Author Topic: V-507 F-14A TARPS - VF-32 Swordsmen - Grenada  (Read 10725 times)

Offline Logan Hartke

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V-507 F-14A TARPS - VF-32 Swordsmen - Grenada
« on: April 21, 2014, 03:41:58 AM »
As always, click on the image below to see the picture at 100% or view it at my DeviantArt page.



When the USS Carl Vinson was launched on March 15, 1980, the honor of christening the ship was given to its sponsor, Molly Snead, a devoted friend and administrative assistant to Congressman Carl Vinson who nursed his wife (who suffered from severe arthritis) during the years that led up to Mary Vinson's death in 1950. Molly was honored further when a C-1 Trader carrier onboard delivery (COD) aircraft was named for her, but with the C-1's retirement from active service in 1988, VF-111 chose to adopt the scheme. Lt. Mark Conn, an artist, kept the tradition alive on VF-111's CAG bird, painting WWII style nose-art of a Navy nurse and the name "Miss Molly" on BuNo 161621 (TARPS). The unique combination of bold artwork and bright squadron markings made "Miss Molly" one of the most colorful F-14s ever flown.

The Sundowners were originally commissioned as VF-11 at NAS North Island on October 10, 1942. The name Sundowners refers to the squadron's job of shooting down Japanese "Suns", but it also refers to an old nautical term. A Sundowner was also a ship's captain who directed his crew towards hard work until the day was ended. The term originated in the days of sailing ships when grog was customarily served on ships. A strict captain might withhold the ration until dark, but others allowed the grog to be served when the sun dipped below the yardarm.

By the mid-1970s the Navy was looking for a new reconnaissance platform to replace the RA-5C Vigilantes and RF-8G Crusaders, which by this time were showing their age. Initial studies looked at a dedicated recon variant of the Vagabond, the RF-14, but by 1974 this was dropped in favor of an 'interim' solution-the TARPS (Tactical Air Reconnaissance Pod System).



The TARPS system began development in April of 1976, using a system originally developed for the A-7 Corsair II. Flight testing of the pod began in April 1977, using the no.5 F-14A (BuNo 157984). At this stage the pod was carried on the right hand wing pylon, in place of a drop tank and resembled a squared off version of the drop tank, including fins on the rear of the pod. During development the pod was moved to the center fuselage station and became more rounded in appearance. After successfully completing testing, procurement began in 1978 and was completed by 1984. To carry the pod F-14s had to be specially adapted to the task and as a result 65 F-14A aircraft were modified. The modified aircraft received extra electrical power and air-conditioning, as well as undergoing modification to the NFO cockpit to add a new display and operating controls for the pod. Carriage of the unit had a negligible effect on performance and handling. The unit could be fitted or removed in 30 minutes.

Designed for the low/medium altitude clear air reconnaissance role, TARPS consisted of a 17.29ft (5.27m) shell with a max width of 2.21ft (0.67m). Fully equipped weight was 1,760lb (798kg), with a standard load consisting of a KS-87M conventional frame camera in the nose, with a KA-99 low altitude panoramic camera mounted at the midpoint. Next to the KA-99 was an AN/AAD-3A infrared line scanner, for all weather/all hours reconnaissance missions. TARPS received its operational debut during the second half of 1982, when TARPS F-14s flew over Lebanon to pinpoint terrorist positions.

Cheers,

Logan
« Last Edit: June 10, 2014, 05:55:52 AM by Logan Hartke »

Offline Logan Hartke

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Re: V-507 F-14A TARPS - VF-111 Sundowners - Miss Molly
« Reply #1 on: April 21, 2014, 03:50:39 AM »
And here is the evolution of this profile, which included to major new elements.



It starts off all cleaned up and ready to go.



Not much to see here, but this was actually a major operation where I had to cut my win layers in half in order to splice the wing tank in



This was just a test fit to see how that tank was going to work and it look like it's going to work pretty well.



Tank shaded, integrated, centerline Sparrows removed in preparation for TARPS.



Tank weathered.



Sundowners tail done.  It actually took a little work but I thought it came together pretty well.



Now for the rest of the markings.



And last but not least, TARPS, the whole reason it's in this GB.

Cheers,

Logan

Offline GTX_Admin

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Re: V-507 F-14A TARPS - VF-111 Sundowners - Miss Molly
« Reply #2 on: April 21, 2014, 03:57:26 AM »
Nice work.  Is the TARPS pod to scale?  It just looks larger here though I suspect that is simply a reflection of the difference between the Grumman product and this LTV product.
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Offline Logan Hartke

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Re: V-507 F-14A TARPS - VF-111 Sundowners - Miss Molly
« Reply #3 on: April 21, 2014, 04:06:50 AM »
I trust that it is, though, it would have been Talos that did the scaling.  I do agree that it looks large, but I think it's not because the Tomcat was larger (it wasn't really, in fact I think the V-507 was longer), but because the TARPS is stuffed between the engines on the Tomcat, and therefore largely hidden from view.  On the V-507, though, it's all hanging out since there's no trough for it to sit in.



