This was my attempt to ground players in the basics on using the F-14 in a WVR Cold War setting because of nuances with flying with Jester and getting your grasp on the general systems. I am by no means an expert in the F-14 but after revisiting this module, I found these tips to be very useful and wanted to share, I hope you find them as useful as I did.

Some final points: One note about the section in 12:00 - The F-14 can only support tracking on one Sparrow at a time. I didn't really land my point here which is to be patient with the flight time of the Sparrow. You may fire a 2nd one and turn your first shot stupid when it still has legs to reach a target. I would also like to make a note that the idea to overlay the seeker pattern at 3:56 to help illustrate this point was inspired by Jabbers F-14 video where he did something similar. There is NO way to have Jester IFF, sometime he is fast sometime he is slow. You have to wait, that is why having the TV camera bound is so helpful. :) Lastly, one last note. I could have done a better job of pointing out what is server specific (for cold war server) vs in general. When you have comfortable vs other targets, you can keep nose on. When you are in a more modern scenario and you are not top dog with the Sparrow, you may to lean into the great azimus range of your radar and turn slightly away to get defensive vs any other launches. Special thanks to Nordass and Tony Kito for validating some things as I was finishing this.

@brianconger8542

Жыл бұрын

I don't think this is accurate as I have heard one RIO say this but have not seen any citation from NATOPS and cant find it myself. In either case the first missle getting trashed is not modeled. I do agree about being patient though. The Sparrow will still have some energy even though the motor is spent.

@rbush83

Жыл бұрын

@@brianconger8542 Here's a clip of an F14 hitting a bandit with 3 sparrows in quick succession. kzread.info/dash/bejne/mpqElpR6mM_Tkpc.html The F14 can only paint one target with pstt radar, hence single target track but all the sparrows seeing the painted target with their seeker can track it.

One for the guys in comments, since I already bitched at Enigma about it: you don't need to keep your nose directly on for the Sparrow to track, you need to keep within radar gimbal limits. The Tomcat has quite a wide scan zone, I think it's 130 degrees like the MiG-29 - so that means the target can be within 65 degrees of either side of your nose, and the missile will still track, as long as you don't exceed that angle. Flying directly nose hot will get you killed, especially against a MiG-29. Fire your missile, crank 45-50 degrees to one side, and begin climbing or descending a bit too. Give it a few seconds, then crank back the other way. If he's fired, his missile will be burning all its energy to try and lead your turns while yours tracks straight towards him.

@tangofrown3352

2 жыл бұрын

I agree but you should try to be able to do a followup shot quickly if your first missile misses

@Enigma89

2 жыл бұрын

I think this makes sense for fox-1 fights in general. I will just say with cold war server, I tend to fly in a linear path because there is so much activity and flying a Tomcat is essentially flying a potential trophy for the enemy. So in most situations when you are really just fighting Mig-21s, you can get away flying relatively straight and keeping speed and then just brushing past things. If a Mig-21 tries to return fire they are going to just eat the sparrow. So it just boils down to what is in the area. For other servers (or in a situation where Mig-29 is around) where you don't always have the most reach, then yes your point is very valid because the margin of error grows and you will need to fly more defensive because of returning launches.

Funny thing is, even on modern-centric servers like Growling Sidewinder Open Conflict, I actually make most of my kills with Sparrows within 15nm. I cannot describe the satisfaction of downing an AMRAAM-laden F16 with an AIM-7M 1-on-1 after they know I’m out of AIM54s and think the F14 is helpless without them

@user-if4zv5nj5m

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, and seeing an f16 in stt lock trying to run from you on a deck knowing that he'll run out of fuel in a minute is a great pleasure as well

Really great video. Thank you for posting this. Very nice to have some current and relevant content for the F14, particularly as it pertains to a fox1/2 only environment.

@Enigma89

2 жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

loving these how to guides really helps👍

@Enigma89

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for coming back for another VC!

Excellent video! When i was starting out, a video like this would have helped me tremendously. You did a great job explaining everything and its going to help out a lot of people who decide to fly the best plane in the game which is of course the F14 lol...good job man

@Enigma89

Жыл бұрын

Great to hear!

Holy crap this is a good video. Thanks for making it

Thank you, exactly what I've been wanting to learn.

@Enigma89

Жыл бұрын

Great to hear!

I learned the fishbed from 1 of your vid’s, now this one set me straight with the tomcat 🐈

Still need to get into this on the server, feels like Blue needs a few more F-14 mains.

