What do Grumman F-14 Tomcat and General Dynamics F-111...

F-111B, BuNo 151974, approaching USS Coral Sea (CV-43) in July 1968.

General Dynamics–Grumman F-111B

2 links

Long-range carrier-based interceptor aircraft that was planned to be a follow-on to the F-4 Phantom II for the United States Navy .

F-111B, BuNo 151970 in flight over Long Island, New York in 1965

F-111Bs, BuNo 151970 and 151971, over Long Island during testing

The F-14 that Grumman proposed as a replacement for the F-111B, was designed around the same engine/radar/missile combination.

F-111B, BuNo 151974, being launched from USS Coral Sea in July 1968. It was the only F-111B to perform carrier operational trials.

F-111B, BuNo 151974, on USS Coral Sea in July 1968. It crash-landed at NAS Point Mugu, California on 11 October 1968 and was subsequently scrapped.

F-111B, BuNo 151974, at NAS Moffett Field, California during full-scale wind tunnel flight control tests

The first pre-production F-111B 152714 in storage at Davis Monthan AFB in 1971

Designed in parallel with the F-111 "Aardvark", which was adopted by the Air Force as a strike aircraft, the F-111B suffered development issues and changing Navy requirements for an aircraft with maneuverability for dogfighting.

The F-111B would be replaced by the smaller and lighter Grumman F-14 Tomcat, which carried over the engines, AWG-9/Phoenix weapons system, and similar swing-wing configuration.

A TF30 in the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum, Titusville, Florida

Pratt & Whitney TF30

2 links

Military low-bypass turbofan engine originally designed by Pratt & Whitney for the subsonic F6D Missileer fleet defense fighter, but this project was cancelled.

A TF30-P-109 from an RAAF F-111 at Defence Force Air Show RAAF Amberley, October 2008

A TF30-P-412A being prepared for installation in an F-14A Tomcat on board a carrier

It was later adapted with an afterburner for supersonic designs, and in this form it was the world's first production afterburning turbofan, going on to power the F-111 and the F-14A Tomcat, as well as being used in early versions of the A-7 Corsair II without an afterburner.

Two Dassault Mirage G prototypes, the upper one with wings swept

Variable-sweep wing

1 links

Airplane wing, or set of wings, that may be swept back and then returned to its original straight position during flight.

A Grumman F-14 Tomcat testing an unusual asymmetric wing configuration, a possible in-flight failure case, showing one wing at minimum sweep and one at maximum sweep

The F-111 was the first variable-sweep wing aircraft to be put into production. Shown are three Australian F-111s.

F-111E on display at the Museum of Aviation, Robins AFB, United States

Wing pivot mechanism of a Panavia Tornado during overhaul

A B-1B Lancer with wings swept full forward

The configuration was also used for a few fighter/interceptor aircraft, including the Grumman F-14 Tomcat and the Panavia Tornado ADV.

In the United States, such a configuration for the TFX (Tactical Fighter Experimental) program, which resulted in the development of the General Dynamics F-111, a sizable twin-engined aircraft intended to perform multiple roles.

Turbofan

1 links

Type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft propulsion.

Schematic diagram illustrating a modern 2-spool turbofan engine installation in a nacelle. The low-pressure spool is colored blue and the high-pressure one orange.

Propulsive efficiency comparison for various gas turbine engine configurations

Chevrons on an Air India Boeing 787 GE GEnx engine

Rolls-Royce Conway low bypass turbofan from a Boeing 707. The bypass air exits from the fins whilst the exhaust from the core exits from the central nozzle. This fluted jetpipe design is a noise-reducing method devised by Frederick Greatorex at Rolls-Royce

General Electric GEnx-2B turbofan engine as used on a Boeing 747–8. View into the bypass duct looking forward from the bypass nozzle and showing fan exit stators/fan blades

Schematic diagram illustrating a 2-spool, low-bypass turbofan engine with a mixed exhaust, showing the low-pressure (green) and high-pressure (purple) spools. The fan (and booster stages) are driven by the low-pressure turbine, whereas the high-pressure compressor is powered by the high-pressure turbine.

Pratt & Whitney F119 afterburning turbofan on test

Schematic diagram illustrating a 2-spool, high-bypass turbofan engine with an unmixed exhaust. The low-pressure spool is coloured green and the high-pressure one purple. Again, the fan (and booster stages) are driven by the low-pressure turbine, but more stages are required. A mixed exhaust is often employed nowadays.

Cutaway diagram of the General Electric CF6-6 engine

Geared turbofan. The gearbox is labeled 2.

The widely produced Pratt & Whitney JT8D used on many early narrowbody jetliners. The fan is located behind the inlet guide vanes.

