Follow the money!

To begin with, the Shah bought plenty of spare parts. Two AVCAL's (each
consisting of one year's estimated usage of spare parts based on flight
hours) were required to be delivered concurrent with the first IIAF
F-14. That allowed plenty of time for copying and improvement.

Second, the USN lied to Congress that 70% of inflight malfunctions would
be repairable at the Organizational or Intermediate Maintenance levels,
without resort to the slow, highly expensive Depot or Contractor levels.

Third, Congress dictated the use of a myriad of small-business
minority-setaside contractors to provide bit-and-piece components for
production and spare parts. Many were totally inept, dishonest, or both.

For instance: A red or green lens for the nav lights cost $18,000;
Hughes used a special transistor in the AWG-9 Radar that was not
manufactured, but selected for its special characteristics from bulk
quantities of a common type of transistor used in GM auto seat belt
controllers. The yield rate for usable transistors was about 1 in 2,700
tested. Guess what happened when GM dropped that seat-belt design.

Fleet introduction was a real zoo, with the production line, the IIAF
and current fleet usage all in competition for the same non-existent
parts.

The IIAF logistics and maintenance guys, all graduates of the USAF
Palace Log training track, got a real snicker out of that one, and
contracted with French companies to provide outyear support.

To make a long story short, the guts of any nearly system-ready F-14 in
Iran's current inventory bear no resemblance to what was in them in
1975. The sons of the Frenchmen who provided logistics and engineering
to the Shah in the 1970's are providing them to Iran today, along with
the Russians. The flying pack of internal rat**** that USN maintainers
put up with for years long since went the way of the Wing Flap Glove
Vane Controller System.

By the way, another old giggle: When the first F-14 landed at Point
Mugu, the canopy warped so badly in the sunshine that it couldn't be
closed until it was taken into the hangar and cooled down. Everyone was
going nuts about what the Iranians would say when they found out (lots
of our oil dollars riding on this deal, guys). The Iranians were
totally unconcerned; their hangers were underground and a canopy would
never be opened in the sun. Point is, these airframes have been stored
and maintained in conditions superior to most museums. The original
hangar and support facilities were designed by the French, also.

OK, it's time for one of you aero types to explain the history of the
Wing Flap Glove Vanes, and where they went.

Rick




DDAY wrote:
There's a very interesting article in the current issue of Combat Aircraft,
Vol 7, No. 6. It's by Tom Cooper and Liam F. Devlin and titled "Iran: A
Formidable Opponent?"

The article is about Iran's current air force capabilities, specifically
focusing on the Tomcats in Iranian service (it is in keeping with the
issue's focus on the retirement of the Tomcat from USN service; several
other magazines are doing similar Tomcat farewell issues).

According to the authors, the Tomcat remains in frontline Iranian service
and in sizeable numbers. The authors claim that in late 2003 a USAF E-3
Sentry tracked 16--yes, SIXTEEN--Iranian Tomcats flying in formation. This
was the largest number spotted at one time since 1997, when nine were
tracked over the southern Persian Gulf by the US Navy.

The article is somewhat defensive in tone. The authors claim that although
Western sources report that the Tomcat is barely operable, this is untrue.
The Iranians have put a lot of effort into maintaining and even rebuilding
their Tomcats and Phantoms, and they may have as many as 65 Phantoms in
service. It said that the US has decided that the Tomcat is barely operable
because it no longer operates on the borders, but only deep inside Iran.
But they claim that this is actually because the Iranians are trying to
preserve their assets and keep their most powerful fighter farther from
potential harm.
snip
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