Re: F-14 do a VTOL flight?

From: Ed Rudnicki <erudnick_at_pica.army.mil>
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 96 18:41:38 EDT

>>>>>It has the CAPABILITY. In other words, you can add on stuff to make it do
>>>>>VTOL. It doesn't come made with it.
>
>Yeah, I know. I thought that the Harrier was the only WORKING VTOL jet in
>service. I have friends in the Civil Air Patrol, and we (me, Richard, Josh)
>talk about military jets all the time, and I didn't know that was possible.

What about the Yak-38 Forger? The Yak-141 would have been in service
by now too, and have been the first supersonic VTOL A/C, had not the
development money dried up.


>>>>Although that they have to totaly refit the F-14 to add that VTOL flight
>>>>capability.
>>
>>>The most you could really do is make it a STOL aircraft, as was done
>>>with an F-15 a few years ago. For VTOL one would be better off with
>>>a whole new airframe.
>>
>>Of course when they have done with it, it gonna be a totaly new airplane,
>>but will it be a F-14?
>
>Yes, a lot of changes would have to be made to the powerplant, the fuselauge
>[sp] and the cockpit control panels. But it ^MIGHT^ be possible (at a VERY
>large expense...).

But it wouldn't be an F-14 any more. Like I said, see the F-5G to
F-20 situation. Far smaller changes. Now that I think of it, the
evolution from YF-17 to F-18 too.

If a "VTOL F-14" program ever got started, the plane would very
soon be called the XF-24. The changes are that drastic.


>Oh, BTW; has anybody ever heard that the F-16 WAS initially designed for
>outer orbit flight missions? My friend told me that the F-16 was originally
>designed to leap out of the Earth's atmosphere for short periods of time
>then come back and land. Maybe that's where the SK writers/tech advisors

No offense, but what drugs were they taking when they told you this?
:) Or were they deliberately messing with your head? This is
categorically untrue, and absurd. I'll elaborate if you like, but to
save trouble you might want to read about the X-15 some time, and
see what it would take to adapt an air-breather for exoatmo ops.
Making a VTOL F-14 would be easier :)

OTOH, now that I think about it, there was an F-104 with a rocket
engine added, but I don't recall if the other necessary mods were
made.



Ed

Received on Wed Jul 10 1996 - 19:34:31 PDT