S7-F14 TomCat

[Castille7]

Sector 7 Space Laboratories - Aeronautics Division

I guess we can never have enough of this awesome Aircraft. One of my favorite Aircraft and this is my replica of the F14-Tomcat. During test flights it's been difficult to land, I would say it's not going to be easy. TakeOffs need to be done at high speeds and with a gentle lift not to damage the Engines.

Toggle Engines with action group 1
Toggle Afterburners with action group 2

S7-F14 TomCat

Craft File
S7-F14 TomCat

 

[Hodo]

The delta wings is the problem with your landing speeds.  Not sure how stock KSP handles the aerodynamics but it is why you are having problems on take off and landing speeds.

 

The F-14 has variable geometry wings so it can swing the wings to a straight position to reduce the landing speed and increase low speed stability, and sweep them back for high speeds.

[Castille7]

1 hour ago, Hodo said:

The delta wings is the problem with your landing speeds.  Not sure how stock KSP handles the aerodynamics but it is why you are having problems on take off and landing speeds.

 

The F-14 has variable geometry wings so it can swing the wings to a straight position to reduce the landing speed and increase low speed stability, and sweep them back for high speeds.

Thank you for the tip, I didn't test this craft as much as I would have liked to. I think reducing the amount of fuel will help a lot also.

[pTrevTrevs]

It looks good, although I'm wonderingwhy you used that cockpit instead of the one with the bubble canopy (damn, I forgot what it was called). I also think the delta wings are a little out of place, although I think I understand why you chose them. My suggestion would be to make two versions with more accurately shaped wings. The first would have the wings in extended position and the second in swept back position. 

The F-14 is a pretty hard plane to replicate, but it's worth the effort for such a great plane.

Just kidding, all hail the MiG-31!

[Castille7]

5 minutes ago, pTrevTrevs said:

It looks good, although I'm wonderingwhy you used that cockpit instead of the one with the bubble canopy (damn, I forgot what it was called). I also think the delta wings are a little out of place, although I think I understand why you chose them. My suggestion would be to make two versions with more accurately shaped wings. The first would have the wings in extended position and the second in swept back position. 

The F-14 is a pretty hard plane to replicate, but it's worth the effort for such a great plane.

Just kidding, all hail the MiG-31!

This sounds great, I will work on it and post an up date, thank you!

[Castille7]

5 hours ago, pTrevTrevs said:

It looks good, although I'm wonderingwhy you used that cockpit instead of the one with the bubble canopy (damn, I forgot what it was called). I also think the delta wings are a little out of place, although I think I understand why you chose them. My suggestion would be to make two versions with more accurately shaped wings. The first would have the wings in extended position and the second in swept back position. 

The F-14 is a pretty hard plane to replicate, but it's worth the effort for such a great plane.

Just kidding, all hail the MiG-31!

One reason why I chose to use the cockpit I used is because it was an idea I thought of when I saw the Cockpit in the picture below, I never saw anyone use this cockpit back to back and thought it would look a little closer to the original, also the wings seem to ride high up on the top of the fuselage, shown in the picture on the left. I will try to make another craft as you suggested to make it look more like the swept back position and the extended position. Also when it comes to the MIG my favorite is still the MIG-15, it's so unique. ***Update: I just reduced the fuel in each tank to 80 and was able to land a little easier, also the handling is not that great, you would be the first one shot out of the sky in a dog fight, it's still fun and a challenge to fly and land. ***

 

Edited May 28, 2016 by castille7
Update added

[pTrevTrevs]

Lucky for you, I don't think the F-14 was designed as a dogfighter, but rather an interceptor, so maneuverability isn't necessarily paramount in designing this plane.

[Hodo]

53 minutes ago, pTrevTrevs said:

Lucky for you, I don't think the F-14 was designed as a dogfighter, but rather an interceptor, so maneuverability isn't necessarily paramount in designing this plane.