Soloviev D-30 which powers the Ilyushin Il-76 & Il-62M; Mikoyan MiG-31; Xian H-6K & Y-20

Saturn AL-31 which powers the Chengdu J-10 & J-20; Shenyang J-11, J-15 & J-16; Sukhoi Su-30 & Su-27

Williams F107 which powers the Raytheon BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile

NPO Saturn AL-55 which powers certain HAL HJT-36 Sitara

Eurojet EJ200 which powers the Eurofighter Typhoon

Ishikawajima-Harima F3 which powers the Kawasaki T-4

PowerJet SaM146 which powers Sukhoi Superjet 100

General Electric CF6 which powers the Airbus A300, Boeing 747, Douglas DC-10 and other aircraft

Rolls-Royce Trent 900, powering the Airbus A380

Pratt & Whitney PW4000, powering the Boeing 777, MD-11 and Airbus A330

The CFM56 which powers the Boeing 737, the Airbus A320 and other aircraft

Engine Alliance GP7000 turbofan for the Airbus A380

Aviadvigatel PS-90 which powers the Ilyushin Il-96, Tupolev Tu-204, Ilyushin Il-76

Lycoming ALF 502 which powers the British Aerospace 146

Aviadvigatel PD-14 which will be used on the Irkut MC-21

GE90 powering the Boeing 777, the most powerful aircraft engine

The first production afterburning turbofan engine was the Pratt & Whitney TF30, which initially powered the F-111 Aardvark and F-14 Tomcat.

General Dynamics

1 links

American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia.

In 1999, the company acquired Gulfstream Aerospace. Here, a Gulfstream G650 departs Bristol Airport, England in 2014.

The F-111 that resulted first flew in December 1964.

Grumman went on to use many of the innovations of the F-111 in the highly successful F-14 Tomcat, an aircraft designed solely as a carrier-borne fighter.

An F-16 Fighting Falcon (left), P-51D Mustang (bottom), F-86 Sabre (top), and F-22 Raptor (right) fly in a formation representing four generations of American fighters.

Fighter aircraft

1 links

Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat.

SPAD S.A.2, with gunner in "basket" up front

Jules Védrines in his Nieuport 16, armed with a Lewis, after clearing the front line of German observation balloons with the first rocket attack in history

Nieuport-Delage NiD.52, which in various forms would be used through the 20s and into the 1930s by various European air arms, including that of the French and Spanish.

A Messerschmitt Bf 109E warbird demonstrator

A Supermarine Spitfire, typical World War II fighter optimized for high level speeds and good climb rates.

North American P-51D Mustang during WWII

The Messerschmitt Me 262 was one of the fastest aircraft of WWII.

The Gloster Meteor was Britain’s first jet fighter and the Allies' only jet aircraft used during World War II

U.S. Air Force McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II

Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor at the 2008 Joint Services Open House airshow

Chengdu J-20 at the 2018 airshow in China

The Sukhoi Su-57 of the Russian Air Force

M61 20 mm gun installation on West German Lockheed F-104G Starfighter

AIM-9 Sidewinder (underwing pylon) and AIM-120 AMRAAM (wingtip) carried by lightweight F-16 fighter

An MBDA Meteor, an ARH BVR AAM used on the Eurofighter Typhoon, Saab JAS 39 Gripen, Lockheed Martin F-35, and Dassault Rafale

The Chengdu J-20 of the People's Liberation Army Air Force

Some of the most expensive fighters such as the US Grumman F-14 Tomcat, McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and Russian Sukhoi Su-27 were employed as all-weather interceptors as well as air superiority fighter aircraft, while commonly developing air-to-ground roles late in their careers.

With variable-geometry wings, the supersonic F-111 introduced the Pratt & Whitney TF30, the first turbofan equipped with afterburner.

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

1 links

Variable-geometry fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union.

MiG-23M "Flogger-B" armed with R-23 and R-60 missiles.

MiG-23 on display in Israel after defection from Syria

Libyan MiG-23 over Gulf of Sidra in August 1981, being followed by an F-4 just before the first Gulf of Sidra incident.

MiG-23M "Flogger-B" on display at the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, Kyiv

MiG-23ML 332 at the Information Centre for History and Technology, Peenemünde

World operators of the MiG-23 (not including evaluation-only operators)

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23MS Syrian Air Force Camo

Hungarian Air Force Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23MF.

An Indian MiG-23MF on display at a crossroads in Gandhinagar.

Ukrainian MiG-23 on display at the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, Kyiv

MiG-23 on display at the Minsk World theme park in Shenzhen, PRC.

The General Dynamics F-111 and McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II were the main Western influences on the MiG-23.

Attempting to replicate the success of the Mirage F1s that shot down two F-14 Tomcats on 15 November 1981, the pilots of Iraqi MiG-23 interceptor units started trying to sneak upon the Iranian Tomcats in a similar way a few days later.

An unmounted M61A1 Vulcan with flash suppressor used in the SUU-16/A gun pod

M61 Vulcan

1 links

Hydraulically, electrically or pneumatically driven, six-barrel, air-cooled, electrically fired Gatling-style rotary cannon which fires 20 mm rounds at an extremely high rate .

An M61 Vulcan and the feed system for an F/A-18, on a stand.

The M61 mounted on a US Army M163 armored vehicle.

PGU-27 AB training rounds, Brussels 2015.

The Vulcan was later fitted into the weapons bay of some Convair F-106 Delta Dart and General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark models.

It was also adopted as standard in the "teen"-series air superiority fighters, the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon and McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet.