The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is a supersonic, twin-engine, variable sweep wing, two-place strike fighter of U.S. Navy. The Tomcat's primary missions are air superiority, fleet air defense and precision strike against ground targets. Tomcat has VG (variable geometry) wing to consist supersonic performance, long flight range and low speed performance for carrier landing. The F-14 entered the fleet in 1973, some upgrade was performed in 1980's and 1990's, nevertheless Tomcat is one of the strongest fighter even now. I think Tomcat is one of the most elegant fighter in 20th century. Paper airplane of F-14 on this page does not have variable swept angle system to simplify the structure.
New! I designed maximum swept back flight form of F-14.
How to manufacture your F-14
Download the drawing and print it on thick paper. (Refer to Material
and Instruments.) Pdf version is more fine drawing. Set up your printer
for thick paper.
Cut on solid thick lines.
Start with the body of the jet. Fold up as dash and dot line " _ .
_ . _" , the line consealed in fold or located inside the corner as result,
and fold down as dash line " - - - - " . Cockpit is surrounded partly in
the body. After folding, open and cover back side of jet in paste or glue
and re-fold.
Fold front of main wings to form reinforcing structure of wings and carry through (between wings). Fold slightly at center to form dihedral angle ( 5 degree). Vertical tail plane is inclined out slightly from vertical line. Paste
horizontal tail plane under vertical tailfin and engine conform to thinly printed engine marker.
Attach wings to top of body. Fold nose cover over nose of body and attach with glue. Cut out the
catapulting hook. No balance weight is needed.
Wait for glue or paste to dry. Center of gravity will be best position if aircraft is coated with spray paint.
Adjustment
Bend down wings slightly as a bow shape to make camber. Dihedral angle
of main wings is 5 degree. If F-14 turns unexpectedly, check symmetry of horizontal tail wings. Differential manipulation between both horizontal tail wings is useful for horizontal turn maneuver of this airplane. To turn to the left, bend up slightly rear of left horizontal tail wing. Fly F-14 as "How
To Fly".
