In the climb in the inverted (reverse) position, the machine quickly breaks apart. All other jets (f18, l39, Rafale, Gripen, Starfighter) can perform this maneuver without any problems. Does anyone knows why?
The F-14 Tomcat was not designed for inverted flight or sustained inverted climbs.
In the infinite wisdom of Quora: https://www.quora.com/Is-that-Top-Gun-scene-possible-the-negative-4G-inverted-dive-with-an-F-14
TLDR: You can, but you shouldnât.
The F14 is a multi-role fighter but iirc it was mostly used for ground support. I donât believe any American F14 scored any significant A2A hits during itâs career but it was either an Israeli or Iranian F14 that did get a splash or two i think.
Dogfighting is not terribly significant in modern warfare. I saw a youtube short where this F35 pilot explained the future is trying to remain as hidden as possible until the last possible second (paraphrased). IMO whether thatâs through stealth or simply superior technology and firepower, the goal is to put pilots out of harms way as much as possible. At the time, they figured theyâd could slap on something with a 100 mile effective range and pop em before they even know what happened instead of potentially expose pilots to harmful situations. Once stealth became the intended future, you could save a bunch of money by using arms with 10 mi range and use surprise to your advantage. Yknow âhang on that guy wasnât there a second ago where did he come fr-â
Wasnât it American F-14s who scored kills in the Gulf of Sidra incident?
Personal Comments and Observations
Just to make sure the record is corrected (as I am a Naval Aviation enthusiast), F-14s were involved and victorious in two separate shootdowns of Libyan Air Force fighters, 1981 and again in 1989. We can take some of the rest of that conversation to #gd-commsupport:real-life-aviation with limits of course. Letâs stop the Kinetic Operations (i.e., combat) conversation here.
The design of the F-14 is absolutely intended to fly a full envelope of maneuvers. Many an Adversary Instructor and even brethren US Air Force crews have discovered they underestimate the venerable âTurkeyâ abilities at their simulated peril. Replacing the TF-30 with the GE F110 was about one of the most transformative updates the airframe received.
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i stand corrected lol
But that means others Fighterjets can do so? I really wonder since its the only plane of that category that cant do it.
But climbing while flying on back (inverted) is not possible right? Or is it just a failure of this 3rd party plane? I just want to know and understand.
That makes sense since pilots are most expensive 
Why not ask DC Designs? They arenât running support here because itâs against the Forum rules, but they have ways you can communicate with them.
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The F14 can absolutely fly inverted like any other fighter. It may not be as maneuverable as the other teen fighters and has lower G limits, but it can hold itâs own, especially in a rate fight.
Maybe post a video to show what the issue is? I donât have the DC designs tomcat but I regularly fly it in another high-fidelity simulator â including inverted, as this is part of normal maneuvers.
Also look for airshow demos on YouTube or so, youâll find good references.
See here:
Number 2 in the article linked above (note I said âsustainedâ in my original reply), a bit copied below.
Extended duration at zero or negative G on the aircraft, particularly while in afterburner places extreme demands on the engine fuel feed system. Youâve seen NASA astronauts floating in an aircraft that is used to simulate zero gravity. The same thing happens with the remaining fuel in the F-14âs fuel tanks. The fuel floats to the top and exposes the fuel lines to air. If air is drawn into the fuel lines, particularly during afterburner operation when there is a huge demand for fuel, the result can be an afterburner blowout or even worse an engine flameout.
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THX. That was what i were looking for. I will even bookmark this page. THX again.
Its interesting to read and your explanation was very good too.
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To avoid any confusion: you can totally climb inverted. What you canât do is pull too many negative Gs. Thatâs not a problem in a steady climb, but once you got angular velocity by keeping pulling the stick aft (or pushing forward) youâre loading the jet.
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Your first post said the aircraft âbreaks apartâ. Thatâs rather more extreme than the engines shutting down due to fuel starvation.
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Yeah thats why afterburner should not run. Anyway its a F14 thing and thats what i wanted to confirm.
The sim said the plane has been âĂŒberlastetâ so i guessed it breaks apart. In the end i just wanted to know if its F14 thing and it is.
Thatâs a mission we need in MSFS24: The Vomit Comet!
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