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The US Navy had begun planning a replacement for the F-4 Phantom II in the fleet air defense role almost as soon as the latter entered service, but found itself ordered by then-Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara to join the TFX program. The subsequent F-111B was a failure in every fashion except for its AWG-9 fire control system, paired with the AIM-54 Phoenix very-long range missile. It was subsequently cancelled and the competition reopened for a new fighter, but Grumman had anticipated the cancellation and responded with a new design.
The subsequent F-14A Tomcat, last of the famous Grumman “Cat” series of US Navy fighters, first flew in December 1970 and was placed in production. It used the same variable-sweep wing concept of the F-111B and its AWG-9 system, but the Tomcat was much sleeker and lighter. The F-14 was provided with a plethora of weapons, including the Phoenix, long-range AIM-7 Sparrow, short-range AIM-9 Sidewinder, and an internal M61A1 Vulcan 20mm gatling cannon. This was due to the Vietnam experience, in which Navy F-4s found themselves badly in need of internal armament. Despite its large size, it also proved itself an excellent dogfighter.
The only real drawback to the Tomcat proved to be its powerplant, which it also shared with the F-111B: the Pratt and Whitney TF30. The TF30 was found to be prone to compressor stalls and explosions; more F-14s would be lost to engine problems than any other cause during its career, including combat. The Tomcat was also fitted with the TARPS camera pod beginning in 1981, allowing the RA-5C Vigilante and RF-8G Crusader dedicated recon aircraft to be retired. In addition to the aircraft produced for the US Navy, 79 of an order of 100 aircraft were delivered to Iran before the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
The Tomcat entered service in September 1974 and first saw action covering the evacuation of Saigon in 1975, though it was not involved in combat. The Tomcat’s first combat is conjectural: it is known that Iranian F-14s saw extensive service in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War, and that Iranian Tomcats achieved a number of kills; the only F-14 ace was Iranian. The first American combat with the F-14 came in September 1981, when two F-14As shot down a pair of Libyan Su-22 Fitters over the Gulf of Sidra. The Tomcat would add another two kills to its record in 1987, two Libyan MiG-23s once more over the Gulf of Sidra.
The high losses due to problems with the TF30 (fully 84 Tomcats would be lost to this problem over the course of its career) led to the Navy ordering the F-14A+ variant during the war. The A+, redesignated F-14B in 1991, incorporated all wartime refits and most importantly, General Electric F110 turbofans. Among the refits was the replacement of the early A’s simple undernose IR sensor with a TISEO long-range camera system, allowing the F-14’s pilot to identify targets visually beyond the range of unaided human eyesight.
The majority of F-14As were upgraded to B standard, along with 67 new-build aircraft. A mix of F-14As and Bs would see action during the First Gulf War, though only a single kill was scored by Tomcats.. Subsequent to this conflict, the Navy ordered the F-14D variant, with completely updated avionics and electronics, a combination IRST/TISEO sensor, replacement of the AWG-9 with the APG-71 radar, and a “glass” cockpit. Though the Navy had intended to upgrade the entire fleet to D standard, less than 50 F-14Ds ever entered service (including 37 new-builds), due to the increasing age of the design.
Ironically, the US Navy’s Tomcat swan song came not as a fighter, but a bomber. To cover the retirement of the A-6 Intruder and A-7 Corsair II from the fleet, the F-14’s latent bomb capability was finally used, allowing the “Bombcat” to carry precision guided weapons, and, after 2001, the GPS-guided JDAM series. By the time of the Afghanistan and Second Gulf Wars, the F-14 was already slated for replacement by the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, and the Tomcat would be used mainly in the strike role, though TARPS reconnaissance sorties were also flown. The much-loved F-14 Tomcat was finally retired from US Navy service in September 2006, ending 36 years of operations. The aircraft remains in service with the Iranian Revolutionary Air Force.
F-14A 158978 was delivered to the US Navy in 1973; as the 39th Tomcat built, it was one of the first F-14s to enter service. It served with VF-1 ("Wolfpack") aboard the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) and was one of the aircraft that covered the final American evacuation of South Vietnam, Operation Frequent Wind, in 1975. Around 1980, 158978 was transferred to VX-4 ("Evaluators") at NAS Point Mugu, California, where it was used to test the TARPS pod. Later in the 1980s, it was sent to the Naval Fighter Weapons School at NAS Miramar--better known as Top Gun. It was retired in 1992 and made a "Polecat" gate guard in front of Miramar's main gate. in 2004, 158978 was given to the USS Midway Museum.
