Manual

There’s no sense using all your fuel up incombat just to be forced into ejecting lateron. A plane down is a plane down. Itdoesn’t matter whether you are shotdown or crash after running out of gas.Fuel ConservationThe F-14 was meant to be a strategicinterceptor able to cover long distances.You can’t fulfil this role very well if you’realways having to return home on Bingofuel. The secret to being a strategicinterceptor is letting your radar andmissiles do the work for you.This thirsty “Cat” takes a drink from a KA-6Refueling tanker.The AWG-9 radar is very powerful. Use itto check out areas that are far awayrather than wasting fuel flying over tothem.The Phoenix missile gives you the ability toreach out and touch someone nearly 100 nmaway. Sure beats having to travel that 100miles just to pop off a Sidewinder, doesn’t it?Think of the fuel you’re saving.Setting your engines to cruising speed(80% RpM) gives your aircraft its best mixof power versus fuel consumption. Thissetting should be used when you areflying long distances. Avoid using highpower settings, especially the afterburner,except in emergencies.You should remain at cruise speed formost of each flight. What’s your hurry?The Navy’s launching platform conceptdoesn’t require speed, it requiresendurance. Complete each mission evenif it means flying at 240 knots to and fromthe target.Make no mistake about it, when the fuelis gone- it’s game over. You had betterhave a landing spot in mind ‘cause the F-14B has a glide path like a brick.NAVIGATIONGetting lost has always been a problemfor pilots as far back as the Wrightbrothers. Fortunately, the F-14 hassophisticated navigation equipmentonboard to help you to find your wayhome. In fact, your NAV gear enables youto fly back to the carrier in any lowvisibility weather condition, including pitchdarkness.WaypointsYour F-14 has a navigation computerwhich contains a pre-programmed set ofco-ordinates known as Waypoints. Thesepoints help you navigate by insertingreference carets on the HUD MagneticHeading Indicator.Each mission you fly has its own uniquewaypoints. Examples of waypoints for aparticular mission might be: your carrier,your mission objective, a CAP location,and even the strike package yoursupposed to being escorting. Waypointsare not necessarily fixed points in space.In the case of your carrier or strikepackage, the waypoint moves as they do.Once in flight, press the WaypointToggle (S Key) to toggle through thismission’s list of waypoints. A briefdescription of the waypoint appears alongthe bottom of the screen. For eachwaypoint there is a corresponding bearingcaret. This caret is located on the HUDMagnetic Heading Indicator which runsacross the top of the HUD.