F-14 Development Update - Power!

What are "FOD Effects" ?

What are "FOD Effects" ?

Foreign Object Damage

oooh so the shape and size of damage, I get it! That's wayyy too much programming work though (I guess)... That better be a full release feature 2019 :P

IRL, especially on carrier decks, it happened too often that a mechanic forgot a screwdriver for example in the air intake, which gets sucked up by the engine. Also debris on the runway can cause serious engine damage.

In the West, there is a habit of close inspection of the carrier deck/runway to clear it of debris and everything else that could potentially get sucked down the air intakes, while in Russia they don't bother but instead adapt their airframes:

The intake doors on the MiG-29 for example are closed while on the ground, while intake doors on the LEX open to provide air to the engines.

The Su-27 has a "grid" that is raised inside the intakes to act as a filter for FOD:

In extreme cases, FOD or a bird strike can cause a fan/compressor blade to get loose, which rips through the airframe like a hot knife through butter, and when it hits a fuel tank the aircraft explodes mid-air without the pilot ever realising what happened...

*edit* - FOD walk:

Mechanics STILL forget things in the engines in 2018?? omg...

Mechanics STILL forget things in the engines in 2018?? omg...

Human error is an element beyond time.

Mechanics STILL forget things in the engines in 2018?? omg...

Just like pilots crash perfectly good airplanes- mechanics also make mistakes. Lost tools are much less an issue now but dropped bolts and washers, or parts that are not secured correctly get loose and end up in hiding places on the jet- this is more common than tools today.

Tools left inside engines....No, this is not common.

It sadly is, and has been for a long time. A few P-39s crashed in Soviet service because occasionally tools were forgotten inside parts being repaired, moved during a turn and upset the CG to the point of causing a flat spin.

In the USN, a toolbox accounts for each tool by fittings; if a toolbox is returned with an empty fitting, the aircraft being worked on is grounded until the tool is accounted for or FOD hazard is negated.

This is also why jet intakes are painted white: makes for easier contrast when seeing if FOD has been left in the intake.

It sadly is, and has been for a long time. A few P-39s crashed in Soviet service because occasionally tools were forgotten inside parts being repaired, moved during a turn and upset the CG to the point of causing a flat spin.

It has happened in the past, and I can not speak for non-US maintainer practices. Like mentioned by Home Fries the US military has practices drilled into every maintainer that render the loss of an aircraft due to FOD unlikely. When weighed against the amount of maintenance completed every day, it is extremely unlikely.

This is looking fantastic. Please give it the sound it deserves.

It has happened in the past, and I can not speak for non-US maintainer practices. Like mentioned by Home Fries the US military has practices drilled into every maintainer that render the loss of an aircraft due to FOD unlikely. When weighed against the amount of maintenance completed every day, it is extremely unlikely.

Even still that lost flashlight got found 5 months later when someone opens a panel to the DAS compartment...after the impound, after the search and after the sign off.

Happened to me in real life, fortunately for me, I became to boss only a month prior to that incident.

Curious: will you use sounds with a microphone directly at the back of the F-14 where engines are or will you use real sounds recorded kind of like the smartphone at an airshow? ;) (I mean that as in Sound FX.)

It's gonna be a challenge to record a GE powered Tomcat right now..

It's gonna be a challenge to record a GE powered Tomcat right now..

I think F16 has the same engine.. Maybe they can record from it! hahaha :dunno:

I think F16 has the same engine.. Maybe they can record from it! hahaha :dunno:

The F-16-30/32 uses the F110-GE-100. The F-14B/D used the F110-GE-400. The -400 is different only in the 50-inch tail pipe extension fitted downstream the augmenter to better fit the F-14 airframe. What affect this as well as intake geometry would have on sound at the "suck" and "blow" ends of the engine I'm not sure.

It says that they need to be completed so that means that they are already working on them. Also some of them will be completed after the release so who knows. Also the Hornet has quite a bit of work left until the early access release.

I do not believe in the launch of the F-14 before the F-18.

And not for development issues, but for trade issues.

Both in sales and in audience, the F-14 would certainly overshadow the arrival of the F-18 sometime in June.

Believe it, regardless of what developers are saying, F-14 beyond Q3 2018.

Curious: will you use sounds with a microphone directly at the back of the F-14 where engines are or will you use real sounds recorded kind of like the smartphone at an airshow? ;) (I mean that as in Sound FX.)

LOL Good lucking finding F-14Bs!

Both in sales and in audience, the F-14 would certainly overshadow the arrival of the F-18 sometime in June.

I can only speak for myself, but I am DEFINITELY buying both! :)

It has happened in the past, and I can not speak for non-US maintainer practices. Like mentioned by Home Fries the US military has practices drilled into every maintainer that render the loss of an aircraft due to FOD unlikely. When weighed against the amount of maintenance completed every day, it is extremely unlikely.

Extremely unlikely in the RAAF, We have controlled toolboards during all maintenance. Techs do not have their own tools. All tools removed from the toolboard are tagged with tags belonging to the technician and what aircraft he/she is working on. Once the servicing or rectification is complete, all tools are returned, tags checked and a toolboard clearance is carried out and signed for in the aircraft servicing documentation.

For anyone interested in how the US Navy and Marines tool control and FOD programs work you can find it in COMNAVAIRFORINST 4790.2C chapter 10. FOD is 10-11 and TCP is 10-12.

http://www.navair.navy.mil/logistics/4790/library/Chapter%2010.pdf

That was interesting! Thanks for sharing.

I say they should release it now as early access, the only things I want to see on the first release are Battle Damage Effects and

FOD Effects. But these 2 things don't need more than 2 months to complete, right??

They can't do that, they can't find an F-14 and fire up the engines. Unless they go to Iran? But that would be the TF30.

All F-14s in US museums either had their engines removed or starved of fuel to destroy them. No museum Tomcat will ever fire up again.