Like most of the Midway's aircraft, 158978 wears the colors of two F-14 squadrons. On this side, it carries the colors of VF-213 ("Black Lions"); on the opposite, it wears VF-114 ("Aardvarks") markings, complete with Zot the Aardvark on the tail, from the "BC" comic strip. In both cases, the squadrons appear as they did when they operated off the Enterprise during the 1980s. It is also equipped with a standard Tomcat loadout of two AIM-7 Sparrows, two AIM-9 Sidewinders, and two AIM-54 Phoenix.
Because I wanted to get a picture of all of 158978, I was unable to get a shot of VF-213's tail markings, which are some of the flashiest in the Navy. We saw this aircraft in May 2021, on a blustery morning in San Diego--the skyline of which makes a nice backdrop.
Gesehen in einem Gaswerk // Seen in a gas plant
Auf Tour mit der bauingenieuse und industriezerfall.de // On tour with the bauingenieuse and industriezerfall.de
Ever wondered what's inside an air compressor cylinder head? I didn't until my less than three year old, two piston Cambell Hausfeld 60 gallon 3.2. Hp stationary air compressor took too long to build pressure and was making a strange sound broadcasting from its air intake filter. I'm getting close to spraying primer on the Bluejacket topsides thus not good timing for the compressor to fail.
Pictured is the compressor's valve plate which has reed valves to control air intake and outflow. A reed had snapped off of a cylinder's outlet port causing the problem. This failed reed covered (from the backside of the plate as pictured) ) the lower left oval shaped port. A $44 replacement valve plate with gaskets is now on order and will require about 30 minutes of my time to install.
I wish I could quickly find the definitive answer why my Boston Whaler's Mercury outboard has ignition spark problems and why my Saturn auto is leaking voltage and killing the battery if the car has been at rest for three days or more. With a golf cart battery recently exploding (shredded the battery top) about two feet from my face as I examined it, I have been having a run of bad luck with stuff breaking or attacking me. This explosion taught me that a lead acid battery gives off hydrogen gas when discharging. I thought it only happened when charging.
Edit 04/14/2014 : My bad luck continues as the fan in one of our outside central a/c cabinets stopped turning thus the upstairs portion of our home was un-air conditioned. An advantage of multiple outside A/C cabinets is having the means to obtain comparative numbers when running electrical tests as well as swapping parts. The suspect fan motor's run and start windings passed my resistance tests, and the start capacitor tested good via my capacitance tester. Perhaps the fan motor failed because the thermal overload protector went bad. I swapped this failed motor out for the fan motor in the A/C cabinet for my workshop. Upstairs A/C restored and off I go to the Internet for a replacement motor.
I await the next equipment failure...
Edit. 08/20/2014: The fan in the AC compressor for the upstairs again stopped turning. Not on the scene in Texas, I called in a HVAC technician. The start capacitor had failed. The technician reported that when a fan motor fails as mine did in April, it is very common for the start capacitor to soon fail.
Edit 09/15/2018: Another start capacitor failed. With power applied to the unit, the compressor was running and the non-turning fan was humming. My son arranged for a service technician who took a long handled screw driver and spun the fan blade. The fan immediately took off running normally. The technician said the start capacitor was bad. My A/C cabinets get much afternoon sun thus I speculate that the start capacitors may have their life shortened by heat.
My pistenbully has been taken apart so a few pics
White Knob Mining District
Significant copper deposits were first discovered in the White Knob Mountains in 1879 and by 1884, the White Knob Area was being developed into one of the largest copper producers in Idaho. The tram towers here, from the early 1900s, were part of an aerial tram system in the White Knob Mining District used to carry ore over four miles down the mountain to the smelter and blast furnaces from the Empire Mine to the railroad. This historic mining complex contains a railroad grade, industrial mining buildings and features, adits and ruins of miner’s residences. Recent work has restored the tram towers and railroad trestle.
a utility water compressor for pressurized washers used for cleaning pavers, sidewalks or automobiles. in some occasions this maybe used for small farms. makes a nice model for still life photography. the lens of the lumix lx100 is really remarkable for a point and shoot camera
Archivio 2009:
Dopo aver portato le ferroricisterne cariche, il 245 0026 ritornò isolato verso il binario di presa/consegna per spingere i carri vuoti all'interno dello stabilimento presso la zona di carico: qui lo vediamo mentre attende che i compressori carichino l'aria nei serbatoi.
removed the PS pump, AC compressor, carb, fan, radiator, hoses and electrical harnesses. Now I just need to jack it up and disconnect the exhaust and engine and tranny mounts and she will lift right out.
Powered by a GM deisel engine. I do wonder how this equipment ended up with two coats of paint. Was it first yellow and then painted blue? If so, why?
My pistenbully has been taken apart so a few pics