn at 4:54. The F-14 B/D had a better than 1 thrust to weight ratio in dog fighting configuration so they did not need the additional lift from the glove vanes.
The F-14A was good, but the B and D models were better in my opinion. They were fitted with F110 engines giving the Tomcat better performance than the A model's original TF30 engines.
Yeah, the roll rate with wings full swept back was extremely fast on the B/D models so much so that it created some control rod issues so the Navy put some limitations on how quick the fighter could roll.
The great man...sad that he is lost to us. But he did so much teaching guys how to fly like this...and then his F-14 + LANTIRN pod story. People like him used to try to make the country better. Not their silly party of liars and traitors and child abusers. It is also sad that there are only 39 comments on here....but 5,000 for some shite about....whatever. Thanks for the cool video.
