Originally Posted By: FlyNavyP3
Originally Posted By: Astro14
Originally Posted By: FlyNavyP3
Originally Posted By: CT8
I would prefer an aircraft with a bathroom. C130 or 747 Think big.
I already fly a plane with a bathroom. I want a fun plane.
Astro, how does the roll rate in the A-4/TA-4 compare to an F-14?
Roll rate in the A-4 was phenomenal - 720 degrees/second. Best I've ever flown. The F/A-18 was a close second at 540 degrees/second. The F-14's roll rate was a known limitation, about 180 degrees/second (slightly faster or slower, depending on wing position and airspeed).
The A-4 was a great flying airplane. Very honest. Good pitch control. Great roll response. But stable when you were off the controls. Precise and stable when landing or in a bombing run. Good high AOA handling, the leading edge slats gave it great slow speed characteristics, it would roll with rudder (preferred) or aileron at very low speed (80 KIAS).
I had a chance to fly the TA-4J as part of flight training. Got about 100 hours in it. Loved it. Had a chance to fly it a few times during an aggressor hop in Key West. Still loved it. Straightforward, easy to fly well, good power. It would be a great warbird to own.
I flew one from Meridian, MS to NAS Glenview (north of Chicago, long since decommissioned). Loitered at NAS Memphis on the way and flew six instrument approaches. With full drop tanks (an 8,000# load), it had the legs to fly about 1,000 miles with IFR fuel reserves. So, as a warbird, it had decent legs.
Thanks Astro!
I thought I remembered the A-4 having an absurd roll rate but I wasn't aware of the magnitude of difference between it and even the F-18! Additionally I wasn't aware that the F-14 roll rate was less than half as fast as the F-18. Great to hear your experience from flying it cross country!
The F-18 high alpha capability is absolutely incredible as demonstrated by the Blues high alpha pass and their low altitude entry into the split s. I know the F-14 even at the hands of an expert can be a handful at high AOA, but from a comparison sake how did the F-14 and A-4 compare at high AOA?
Well, Luke, I'll try...
The A-4 was pretty straightforward at high AOA. Lots of buffet. High induced drag. Modest roll rate that decreased to zero roll rate at very high AOA. At that point, you flew the airplane with rudder. The slatted delta wing was really quite good, and having conventional ailerons, elevator, and rudder made the high AOA characteristics benign and predictable. Single engine on centerline made control quite simple.
The Blue Angles flew the A-4 for a while and the show was great because they exploited the great handling of the airplane.
The F-14 was unique, and complex, at high AOA. This was due to widely spaced engines, the aerodynamics of the wide fuselage and "tunnel" between the engines, the use of both differential stabilizer and spoilers for roll, slats and slotted flaps for high lift on the wing.
You could fly it just as slow as the A-4, and it had (depending on engines) much better thrust/weight and energy addition, so it was a superior performer, with far higher top speed. It also had far better weapons, the A-4 didn't have a gun, or a radar, just the AIM-9, while the F-14 had a gun, AIM-9, AIM-7 and, of course, the AIM-54. You could kill an A-4 at 50 miles if the ROE allowed.
But the A-4 was a great adversary. Hard to see, maneuverable, and when flown by some of our guys, lethal. I've had my butt kicked when engaged in a BFM fight with an A-4. That's the best way to learn how to fight: fight the best, lose, debrief, understand, learn, fight again and repeat the process. We had some great adversary pilots. Skilled, thorough, professionals who absolutely maximized the performance of the airplane they flew and never made mistakes. While guys like me made lots of mistakes...at least, at first...then the mistakes got smaller and less common...
I talked about the F-14s high AOA handling in detail in the F-14 thread, but simply, at about 20 AOA, you lose normal roll control because of spoiler washout, at about 28 AOA, the airplane rolled opposite of stick input because of adverse yaw and proverse roll caused by spoilers and stabilizer drag. You could fly it well at very high AOA and exploit its incredible pitch authority if you flew with rudder, or in the hands of a master, rudder with opposite stick (cross control - which yielded a roll rate, not slip) or even differential thrust (with the F-110, never with the TF-30, engine).
It was anything but straightforward...
