FLYBOYJ
"THE GREAT GAZOO"
Don't know who your buddy is or what squadron he was in, I could tell you the F-15 is a 9G airplane, read "F-15 Eagle engaged" By Steve Davies Page 82. Additionally the -1s show configurations where the F-15 could sustain 9gs. The F-14 has a higher wing loading and lower thrust to weight ratio than the F-15, go to any web site (Wiki) and it will show that. It was an "excellent" machine with "excellent" maneuverability - the F-15 is just more maneuverable.Hey guys, just talked to a friend of mine, a former Navy pilot, regarding this and he said that the F-14 turns better than all the rest hands down, being able to sustain 8.5G's until fuel runs out, while the others, including the F-15, can maintain 8G's. Furthermore he mentioned that the variable sweep wing gives it excellent manuverability for an aircraft so large and heavy, esp. in the horizontal, permitting this interceptor to also dogfight against the lighter USAAF fighters.
Furthermore the F-14 uses a lift-body design, giving it even greater lift in turns. He also said that the F-14 has been successfully outmanuvering smaller and lighter adversaries all through it's service life despite the fact that often it is nearly twice as heavy.
Part of the secret is the computer controlled variable geometry wings which automatically adjust for all flight aspects. This is a great help as it makes sure that drag is as low as possible when needed and lift is as high as possible when needed.
Another secret he told is its low wing loading for its size. Like the F-16, F-15, and many of the newer MiG and Sukoi types the F-14 obtains a sizable fraction of its lift from the design of the fuselage (The lift body design), keeping "wing loading" low.
According to him the F-15 climbs better though, but the F-14 will climb with an F-16 and out-accellerate most fighters in level flight.
The F-14 "was" a great aircraft and is still worthy of front line operation but as stated the F-15 is at least a half a generation a ahead of the F-14, especially comparing it to the later block "C" models.