kallend 1,679 #1 February 23, 2006 www.military.com/features/0%2C15240%2C88041%2C00.html?ESRC=navy.nl They were impressive planes. I spent a day on the Vinson and another on the Ike watching flight ops a few years back. Sad, but I guess they were just too expensive to operate.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dougiefresh 0 #2 February 23, 2006 QuoteOn average, an F-14 requires nearly 50 maintenance hours for every flight hour Can that be right? How do they ever get it off the ground?Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cocheese 0 #3 February 23, 2006 That IS really sad, but change is good. So how much will civilian rides cost ? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OATSF14 0 #4 February 23, 2006 QuoteCan that be right? How do they ever get it off the ground? It's been quite sometime since my squadron days but I do remember HUGE amounts of time spent working on the plane. But......when it was working 4.0 we flew the crap out of it. When the F-18 first came in we were all surprised at how user friendly it was to work on compared to the turkey. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
turtlespeed 212 #5 February 23, 2006 Tom Cruise will be very sad.I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mostly_Harmless 0 #6 February 23, 2006 My home DZ is SDLI which uses the old Grummans Airforce base that use to build the F14's. There is a monument in the front with one of the planes you can walk up too. Lucky us we get to use the 10,000FT run way._________________________________________ www.myspace.com/termvelocity Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lawrocket 3 #7 February 23, 2006 QuoteQuoteOn average, an F-14 requires nearly 50 maintenance hours for every flight hour Can that be right? How do they ever get it off the ground? Get 20 guys working on it, you'd have 5 hours of maintenance after a two hour sortie. It's why they went so user friendly on the F-18 and a modular design. The crew can shange an engine in less than an hour, I believe. It's also why the F-14's are being phased out. My wife is hotter than your wife. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,471 #8 February 23, 2006 >Can that be right? How do they ever get it off the ground? I used to work on those things. Yes, they need a horrific amount of maintenance; 1960's technology upgraded piecemeal over the years. I spent a lot of time designing testers to try to bring test times down, so you could debug the thing faster. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 1,679 #9 February 23, 2006 QuoteQuoteOn average, an F-14 requires nearly 50 maintenance hours for every flight hour Can that be right? How do they ever get it off the ground? $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$, the ultimate aviation fuel.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OATSF14 0 #10 February 23, 2006 QuoteI used to work on those things. My God....I now have respect for billvon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zenister 0 #11 February 24, 2006 QuoteQuoteOn average, an F-14 requires nearly 50 maintenance hours for every flight hour Can that be right? How do they ever get it off the ground? yup.. and it is worse for helo's.. iirc its something like 80+ per flight hour for an AH-64D and more if its in a salt or desert enviroment...____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rookie120 0 #12 February 25, 2006 QuoteGet 20 guys working on it, you'd have 5 hours of maintenance after a two hour sortie. It's why they went so user friendly on the F-18 and a modular design. The crew can shange an engine in less than an hour, I believe. It's also why the F-14's are being phased out. I work with a guy who was in the Marines and worked on the 18's. He said they could drop an engine in 1 hour and have another in and leak checked in less than 2. Beat the hell out of what we do on the big boys with 4 hours to remove if were lucky.If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
