Video: F-14 vs Mig dogfight

Let's not forget about the Marines in the Cobra's. They get can get all testy. I only say it because one of my good buddies from high school is getting ready to retire out of em. :)

Yes, there too, and same as the Army where all the crew helicopters, whether transport or gunship, all have two pilots onboard. Marine Cobra guys.......have only met a few cool ones. The rest seem to even hate their Huey bretheren in their same squadrons. :D
 
For me, as a pilot, it took 2 years to get through flight training, almost another 2 years to get through the FRS, so I was an O-3 basically by the time I got to my first operational squadron. This is pretty common in the USN/USMC. NFO flight training varies a lot, from an absolute minimum in the P-3/P-8 community of somewhere south of 6 months to wings, to about a year/year and a half for EA-18G or F/A-18F. Their time in the FRS is similar to that of pilots. So very long road to a small house, on the Navy side, the time to train is mind boggling for an NFO->pilot transition.

I was still an O-1 for a few months as an A-10 pilot way back when. Which can't happen anymore.
 
@Cruise , with regards to the USAF and it's Navigators, the different jobs for them play out as such: There are WSOs, Weapons Systems Officers, who are the backseaters of F-15Es and B-1s, who work the weapons deliveries, etc and operate the radars (in the B-1, they're further deliniated as Offensive Systems Officer...essentially bombardier, and Defensive Systems Officer...or EWO described below); there are Table Navigators....guys on C-130s (none on C-17s), and B-52s who do the "classic" Navigator job of getting a plane from pt A to pt B, primarily for precision stuff like airdrops, working around known threat areas, etc; and there are EWOs, Electronic Warfare Officers, guys on B-52s and others who specialize at jamming enemy radar and threat systems, etc.
 
What about the JStar/awac bubba's. They can play too right?

I dated a JSTAR backseat instructor for a little bit. I made the mistake of saying, "a JSTAR is like an AWAC right?"
 
What about the JStar/awac bubba's. They can play too right?

I dated a JSTAR backseat instructor for a little bit. I made the mistake of saying, "a JSTAR is like an AWAC right?"

It's JSTARS, which makes me laugh at this story even more. Bet she was hot though.
 
Yes, there too, and same as the Army where all the crew helicopters, whether transport or gunship, all have two pilots onboard. Marine Cobra guys.......have only met a few cool ones. The rest seem to even hate their Huey bretheren in their same squadrons. :D
He's one of the cool ones....I hope. I've known him most of my life so he's not going to get like that around us. For all I know he gets like that when he's within the squadron. Although we spoke quite a bit about that Huey crash involving the loss of oil in the transmission. He didn't have a bad thing to say about the accident crew.
 
@Cruise , with regards to the USAF and it's Navigators, the different jobs for them play out as such: There are WSOs, Weapons Systems Officers, who are the backseaters of F-15Es and B-1s, who work the weapons deliveries, etc and operate the radars (in the B-1, they're further deliniated as Offensive Systems Officer...essentially bombardier, and Defensive Systems Officer...or EWO described below); there are Table Navigators....guys on C-130s (none on C-17s), and B-52s who do the "classic" Navigator job of getting a plane from pt A to pt B, primarily for precision stuff like airdrops, working around known threat areas, etc; and there are EWOs, Electronic Warfare Officers, guys on B-52s and others who specialize at jamming enemy radar and threat systems, etc.

Just a note on behalf of my bros in the WSO Union: They're all called "Combat Systems Officers", or CSOs, now. All of the DSOs and OSOs and EWOs and Panel Navs....all CSOs. Not Navs.

Carry on.
 
Just a note on behalf of my bros in the WSO Union: They're all called "Combat Systems Officers", or CSOs, now. All of the DSOs and OSOs and EWOs and Panel Navs....all CSOs. Not Navs.

Carry on.

Some of the few I know hate that they've all been mashed together as one. :)
 
Did the F-14's always carry a couple of AIM-54 in the tunnel when on CAP? I know the AIM-54 is a BVR weapon but when they couldn't get a lock with the sparrow/sidewinder could they have used the AIM-54 as close as they were?

In my limited knowledge of the F-14 wasn't the RIO more involved in weapons release due to the older technology of the aircraft, especially when firing the AIM-54?
 
Did the F-14's always carry a couple of AIM-54 in the tunnel when on CAP? I know the AIM-54 is a BVR weapon but when they couldn't get a lock with the sparrow/sidewinder could they have used the AIM-54 as close as they were?

In my limited knowledge of the F-14 wasn't the RIO more involved in weapons release due to the older technology of the aircraft, especially when firing the AIM-54?

The AIM-54s weren't a close range weapon, so no they couldn't use them so far as I know. Huge missile with not much maneuverability. If I remember right, the only AIM-54 kills with that weapon have been by the Iranians.

With the Sparrow, that missile is semi-active, meaning that it flies to the target the jets onboard radar is illuminating. The RIO was the one working the radar and keeping the target illumed during its time of flight, so he'd be very involved, as well as locking targets for the AIM-54 also.
 
The AIM-54s weren't a close range weapon, so no they couldn't use them so far as I know. Huge missile with not much maneuverability. If I remember right, the only AIM-54 kills with that weapon have been by the Iranians.

With the Sparrow, that missile is semi-active, meaning that it flies to the target the jets onboard radar is illuminating. The RIO was the one working the radar and keeping the target illumed during its time of flight, so he'd be very involved, as well as locking targets for the AIM-54 also.

I just thought the guy in back was simply there to say things like "Cougar, we're on fumes!" and "Where'd WHOOOOOOO GO?" :)
 
With the Sparrow, that missile is semi-active, meaning that it flies to the target the jets onboard radar is illuminating. The RIO was the one working the radar and keeping the target illumed during its time of flight, so he'd be very involved, as well as locking targets for the AIM-54 also.

Appropriate time to post this photo of me shooting an AIM-7 back in about 2002:
AIM-7MH2v1.jpg
 
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