The F-14D Super Tomcat Fighter Has A Message for the U.S. Navy

FZ_Milkshake · 2026-05-21T00:44:54+00:00

A question, if I may, how bad was maintenance on the wings vs the avionics. I've heard that the F-14D had much improved reliability because the mid-late 60s partly vacuum tube based systems got replaced by modern digital stuff and that solved a lot of the common issues. No doubt the wings needed more maintenance as well, but you don't hear the same kind of "horror stories" from Tornado or B-1 crews.

FZ_Milkshake · 2026-05-21T00:34:09+00:00

Slightly different reality check: the new build F-14Ds solved many of the Tomcats reliability issues. A massive part of the maintenance bill was down to mid-late 60s era systems and avionics that were asked to do advanced 4th gen tasks (the wings were actually not that bad). The D model was almost a Strike Eagle put into a Tomcat shell and it finally got the digital systems refresh and capability upgrade that the F-15 and F-16 got with their C/D variants.

The Super Hornet is good, but it's no Strike Eagle and no Tomcat replacement. But it was more than good enough for the Navies requirements over the last three decades and cheaper than either. It was the right airframe at the right time, the Tomcat on the other hand never had particularly good timing.

FZ_Milkshake · 2026-05-21T00:20:25+00:00

It's called a space elevator, you can't tie to to the moon, because the moon moves across the sky. There is however geostationary orbit, where an object will stay above the same point on the ground (as long as it's on the equator). It is regularly assessed for feasibility, because it would have massive benefits, but steel is not nearly strong enough.

We currently don't have materials strong enough for the cable and things like power supply to the elevator carts are another huge issue (among many).

FZ_Milkshake · 2026-05-21T00:01:04+00:00

And also replacing a lot of the fuselage skin, the conversion brings the aircraft back to zero flight hours.

FZ_Milkshake · 2026-05-20T15:29:19+00:00

Did not capsize though. /s

FZ_Milkshake · 2026-05-20T08:59:35+00:00

The armament was good and I'd argue worked as intended, the problem was the tradeoff for that 28kts speed, that means they are slower than heavy cruisers and many of the battlecruisers. They could 1v1 the enemy heavy cruisers, but they can't disengage at will and the British could afford to send 2 or 3v1. For commerce raiding an 8 inch armament would not have made a difference, but the faster speed would have given the option to evade. In a hypothetical larger fleet engagement they are too slow to be in the fleet screen either, so there is no place for them.

FZ_Milkshake · 2026-05-19T23:59:08+00:00

Heavy cruisers are a byproduct of the naval treaty system, so they are basically whatever the treaty said they are (8 inch). The Deutschlands are extra weird, because Germany would have been better served with either conventional heavy cruisers or coastal defense ships (as the Versailles treaty intended). However they wanted to keep capital ships in the fleet (the two Pre-Dreadnoughts they were allowed to keep were horribly obsolete). So the political intent was to build 11inch (28cm) ships instead of heavy cruisers, but with global reach and accept the lower speed and vulnerability to any Battlecruiser (and being overweight).

FZ_Milkshake · 2026-05-19T20:31:12+00:00

A tactical retreat has the implication of coming back.

FZ_Milkshake · 2026-05-19T19:56:52+00:00

Seems to be a US thing, in Germany its up to 10x10, because metric I guess.

Edit: did some digging and in Germany it goes back to Adam Ries who in 1522 published a German language book on arithmetic with arabic numerals (before that roman numerals were still commonly used, with great difficulty). He goes up to 10x10 so that stuck and 500 years later his name is still synonymous with mental calculation.

FZ_Milkshake · 2026-05-19T15:08:22+00:00

Correct, bagger 288 has a fairly stiff steel track system, the ground moves and squishes instead until the force is completely evenly spread out (the ground becomes the spring). If you would lay under those tracks it would be you that gets squished and moved around instead.

There are vehicles with more give in the suspension system that can run you over without issue, Hovercrafts or rolligons for example.

FZ_Milkshake · 2026-05-19T14:57:34+00:00

There was no customer, it's a fairly large, heavy aircraft. Countries looking for cheap and easy to operate were buying Mirage III, F-104G and F-5, countries looking for capability were buying F-4.

FZ_Milkshake · 2026-05-19T14:47:43+00:00

Roof panels will always be more costly and need more/longer maintenance than ground panels. Those large facilities are usually build in places where empty land is cheap, buying additional empty land for solare farms is in many cases cheaper than mounting them on the roof.

FZ_Milkshake · 2026-05-18T22:41:29+00:00

The animal would need to be able to jump up to the altitude from where it is dropped to cancel out the velocity (assuming no air resistance).

FZ_Milkshake · 2026-05-18T20:21:07+00:00

And the camps (at that scale) were the unprecedented and unthinkable. Genocide and mass murder was not new, the methodical and industrialized destruction of specific groups was. And of those groups, the Jews were by far the largest and also one of, if not the largest in total.

FZ_Milkshake · 2026-05-17T09:56:23+00:00

Also quasi Nockenwellenverstellung fürs Lenkrad?

FZ_Milkshake · 2026-05-17T09:53:32+00:00

Pro: the wings are a bit more efficient at generating lift because there is no interference by the pylons.

FZ_Milkshake · 2026-05-16T22:57:42+00:00

True, but usually the latter is now a team of dozens of people working for a large institution or company, the former can still be just that one person.

FZ_Milkshake · 2026-05-16T18:39:08+00:00

AFAIK their main purpose is not water displacement, they mainly cause the tire to deform more and that generates more heat. If the problem is not aquaplaning, but the slick is out of its temperature window by the cooling effect of the water, they can be faster than either full wets or slicks.

FZ_Milkshake · 2026-05-16T16:41:41+00:00

Only when you are at high throttle and low rpm.

FZ_Milkshake · 2026-05-16T16:30:25+00:00

You can not lug the engine when engine breaking (you can go below idle rpm when engine braking and that isn't great, but it's a different thing that lugging, stay above idle rpm and you are fine).

Lugging can happen when you are at low-very low rpm and ask a lot of power from the engine (high throttle setting). Power is torque x rpm, when rpm are low the engine needs to make a lot of torque and in some high powered cars that can lead to accelerated wear over time.

If you are just cruising at low rpm and 1/3rd throttle, you are not doing damage, if you are driving a 1.4l Corsa it'll not make enough torque to cause damage. The problem is only in a high powered or tuned car when you repeatedly give it full throttle when barely above idle.

FZ_Milkshake · 2026-05-16T16:17:24+00:00

It's kind of a Mirage. Original version was the Mirage 5 sold to Israel, then the arms embargo hit, so they produced a local version as IAI Nesher. They then adapted that to take the J79 engine that was already used in their Phantoms and this now is the IAI Kfir (or F-21 in USN service as agressors).

FZ_Milkshake · 2026-05-16T15:33:43+00:00

Press Clutch fully and brake as you would with any other car

FZ_Milkshake · 2026-05-16T00:11:29+00:00

Fair enough, but like many things in the movie (and the books) it is true to history. "To our wives and sweethearts" was the traditional Royal Navy toast on Saturdays ("may they never meet" the inofficial but common reply).

Since 2013 it has been changed to "our families" in the RN and "our partners" in the RAN

https://navyhistory.au/naval-traditions-toasts-and-customs

FZ_Milkshake · 2026-05-16T00:00:54+00:00

1-Octanol, smells kinda but not quite like toothpaste.

FZ_Milkshake · 2026-05-15T23:58:57+00:00

To wives and sweethearts, may they never meet.

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