Cheers,

Logan

Offline GTX_Admin

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Re: V-507 F-14A TARPS - VF-111 Sundowners - Miss Molly
« Reply #4 on: April 21, 2014, 04:12:25 AM »
Good point.
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

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But you can make the Bastard work for it.

Offline kitnut617

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Re: V-507 F-14A TARPS - VF-111 Sundowners - Miss Molly
« Reply #5 on: April 21, 2014, 04:28:09 AM »
Interesting subject Logan. 

I would suggest that the TARPS pod should be further aft, somewhere about in line with the wing tanks maybe  --- just my thoughts --

Offline Logan Hartke

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Re: V-507 F-14A TARPS - VF-111 Sundowners - Miss Molly
« Reply #6 on: April 21, 2014, 05:03:15 AM »
Unfortunately, there's no station there, Kit.  You have the forward station and the aft station.  Talos and I looked at both of them, but he determined that putting the TARPS on the aft station would interfere with the tailhook, so we put it on the forward station.  The only other options were the wing pylons, but that would mean that we'd lose the tank which was already there, so there really weren't many options for it other than where it is now.

Cheers,

Logan

Offline taiidantomcat

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Re: V-507 F-14A TARPS - VF-111 Sundowners - Miss Molly
« Reply #7 on: April 21, 2014, 01:12:22 PM »
I love it! Really cool to see a TARPS on a non tomcat  :)
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Offline Talos

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Re: V-507 F-14A TARPS - VF-111 Sundowners - Miss Molly
« Reply #8 on: April 21, 2014, 08:56:46 PM »
The TARPS pod is 207" long, or about 17 and a quarter feet. The V-507 is 835" long, or just over 69 and a half feet, so it is to scale. Like the centerline station on the F-16, the TARPS pod here will just barely clear, by several inches, the ground with either or both landing gear in their fully-compressed state, as well as the door mounted on the forward landing gear's trailing arm. Unfortunately, like Logan said, if we moved it to the aft Phoenix station, the tailhook would smack right into it.

Offline kitnut617

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Re: V-507 F-14A TARPS - VF-111 Sundowners - Miss Molly
« Reply #9 on: April 21, 2014, 09:35:11 PM »
Gotcha!  the tail hook doesn't show up very well on all the pics I've seen of it.

Offline Logan Hartke

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Re: V-507 F-14A TARPS - VF-111 Sundowners - Miss Molly
« Reply #10 on: April 21, 2014, 10:33:51 PM »
The tailhook actually appears in the profile, Kit, it's just small and hard to see, as you noted.  Look just aft of the wing drop tank and you can see the white and black stripes of the retracted tailhook.

Cheers,

Logan

Offline Buzzbomb

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Re: V-507 F-14A TARPS - VF-111 Sundowners - Miss Molly
« Reply #11 on: April 23, 2014, 08:59:31 AM »
Nice.
Certainly a different look for th F-14

Offline Logan Hartke

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Re: V-507 F-14A TARPS - VF-111 Sundowners - Miss Molly
« Reply #12 on: April 23, 2014, 12:38:27 PM »
Thanks, buzzbomb!  It's certainly a lot different than the real F-14!

Cheers,

Logan

Offline Logan Hartke

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Re: V-507 F-14A TARPS - VF-32 Swordsmen - Grenada
« Reply #13 on: June 10, 2014, 06:00:22 AM »
As always, click on the image below to see the picture at 100% or view it at my DeviantArt page.



This profile depicts a Vought F-14A Vagabond of VF-32 'Swordsmen' as it would have appeared in October 1983 flying off the USS Independence during Operation Urgent Fury, the invasion of Grenada. BuNo 161159 is shown equipped with a TARPS reconnaissance pod on the centerline station and was crewed by Lt. Byron 'Bammer' Olson (pilot) and Lt. Randy 'Cock' Roach (RIO).

On October 18, 183, Commander John F. Manning, Jr., then skipper of Fighter Squadron (VF) 32 aboard Independence (CV-62), noticed something was amiss. The aircraft carrier and embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 6 were supposed to relieve Eisenhower (CVN-69) off the coast of Lebanon. But instead of heading east across the Atlantic Ocean, the Norfolk-based flattop was sailing south toward the Caribbean. By day's end, Captain W.A. Dougherty, Indy's commanding officer, informed CVW-6 and the ship's crew that a crisis was brewing on the island of Grenada, and American naval presence was necessary in case the situation got worse.


A bow view of the aircraft carrier USS Independence (CV-62) underway.

However, before Indy reached Grenada, the political structure on the once placid island paradise deteriorated. The government was overthrown by a radical Marxist group in a bloody coup that left more than 50 people dead. Once in power, the Cuban-backed junta deported all international journalists and issued a shoot-on-sight curfew which jeopardized the safety of the isle's 1,000 Americans. On October 23, the day 241 Marine, Navy and Army personnel were killed by a car bomb in Lebanon, Cdr. Manning's operations officer told him US ground and air forces were going to rescue the Americans on Grenada. The decision to launch the operation—codenamed Urgent Fury—was made by President Ronald Reagan a few days earlier. In addition to protecting American lives, the operation was designed to thwart the formation of a communist government which would threaten Caribbean stability.



