F 14 Tomcat Wing example essay topic

F-14 TOMCAT Wing span: 64 feet un swept; 38 feet swept Length: 62 feet 7 inches Height: 16 feet Weight: Empty: 40,104 pounds Maximum take-off: 74,348 pounds Speed: Maximum: 1,544 mph Cruise: 576 mph Ceiling: More than 56,000 feet Power plant: Two Pratt and Whitney TF-30-P 412 A turbofan engines with afterburners; F-14 B and F-14 D: F-110-GE-400 augmented turbofan engines with afterburner Crew: two Contractor: Grumman Aerospace-14 Tomcat, sleek, powerful, deadly, and the real star of the movie Top Gun. The F-14 Tomcat followed a history of 'Cats' in the military. The F-4 F Wildcat and the F-6 F Hellcat that fought in the skies years before the Tomcat ever bit the air. In the late 1960's, the U. S Navy decided to decided to focus on an aircraft dedicated to fleet defense.

Grumman had already begun developing the F-14, and was definitely headed for a 'Cat " designation. The person responsible for this project was Admiral TomConolly, Deputy Chief, Naval Operations for Air. The aircraft was dubbed " Tom's Cat' long before the official name of 'Tomcat' was ever adopted. (novi a. net, 1999) Overall, the Navy's Grumman F-14 Tomcat is without equal among today's Free World fighters. Six long-range AIM-54 A Phoenix missiles can be guided against six separate threat aircraft at long range by the F-14's AWG-9 weapons control system. For medium-range combat, Sparrow missiles are carried; Sidewinders and a 20 mm are available for dog fighting. In the latter role, the Tomcat's variable-sweep wings give the F-14 a combat maneuvering capability that could not have been achieved with a 'standard' wing. (history. navy, 1999) In full forward-sweep position, the wings provided the lift needed for slow-speed flight, especially needed during carrier landings.

In swept-back positions, the wings blend into the aircraft, giving the F-14 Tomcat a dart-like silhouette for high-speed, super-sonic flight (using Pratt & Whitney TF 30-P-412 A Turbofans). (novi a. net. 1999) By 1972, the first of the F-14 Tomcat's off the production line we resent to the US. In October of 1972, two squadrons were formed with the-14 Tomcat to begin flight operations. (novi a. net, 1999) All in all, fourteen aircraft were used for the development program. The fully proven F-14 was introduced to the fleet only 51 month after contract award!

(A nft, 1998) The F-14 Tomcat was designed to carry a million dollar missile, the Phoenix. The AIM-54 Phoenix has a range of over 100 miles and sole purpose was to destroy Soviet bombers. The F-14 Tomcat program came down to a test at the Naval Missile Test Center at Point Mugu, CA in November, 1973. The Pentagon wanted an aircraft that could take on six different targets at once, and on that day in November, the Tomcat demonstrated that ability. Six AIM-54 Phoenix missiles were launched at 6 different drone targets at the test range.

Only one of the six missiles failed to hit its target. The Pentagon was sold, and the F-14 Tomcat program was in full swing. In 1974, the two squadrons, the VF-1 Wolfpack and the VF-2 Bounty Hunters, were deployed and assigned to the USS Enterprise (novi a. net, 1999) The Tomcat was in service just in time to see the closing stages of the Vietnam war in 1975. It flew top cover during Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of US personnel from Saigon in April of 1975 just before that city fell to the North. The North Vietnamese air force did not interfere with the operation, but one Tomcat was slightly damaged by antiaircraft fire. On August 19, two Libyan Su 22 Fitter- J fighters were shot down by a pair of VF-41 Tomcats after one the Fitters fired a missile at the American fighters.

Both kills were with AIM-9 L Sidewinder missiles. This was the first air battle between variable-geometry fighters. During Operation Desert Storm of January 1991, Tomcats flew mostly top cover operations in protection of the fleet's carriers and in the escort of strike packages, and did not participate in very much air-to-air combat. The Tomcats are credited with only one kill, which came on February 6 when a pair of F-14's of VF-1 shot down a Mil Mi-8 Hip helicopter with AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles. (encarta) In addition to its outstanding fighter capabilities, the Tomcat is now being configured as a potent, adverse weather, medium-range strike aircraft that is being fielded through cost-effective upgrades to F-14 A / Bs. With the ability to launch Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JAM), coupled with an INS / GPS integration and off-the-shelf electronic countermeasure improvements, the Tomcat will provide a multi-mission strike / escort capability which will be part of the inventory until at least 2010. (history. navy, 1999)

Bibliography

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