I grew up around Royal Air Force bases in the '70s and '80s as my father was an RAF technician for 22 years, working on stuff like the Shorts Belfast, Vickers VC-10 and SEPECAT Jaguar (I still have a soft spot for these).
To the point - I have a very vivid memory from the late 70s - I was about 8 or 9 and living in West Germany at RAF Brüggen - the home aircraft were Jaguars (plus a squadron of Bristol Bloodhound SAMs) but we used to get a lot of other RAF, USAF and Luftwaffe visitors (EE Lightnings, F4 Phantoms, F104 Starfighters, Blackburn Buccaneers, BAe Harriers etc). This one day I was walking near the airfield with my family and a pair of aircraft took off, pointed their noses vertically and disappeared into the sky. I had seen EE Lightnings do this but this sleek, twin-finned aircraft appeared to do it with more class and I was captivated. To the question - how did the F-15 Eagle compare to the F-14 Tomcat; it was the F15 I saw that day and it has remained a favourite of mine.
Please forgive my delayed response.
The Lightning was built with an incredible ability to climb. Twin engines, very lightweight, so it was an incredible performer, particularly given the time during which it was built. However, it didn’t carry much fuel, so its range was quite limited. The weapon system of the time was also unimpressive, So, while it’s a very cool airplane, it’s a one trick pony.
The F-15 remains one of the worlds great fighters. It has great thrust to weight. It has excellent turn performance. It has a formidable weapon system.
The F-14 was built for a different set of design goals. Better slow speed handling for carrier performance. Heavier payload. Stronger (and heavier structure) for carrier landing and catapult. Higher build cost, and the F-15 wasn’t exactly cheap, either. With the installation of the General Electric F110 engines, the F 14 was very close to the F 15 in thrust to weight.
Depending on the parameters of the engagement, either airplane could carry the day.
I talked about the F-14 v. F-15 in the thread earlier.
Originally Posted By: cb4017 Mil-L-23699B, Odd that I remember that after 40 years away from the Line Division Sounds like you passed your Plane Captain board if you still remember the engine oil spec for the TF-30! Line Division worked hard - long hours, all weather, on the flight...
bobistheoilguy.com
When we used to fight the F-15s out of Langley, they would always define a fight where we couldn’t use the AIM-54. They knew its range. If we ended up in a visual merge, the Tomcat guys often won. The USAF may have had the better pure fighter, but the Navy guys could fly theirs slower, and tended to be a bit more agressive.
A classic story, back in 1973, the USAF was resting their brand new, very expensive F-15. The Chief of Staff of the USAF took personal interest in its performance, so did Congress. The Navy was asked to provide F-14s as adversaries in the USAF evaluation.
Nobody told the Naval Aviators, including one Joe “Hoser” Satrapa, that they were supposed to lose.
The picture below is of an F-14 HUD, with the gun pipper squarely on the F-15 pilot’s helmet. A humiliating kill. The Chief of Staff of the USAF tried to confiscate the HUD video to prevent the story from getting out. Didn’t want anyone knowing that their new, super expensive, world beating fighter just lost to the US Navy.
. I had a look and he was worth £9.35 Billion on his death. He could have had his own carrier.
