The cover has probably been bleached by UV rays and shifted over time to a more yellow tone.
As with the Panzergrau and the F-11F & F-4J’s Blue Angel Cameos’ specific shade of blue, there is no consistency in the position that Gaijin will take.
That photo was probably taken in the early 90s, before upgrades.
An updated ECM blister on the forward part of the glove vanes has been in place for the F-14A and F-14B since about 1995.
There are cases where you can see the more beigeish tone.
So I don’t know where the differences come seems down to unit paints.
My photo was from 93.
It is not related to damage from UV rays or ageing.
F-14A/Bs from the late 80s and early 90s are seen without yellow colored blisters.
Afaik, wingtip one is position light, not ECM stuffs.
As for the ECMs on the glove vane section, there was confusion within the same squadrons between those that have been changed since the late 1990s and those that have not.
I seem to have had a stroke and confused formation lights with positioning lights.
Looking at mats yeah they are Position lights.
That’s should be formation lights not position lights.
I guess mats also confused that.
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I filed a FOIR application for NAVAIR 01-F14AAP-1 (August 1, 2001) some time ago and just received the results of the review.
The release of NAVAIR 01-F14AAP-1 has been denied in its entirety.
The reason is based on 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(3) (Exemption 3), which allows the withholding of information prohibited from disclosure by another federal statute.
In this case, the applicable statute is 10 U.S.C. § 130, which authorizes the withholding of unclassified technical data related to military or space applications if the data cannot be lawfully exported outside the United States without proper approval, authorization, or licensing under the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. § 2751 et seq.) and the Export Administration Act of 1979.
Additionally, the review considered the “foreseeable harm standard,” meaning that even if the material technically falls under an exemption, it should not be withheld unless there is a clear risk of legal or other foreseeable harm.
In this case, it was determined that the requested material not only qualifies for exemption but that its release would likely cause legal obstacles or foreseeable harm, justifying the denial.
TLDR…
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Aw man. That sucks. I don’t know why they restrict the export of modern F-14 docs when Iran only has the F-14A and can’t make parts anymore…
still waiting for them to disappear thats why
Probably the U.S. gov and the Pentagon don’t want to give Iran any information of any kind, even though it is literally available online.
Also, export restrictions doesn’t mean that those documents are available to citizens of U.S. allies, they do mean that it is acceptable or not to send those documents to Pyongyang or somewhere.
Honestly would have been more surprised if they gave a yes. It is a shame though.
Probably, I’m gonna try mid or mid 1980s to mid 1990s tomcats manual.
A model is more important than B model for me.
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js nuke atp. we need early 1950’s mentality for F-14 manuals
I mean … Iran most likely received the documents relevant to the aircrafts they got along with the aircrafts …
Buying the aircraft also includes ground equipment, training for pilots and ground crew and any technical material that is needed to employ or maintain the aircraft …
It’s not like they delivered the aircraft to Iran and told them “Here, have fun figuring out how to fly and maintain these” …
Yes, likely some detailed technical know-how regarding the maintenance of the more sensitive aircraft systems and its weapons was withheld and there were American contractors on the ground doing those parts, and on their way out they tried sabotaging many of the aircrafts and weapons hoping the Iranian technicians wouldn’t figure out how to fix them … But I don’t think “flight manuals” cover those things anyways …
Either those documents contain information (E.g. tactics) that are still considered relevant or it’s just bureaucracy at work, not doing more than the absolute bare minimum that they have to do, especially with the risks involved (E.g. People coming after them later down the road with the excuse of releasing sensitive information etc).
Well, it would be good to find manual till 1995, to report lack of auto flaps on tomcat if possible