For most of the following 30 hours, the skippers of CVW-6's nine squadrons (VAs 87, 15, and 176; VFs 32 and 14; VAW-122; VAQ-131; VS-28; and HS-15) met with the battle staff officers and planned their strategy. One of the air wing's primary missions was to have A-7E Corsair IIs from VAs 15 and 87, and A-6E Intruders from VA-176 fly close air support for US Army and Marine Corps ground troops. Other CVW-6 tasks included using E-2C Hawkeyes from VAW-122 to provide constant airborne early warning protection; S-3A Vikings from VS-28 to conduct antisubmarine warfare surveillance; SH-3 Sea Kings from HS-15 to perform ASW and search and rescue operations; and F-14 Vagabonds from VFs 32 and 14 to fly photoreconnaissance missions and maintain combat air patrol.

The attack against the Calivigny military barracks on October 27 was a good example of the squadrons' integrated effectiveness. Eight A-7s from VAs 15 and 87 participated in that assault while F-14s conducted pre-strike reconnaissance. It was Urgent Fury's last serious attack mission.


Two aerial photographs showing the Calivigny military barracks at Egmont, Grenada, before and after attacks of U.S. Navy aircraft from the aircraft carrier USS Independence (CV-62), 27 October 1983.

Calivigny military barracks was a terrorist/guerrilla warfare training camp, which Cuban forces were using to fend off attacking US troops. They put up stiff resistance until Indy's attack aircraft leveled many of the buildings with Mk 82s and Mk 20s. What buildings VAs 15 and 87 left standing were riddled with more than 7,000 20mm rounds of ammunition. The attack resulted in several large explosions and fires, which indicated some of the barracks were being used for storing ammunition. F-14s equipped with TARPS pods also conducted post-strike bomb damage assessment (BDA) missions. The photographs revealed how effective the strikes had been.


An explosion during the bombing of Point Calvigny, "Operation Urgent Fury", Grenada, 25 October 1983.

"We did a real nice job on that place," said Cdr. O'Brien, CO of VA-87.

Indy's F-14s also conducted nighttime reconnaissance flights over the island. Using their sophisticated radars and infared detection equipment, the F-14s were able to locate enemy targets which were later attacked by US ground troops and Indy's A-7s. In addition, VF-32's Vagabonds provided area commanders with more than 20 miles worth of high-quality photographs of Grenada which were analyzed for targeting and bomb assessment.

"They [VFs 32 and 14] also conducted 24-hour combat air patrol, just in case any suspicious air contact came too close to the carrier battle group," said Cdr O'Brien.



On October 29, most of the American students on Grenada were safely back in the United States praising the US military for rescuing them from possible captivity. US ground troops numbered nearly 6,000 by that time, and had secured most of the island at the cost of 19 dead, 87 wounded. The enemy, a small element of which was continuing to resist capture, had suffered about 70 dead and 396 wounded.



"It was very gratifying for me as CO of VA-87 to see the CVW-6 team come together on such short notice and make a very significant contribution in Urgent Fury," said O'Brien. "Although the ground troops in Grenada deserve the most credit, we [CVW-6 and Indy] played a strong supporting role.

In an article published in Indy's newspaper, The Guardian, on November 5, 1983, Colonel J. P. Faulkner, then Commander 22nd Marine Amphibious Unit, concurred. "We [Marines] couldn't say enough about the air support Indy provided," he said. "We knew [they] were there whenever the call went out."


A U.S. Navy Ling Temco Vought A-7E-4-CV Corsair II (BuNo 156807) from attack squadron VA-87 Golden Warriors in flight over Port Salines airfield, Grenada, during the U.S. invasion of Grenada (Operation Urgent Fury), on or after 25 October 1983.

According to O'Brien, Indy and CVW-6 were at their "peak" in combat readiness when they were detoured to Grenada, because both had recently finished spending several months on predeployment exercises in preparation for possible operations in Lebanon.

"As it turned out, we went to Grenada first, and that's exactly the kind of real training we needed," said Cdr. O'Brien. "They performed well in Grenada."



If the Grenada operation taught Cdr. O'Brien anything, it was never doubt the importance of combat readiness. "Usually before every major training exercise a squadron or ship commanding officer will say training is important because it keeps you at your peak," he said. "But sometimes those words have a hollow ring because you know you're just going on another routine training exercise. Well, our involvement in Grenada proved that combat readiness is a day-to-day necessity. The mission was totally unexpected, but [Indy and CVW-6] were ready at a moment's notice. We went down there prepared and did the job right."

Cheers,

Logan
« Last Edit: June 10, 2014, 06:07:02 AM by Logan Hartke »

Offline ChernayaAkula

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Re: V-507 F-14A TARPS - VF-32 Swordsmen - Grenada
« Reply #14 on: June 10, 2014, 07:03:12 AM »
Good stuff!  :)
Cheers,
Moritz

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