GTP Alternative Cool Wall: 1969-1991 Grumman F-14 Tomcat
- Thread starter Roger the Horse
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- Mike-ZENKAI
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They could have used it as an alternative to the Super Hornet. It may have still been the more expensive unit, but cutting the Hornet was always an option, especially given some of the criticism of that plane. As for variety, the Navy at the time basically had F-14's and 18's. While the USAF is the backbone of US long range strikes, carrier strike planes are still valuable.
I think better is a relative term here. The F-14 was lost out in roles it wasn't meant to take, but it's hard to beat in its intended role. The F/A-18E and even the F-35C can't completely fill the hole left by the F-14.
I don't think the F-14 was significantly at risk for failure with upgraded models. The core of an air superiority variant would have been AIM-120 integration and upgraded avionics. That alone would have boosted its mid range combat performance if the AIM-54 fell short against fighters. As a strike plane, it could have turned out very much like the F-15. Large fighters with a big payload tend to do well as long range attack aircraft.
I don't know where I'd actually rate the plane myself. Fighter jet alone almost immediately implies subzero, but I prefer other planes to the F-14 if we're going to have a comparison.
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- GTP_Snorevette
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One rifle isn't going to do much. (Snipers excluded.)
A single fighter can relieve A-10s of a threat and let them obliterate whatever they want.
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- JMoney-689
- Woodside689
I would too, but that's completely irrelevant; there have been many times more AK-47's built than F-14's. That's like saying that a Toyota Camry is faster than a McLaren F1 because more Camries have gone over 100 mph.
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- SomePlayaDude
Get out of the cool wall.
Tired Tyres
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Nor could the Americans originally. The engines they started out with meant that they couldn't fly the thing in any meaningful operational way for years. It was only when they got replacement engines that they could put any actual flight miles on the plane!
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- GTP_Snorevette
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I didn't vote on the AK (as far as I remember!), gun threads have become impossibly irritating to read, however, I did vote the F-14 sub-zero. I would say there is a tangible distinction that F-14's are much more liekly to have been used against other military targets, with the AK more likely to have been used to directly suppress civilians. I'd be hard pushed to vote a lot of WWII era hardware Sub-zero for a similar reason, even though there were some great machines being built at the time. I'd be curious to see how the Enola Gay would fair in Cool Wall post.
Plus lets be honest, the F-14 just looks a lot cooler than an AK.
Also, the F-15 is high on the list of aircraft I don't like... for some reason I never much cared for the F/A-18, or the F-15. And I think the F-14 and F-16 are two of the best looking fighters, probably even aircraft of any genre, ever - before the prevalence of flying set-squares.
I also see where @Roger the Horse is coming from, there's plenty of interesting American stuff, but I tend to find Russian/Soviet military hardware more interesting for some reason.
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BobK
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Oh come now. Surely it's the Camry, provided a) it's a 2.2 and b) you know how.
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Excluding a few of the later kamikaze planes and that thing the Nazis never actually used, a plane isn't designed to be a weapon in and of itself. It may have weapons attached to it, but when I see a jet fighter I see a plane rather than a weapon.
The associations are different too. When I see an assault rifle, the clues in the title as to what I immediately associate it with. When I see a jet fighter I immediately associate it with speed, and elegance, and the cutting edge. With the ability to do what humans didn't evolve to be able to do... Fly.
With a jet fighter, you can be a bird, and not just that, you can embarrass the birds. A peregrine falcon can do what? 350kph? That's like, mach 0.3. A jet fighter can do mach 2.
The associations are different too. When I see an assault rifle, the clues in the title as to what I immediately associate it with. When I see a jet fighter I immediately associate it with speed, and elegance, and the cutting edge. With the ability to do what humans didn't evolve to be able to do... Fly.
With a jet fighter, you can be a bird, and not just that, you can embarrass the birds. A peregrine falcon can do what? 350kph? That's like, mach 0.3. A jet fighter can do mach 2.
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- atomicjellyfish
Sub-zero because reasons
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Swing wings, intercept abilities, Phoenix Missiles, and the last good thing the Navy had.
SUB ZERO
SUB ZERO
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Sub Zero, one of my childhood hero plane, from Macross, then in the 90's PC Sims like USNF 97 and later IRIS F14, and Ace Combat on PS 
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- HamiltonMP427
Well I wasn't the only one that asked considering @niky too wondered what national origin had to do with the cool wall.
Also I have no idea really what you're talking about with the AK quote other than what Jmoney said, I guest that small little bit at the end is directed toward my quote?
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Soviet hardware is interesting because they're like the Jeep. Simple. Indestructible. Effective.
But, come on... Lambo Wings. SRSLY.
Don't care who built it. Don't care whether it was over-rated or under-rated. It was simply one of the most beautiful jets ever to fly.
Like the Concorde, movable aero gives it an almost organic feel... which is probably why the creators of Macross used it as their template for the Veritech fighters... and which Bandai reused for the best Transformers figure... ever...
But, come on... Lambo Wings. SRSLY.
Don't care who built it. Don't care whether it was over-rated or under-rated. It was simply one of the most beautiful jets ever to fly.
Like the Concorde, movable aero gives it an almost organic feel... which is probably why the creators of Macross used it as their template for the Veritech fighters... and which Bandai reused for the best Transformers figure... ever...
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I question that video title considering the fact that it took off horizontally from a runway.
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You say horizontal, I say vertically vertical.
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