You are actually wrong in this assessment of that aircraft.  The F-14 was actually VERY nimble and more than capable of turning with much smaller fighters, like the A-4 Skyhawk.   This was the benefit of the variable geometry wing design.  

[pTrevTrevs]

35 minutes ago, Hodo said:

You are actually wrong in this assessment of that aircraft.  The F-14 was actually VERY nimble and more than capable of turning with much smaller fighters, like the A-4 Skyhawk.   This was the benefit of the variable geometry wing design.  

Huh. I was not aware of that. upon actually checking my facts, I now see that the F-14 was actually designed as a multi-role aircraft, capable of acting as an interceptor and air superiority aircraft. Variable geometry wings sure do have their benefits. After all, some of the best aircraft from the 1980s had variable geometry wings ( Tornado, F-111 Aardvark, B-1 Lancer) Too bad it's so hard to replicate in game.

Edited May 29, 2016 by pTrevTrevs

[Castille7]

Thanks to you @Hodo & @pTrevTrevs my craft is looking much better and lifting off the runway better now, I changed the wings to give it more of a sweep, the landing speed is between 160-140 m/s. I am using the airbrake and the landings look great. I will post the updated craft soon. Thanks again for the input!

S7-F14 Tomcat

 

Edited May 29, 2016 by castille7

[Hodo]

2 hours ago, pTrevTrevs said:

Huh. I was not aware of that. upon actually checking my facts, I now see that the F-14 was actually designed as a multi-role aircraft, capable of acting as an interceptor and air superiority aircraft. Variable geometry wings sure do have their benefits. After all, some of the best aircraft from the 1980s had variable geometry wings ( Tornado, F-111 Aardvark, B-1 Lancer) Too bad it's so hard to replicate in game.

 

Not that hard to replicate with the right mods.

 

Sorry Castille7 for hijacking there for a second.

 

And I like your second version WAY better than your first.

Edited May 29, 2016 by Hodo

[Castille7]

4 hours ago, Hodo said:

 

Not that hard to replicate with the right mods.

Sorry Castille7 for hijacking there for a second.

And I like your second version WAY better than your first.

Thank you and not a problem, we all here to have fun!

[varsass]

7 hours ago, Hodo said:

 

Not that hard to replicate with the right mods.

 

Sorry Castille7 for hijacking there for a second.

 

And I like your second version WAY better than your first.

What's your secret for variable geometry on wings ? Using a single rotatron or hinge make the wings wobbly.

So I quite solved the problem with a bearing and 2 hydraulic cylinder, but even if it's much better, it's still not perfect :

I'm still looking for an engineering masterpiece that will make variable geometry perfectly stable in KSP.

[pTrevTrevs]

9 hours ago, Hodo said:

 

Not that hard to replicate with the right mods.

I was mainly talking about in the stock game. I think I've done a plane with variable geometry wings with IR before, but I don't think I've ever seen it successfully done in stock.

[Hodo]

4 hours ago, varsass said:

What's your secret for variable geometry on wings ? Using a single rotatron or hinge make the wings wobbly.

So I quite solved the problem with a bearing and 2 hydraulic cylinder, but even if it's much better, it's still not perfect :

I'm still looking for an engineering masterpiece that will make variable geometry perfectly stable in KSP.

I love your setup, it is closer to the actual setup that the Russian designers used with the Mig-23.  Granted they used their pistons at the leading edge of the wing, and it would push the wing back then pull forward.  May have to try your setup.

 

But the current system I am using isnt that wobbly, I am able to pull 8-10g turns at 5km alt with over 100kpa of pressure and the wings stay on... so I am pretty impressed.   But I am sure your system is far stronger.

 

2 hours ago, pTrevTrevs said:

I was mainly talking about in the stock game. I think I've done a plane with variable geometry wings with IR before, but I don't think I've ever seen it successfully done in stock.

I think someone did, but they used some "krakken" tech back in the day.