A Mig-29 guide please :)

@Enigma89

2 жыл бұрын

Working on it.

Good guide, I wasn’t able to watch the whole video yet, but the most successful way to fight in Cold War servers for me goes like this. First, if I’m RIOing or piloting, I will first use RWS to track a target. RWS is much more powerful and stable than TWS and it will pick up targets even if you are not actively scanning for them. Remember to play it safe, use every advantage, ESPECIALLY datalink. If you can’t see a target on datalink, you should think twice about going for it alone. Another useful thing which idk if you covered is the use of VSL HI. This is a vertical radar scan which looks above your aircraft and is extremely useful for picking up targets that you are turning on, PAL cannot see these targets because they are above the canopy, but VSL can. That’s how I survived this encounter kzread.info/dash/bejne/lJ6LmMGhfLWspJM.html . Always keep SA on your target, before you get within 15 miles, but be ready for anything. (also I find the best load out is 5 sparrows and 3 winders)

@Enigma89

2 жыл бұрын

I actually did not know about VSL HI, thanks for sharing.

Interesting side note: the 4 Sparrow, 4 Sidewinder configuration was one of the design requirements of the F-14. It was intended for bomber escort/dogfight modes. The really funny thing was the spec only required it to do 9Gs in the dogfight configuration. The Phoenix's were only used in the Fleet Defense mission, which didn't really have G requirements. So, to save structural weight, the designers only stressed it for 9G loads with 4 Sparrows + 4 Sidewinders and a partial fuel load. Once you start loading full fuel and Pheonixs on it, it's very much not at all intended to survive 9G turns.

@mikethemaniac1

Жыл бұрын

Don't forget the F-14 wasn't intended to land with a full load of Phoenixes. No really, the max trap weight of an A model was almost less than a plane with no fuel and six phoenixes. And the fuel for Max trap on a B model with six phoenixes was like 4,000 pounds assuming no other missiles on board.

Maybe there could be one or two mirages 2000 available on the server too when theres even F14 with Sparrows allowed. Its late cold war jet from 1982 (same as Mig-29A) which is very hard to utilize on modern era servers against spamraams and with its armament capabilities it wouldnt even be that OP i think.

@Enigma89

2 жыл бұрын

We feel that the M2K would be too strong. The MiG-29 is already pushing it and we intend to replace the MiG-29 with the MiG-23. The only reason the MiG-29 is do-able is because of the crappy R-60M missiles.

If you switch off the TV screen, you will get a launch range bar with max and no escape zones.

Great information and I enjoy your approach to the do's and don't's with the F14. Not sure about how different servers that don't provide the capabilities of the F14?? Good video

@Enigma89

Жыл бұрын

Most servers limit the number of phoenixes.

@ronaldwatson1951

Жыл бұрын

@@Enigma89 Appreciate the info, I'm preparing myself to begin into Gaming, and suggestions on what specific computer to smoothly run the game? It appears you had zero lag time, Thanks in Advance.

@Enigma89

Жыл бұрын

@@ronaldwatson1951 I am not particularly knowledgeable on hardware. I would suggest posting on our discord to ask people there., I am not as technical as others. My system is: 5800X 64gb Ram RTX 3070TI

I can't totally agree with the conclusion at 16:42 that an F-14 isn't able to "get in the phone booth" with a Mig-29. I've personally killed Fulcrums flown by both AI as well as another human, and Growling Sidewinder posted a video where he bested a MiG-29 two times out of two ( kzread.info/dash/bejne/oIqDmM2chdPPfZs.html). As a Phantom pilot on the DCS forums pointed out, it's all about the "meat behind the stick" when it comes to fighting the Tomcat. It's definitely not EASY, because the MiG is capable of eye watering AOA, and a competent Fulcrum will give you a lot of rude surprises, but it CAN be done.

@GreenBlueWalkthrough

2 жыл бұрын

Oh yeah IRL F-14 pilots have done it against F-15s and F-16s and won so a Mig-29 is not out of the question.

@Enigma89

2 жыл бұрын

I would tend to agree with the F-14B but the A is still up in the air for me personally but you may be right.

@Void304

2 жыл бұрын

@@Enigma89 I have no idea if it's modeled in DCS, but I've been told that the F-14A would walk all over the B at low altitude due to the A 'Cat's lighter weight as well as the fact that the TF30s loved the thick air below 10,000 feet. There are some interesting stories about USN F-14s mauling USAF F-15s during the AIMVAL/ACEVAL trials of the late 1970s due to the Tomcats luring the Eagles into fights in the heart of their preferred operating altitudes (not that it took the Eagle community very long to figure out that they'd been had). Still, the F110s were much better for the Tomcat overall because of their notably superior fuel economy, stall safety margin, and rated thrust at high altitudes and max afterburner.

