[smit]

Originally Posted by wp_913

Hi

Well gents, along these same lines... The other day while trying to achieve a better fit for the missile pallets on my Sundowners F-14, which by the way was only somewhat successful, I inadvertently broke the thin and quite vulnerable small piece protruding from the nose.

If I had to guess, I believe this is some type of antenna. Nevertheless I was wondering if anyone has suffered this same fate and how they went about making the repair. My first thought would be to obtain some thin silver color wire, drill a small hole into the nose and glue the wire in. The spare parts situation is rather disappointing. Any thoughts gentlemen ???

I had the same problem with mine. I probably broke everything that could be broken at some point Anyway I used the following tip and it worked beautifully for me.

TnT Replacing pitot tubes with steel needles by Kaan Gok

Smit

[RJLee]

The DACO book notwithstanding, I believe the F-14's nose probe is in fact an alpha probe (measuring AOA). Airspeed is measured by two additional probes on the sides of the fuselage (these are combined pitot-static sensors that pick up both airspeed and static pressure).

I had a small misadventure with my Century Wings VF-84 AJ202, which resulted in the nose probe snapping in half (this was not a good day). I ended up applying a dab of crazy glue to reattach it (fortunately the break was at such an angle that it supported a good bond) -- good as new! (I also think that Fine Molds makes an aftermarket F-14 nose probe set in 1/72, though I've never used any of them.)

[zed550]

company called finemoulds did tomcat pitot tubes in 48th and 72nd,will check out HLJ and see if they are still available

[Elmer]

Shawn...

I just received the port sidewinder launch rail from the Mule for the Black Aces Tomcat. I have it attached with its missile, and now it looks complete and grand! As the North American Distributor for CW, the Mule should be able to help you get a replacement too. Give 'em a try.

[wp_913]

Hi Zed550,

Thanks for checking about obtaining 1/72 pitot tubes for F-14, if you have any success locating a source for these, could you post here. I'm sure many of us would like to get a few as replacement/spares, they are an extremely fragile and vulnerable part of the CW F-14. Thanks

[David Hingtgen]

Matchbox included 2 nose probes with their F-104's, and I think HM does, too. Could Century start including a spare with their F-14's?

[Shawn 507]

Originally Posted by Elmer

Shawn...

I just received the port sidewinder launch rail from the Mule for the Black Aces Tomcat. I have it attached with its missile, and now it looks complete and grand! As the North American Distributor for CW, the Mule should be able to help you get a replacement too. Give 'em a try.

I'll call them Monday. I wonder if they'll give me hack since I didn't purchase it from them?

[wp_913]

...and speaking of spare parts and such, I have always thought that it would be an excellent idea for Century Wings to include with their F-14's, a version of the "compressed" nose gear so that one could choose to display the aircraft in the launch mode as a another option.

I have never understood why CW chose to release a separate launch version of the F-14. To me at least, it made no sense. As far as I can determine, the only differences between the regular and the launch versions is the compressed nose gear and that the launch version has the wings in a fixed position.

Although I will admit I did purchase a launch version of Jolly Rogers F-14, at the time it was my option for obtaining a Jolly Rogers F-14.

They would do well to include an extra of those parts which are fragile and vulnerable. just my 2 cents...

[wp_913]

OOPS,,, I just realized that I neglected to note another difference between the F-14 versions, the launch mode version also has the flaps in an extended position. I do suppose it would difficult to equip the model with movable flaps, so perhaps a launch version does make sense.

[lanslide]

Originally Posted by wp_913

OOPS,,, I just realized that I neglected to note another difference between the F-14 versions, the launch mode version also has the flaps in an extended position. I do suppose it would difficult to equip the model with movable flaps, so perhaps a launch version does make sense.

Good save, wp_913!