The Insane Engineering of the F-14 Tomcat

Video from the channel Real Engineering about Grumman F-14 Tomcat, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 29:15. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.

Technical documentary on the engineering solutions of the Grumman F-14 Tomcat. The aircraft was conceived to intercept supersonic Soviet bombers before they could launch long-range missiles against US Navy carriers, without giving up close combat against their escort fighters. The video covers the variable-geometry wing, the titanium wing box, the air intakes, the engines, the radar, the Phoenix missiles and flight deck operations.

The variable-sweep wing traces back to the German Messerschmitt P.1101. It was left unfinished at the end of World War II and moved to Bell's factory in Buffalo, from which the Bell X-5 emerged six years later. The F-14 drew on the F-111's experience with air intakes and also inherited its engine, the TF30, which was prone to compressor stalls. The video links that flaw to accidents such as the one that killed Kara Hultgreen, the first female US fighter pilot to die, during an approach to the USS Abraham Lincoln. The aircraft was retired in 2006 after 32 years of service and required between 30 and 60 maintenance hours per flight hour.

The wing box was made of titanium joined by electron-beam welding and weighed around 15% less than an aluminum one. The rectangular-section intakes have computer-controlled compression ramps that narrow the throat to nearly 60% of its area at Mach 2 and slow the air through shock waves. Sweep varied between 20 and 68 degrees, with a 78-degree position for stowing the aircraft on the carrier. The lifting-body fuselage increased the lifting surface from 52.5 to 93 square meters. The AWG-9 radar, at 10.2 kW, tracked 24 targets and could guide six Phoenix missiles at once. The F110 engine gave 32% more thrust and let the F-14B stay airborne 34% longer. The tailerons used boron-fiber composites.