Tomcat to launch

[ScranJ51]

Rebirthed this F-14A a while ago.  Now came across a carrier deck, so:

CAT1-2 by David Freeman, on Flickr

CAT1-1 by David Freeman, on Flickr

CAT1-3 by David Freeman, on Flickr

CAT1-4 by David Freeman, on Flickr

Figures from a different set

[Logan Hartke]

I hope they don't plan to launch it with the wings back like that!

Cheers,

Logan

[ScranJ51]

Tomcat isn't hooked up yet, and would not spread the wings until almost on the Cat

[Logan Hartke]

Perfect. I wasn't sure in the sequence they normally raised the blast shield, but that makes sense. 

[ScranJ51]

Well, the blast shield is probably up to early, but looks ok

[ScranJ51]

Just to confirm, there are several aspects of this Dio that may seem wrong.

1.  The Jet Blast Deflector being raised this early is probably wrong, but has been done to make the Dio look better.

2.  The Tomcat is yet to hook the launch bar into the schuttle.  While spreading the wings could be delayed until this is done, more likely they would be spread earlier.  The reason they are still swept here is also an issue with where the Dio is displayed.

3.  The CAT crewman giving the thumbs up at this time is probably also premature.

In essence, the Dio is presented like this to give an idea - NOT to re-create actual procedures (although it may be close).

Just enjoy it 

[Logan Hartke]

No problem, Scran, it looks lovely. I wasn't trying to criticize. When I first saw it, my brain kept telling me that it looked "off" and it took me an embarrassingly long amount of time to figure out that it was wing position that was throwing my senses. That carrier deck looks sharp.

Cheers,

Logan

[ScranJ51]

Thanks Logan.

Another "issue" would be the leading edge slats on the Tomcat - these would probably deploy when the wings are swept forward.

The most pleasing thing is that the Tomcat itself is a 20 year old build - as I said rebirthed here.  At one stage it was an aggressor:

14-3 by David Freeman, on Flickr

14-1 by David Freeman, on Flickr

then when I converted another Tomcat to a Hypothetical ADF aircraft i used the decals to rebirth the aircraft, shown here on a different base:
VF111-1 by David Freeman, on Flickr

and now it sits as shown.

I'm happy with the outcome and it does look good sitting in the display cabinet!