@Enigma89

2 жыл бұрын

@@Void304 I could be wrong but I will say for my server, I would not recommend anyone to dog fight with the F-14 at low alts, the Migs are hungry and will dog pile the F-14 fast.

@Void304

2 жыл бұрын

@@Enigma89 Yes, that would be a foolish mistake. Capable though it was, even a skillfully flown F-14 would do well to stay clear of a furball, especially with one or more Fulcrums in the area. A good Tomcat driver has fair odds in a 1v1 rate fight against a MiG-29, but it can't handle 2v1 the hard way.

As an f14 pilot, I’m keen to play on the cold war server. Just not keen on having to save up points to do it.

@Enigma89

2 жыл бұрын

It is a carrot to incentivize participation in the campaign. If people do not participate in the campaign by attacking ground targets then they do not get access to it. The threshold is very low (10 ground kills).

doing this with voiceattack is a massive game changer btw

@Enigma89

2 жыл бұрын

I haven't used Voice attacker at all yet. Is it like an internal voice command thing that does key functions when you tell it to?

@Seventeeenth

2 жыл бұрын

@@Enigma89 yeah basically what you do is you type in what you are going to say/what the software is going to hear and then you assign buttons to that voice query. Like for example one of my things is "radar range 50" which i have mapped to my 9 key on my keypad, and whenever i say that the program "pushes" that button and then jester changes the range to 50

@pogo1140

Жыл бұрын

Think you can have 20 voice commands on your command profile before you have to buy program.

F-14A seems to have a new more modern rwr (alr-67). Is the original alr-45 modeled in game?

@mikethemaniac1

Жыл бұрын

No. The A model is a late production plane, the B is also pretty late production. Both are mid-late 90's I think.

I always find Aim54s to be almost useless. The only thing they are good at is preventing the enemy from firing on you, allowing you to get close enough to Sparrow/Sidewinder. I have like, 2 kills with the Pheonix. All my kills are pretty much with the Sidewinder Aim9M.

@kylethomas5666

8 ай бұрын

Launch them from like 35k feet and make sure you're going quick. I launch at about 65 miles and have a good kill rate. If they're close you can use them like sparrows and they track really well

Great advice! which the F-14 can in certin situations super cruise aka matain Super sonic without afterburner... Also the F-14 can Visual range dogfight an F-15 or even a F-16 and win atleast in real life so I presume it can win againest a Mig-29. However it does take all the aircraft has and you might still lose or have an angry crew chief when you RTB...

yoooooooooooo my kill made it into a video

@Enigma89

2 жыл бұрын

Which one were you?

@Colin0221

2 жыл бұрын

@@Enigma89 the one at 9:13

8:22 is that your censoring or the game?

@Enigma89

Жыл бұрын

Was me

Is the 27 really that bad? In my experience the ER easily outranges the 7M. Maybe the chart is from before the 27 update

@Enigma89

2 жыл бұрын

The 27R does have shorter range than the Sparrow. The thing is that the Mig29 can get to speed really fast and give it extra legs.

@djbiscuit1818

2 жыл бұрын

The difference between the R-27 R and ER variants is massive. The ER has a *much* closer performance gap to the sparrow than the standard R. (It's worth noting that on Enigma's server, the MiG-29 only has access to the earlier R variant, which shifts the math more in favor of the Sparrow.) All the R-27s are also very fast, but will bleed themselves of energy faster than a Sparrow, due to the shorter burn time. This means that even though the Sparrow technically outranges the R-27 (both R and ER variants), at most ranges the R-27 has a shorter time to target. Because FOX-1s need active guidance, this means that if a MiG-29 and F-14 both launch at each other, and neither party cranks, the R-27 will hit first, and the Sparrow will lose guidance. This makes the R-27 a very dangerous missile to fight in a FOX-1 only environment and/or in a closing fight, and can also result in the Sparrow "feeling" like it has a shorter range, especially because a bandit can close so much distance while the Sparrow is on the way.

@reichenwald-gm4qd

2 жыл бұрын

@@djbiscuit1818 The ER outranges the 7M easily. You can fire it well before LA and still have a good chance of hitting the target. It's more competitive with the 120B in my experience

Tomcat is way more fun in wvr.