Did F-14's ever cross-deck onboard HMS Ark Royal (R09)?

I seem to recall some pics of a USN F4 on the Ark sprouting a new paint scheme overnight…:diablo:

It was almost five years ago to the day, wow, that long, I may still have had hair back then :). Anyway back to the topic, I recently purchased a copy of Jane’s American Fighting Aircraft Of The Twentieth Century and after consulting the entries for the Phantom II and Tomcat as well as the sources listed below I have the following figures for you to note.
Dimensions
Overall Length: (F-14) 61ft 11.9in (F-4) 57ft 7.1in (Buccaneer) 63ft 5in The Tomcat is 4ft 4.9in longer than the Phantom and 2ft 5in shorter than the Buccaneer.
Height: (F-14) 16ft (F-4) 16ft 1in (Buccaneer) 16ft 3in (Buccaneer wings folded) 16ft 6in The Tomcat is 1in shorter than the Phantom and 3in shorter than the Buccaneer.
Wingspan: (F-14 unswept) 64ft 1.5in (F-14 swept) 38ft 2.5in (F-14 overswept) 33ft 3.5in (F-4) 38ft 5in (F-4 wingtips folded) 27ft 6.5in (Buccaneer) 44ft (Buccaneer wings folded) 19ft 11in The Tomcat unswept is 25ft 8.5in wider than the Phantom and 20ft 1.5in wider than the Buccaneer & overswept 5ft 9in wider than the Phantom with wingtips folded and 13ft 7.5in wider than the Buccaneer folded.
Wheeltrack: (F-14) 16ft 5in (F-4) 17ft 10.5in (Buccaneer) 11ft 10.5in The Tomcat is 1ft 5.5in narrower than the Phantom and 4ft 7.5in wider than the Buccaneer.
Wheelbase: (F-14) 23ft 0.5in (F-4) 22ft 11.9in (Buccaneer) 20ft 8in The Tomcat is 1.4in greater than the Phantom and 2ft 4.5 in greater than the Buccaneer.
Weights
Empty: (F-14) 39,130ibs (F-4) 30,198ibs (Buccaneer) 30,000ibs* The Tomcat is 8,982ibs heavier than the Phantom and 9,130ibs heavier than the Buccaneer.
Take Off Weight:
(F-14 normal) 58,539ibs (F-4 normal) 46,000ibs (Buccaneer) N/A F-14 is 12,539ibs heavier than F-4.
(F-14 with 4 AIM7) 58,904ibs (F-14 with 6 AIM54) 69,790ibs (F-4 gross) 56,567ibs (Buccaneer) N/a The Tomcat is 2,337ibs heavier with AIM7s and 13,223ibs heavier than the Phantom with AIM54s.
Max Take Off Weight: (F-14) 74,348ibs (F-4) 54,600ibs (Buccaneer) 54,000ibs The Tomcat is 20,252ibs heavier than the Phantom and 19,748ibs heavier than the Buccaneer.
Landing Weight: (F-14) 51,830 ibs (F-4 Gross) 34,745ibs (Buccaneer) 39,000ibs The Tomcat is 17,085ibs heavier than the Phantom and 12,380ibs heavier than the Buccaneer.

According to various sources in 1976 HMS Ark Royal had two BS5 steam catapults of which the waste catapult was a ‘long stroke’ BS5a which was 199ft long and based on the figures above, able to launch a 56,000+ibs aircraft. It had four direct acting arrestor wires which could handle aircraft of 35,000+ibs. If these figures are correct, then HMS Ark Royal’s waste catapult could have launched an unarmed Tomcat, though you’d have to keep clear of the starboard wing! But it doesn’t look like the direct acting arrestor wires could have coped with the Tomcat’s landing weight. Leaving aside the compatability problems with HMS Ark Royal’s catapults, I think it unlikely whether they could have cross-decked. As a sidebar, the lifts on Audacious Class carriers were 54ft by 44ft (fore) and 54ft by 33ft (aft) able to handle 40,000ibs aircraft. Even with a folding nose radome it is difficult to imagine a Tomcat fitting onto either aircraft lift. So no Tomcats to replace the Phantom on HMS Ark Royal. Another book that has come into my possession since I first posted my thread on this subject is On Target Special No.4 HMS Ark Royal Fifty Years of Flight 1955-2005 by Denis J. Calvert and Gary Madgwick and illustrated by Jon Freeman. Again on the subject of the Tomcat there is no mention nor photographs of the Tomcat flying from the ship. There’s even a section titled ‘Visiting Aircraft’ which fails to show a Tomcat, though in fairness it doesn’t show A7 Corsairs and they were known to have cross-decked from HMS Ark Royal.

Interestingly for those following the ‘Fantasy CVA01 Fleet’ thread over in the Naval Aviation forum, according to the Navy Matters website (www.navy-matters.beedall.com) whilst CVA-01’s two 250ft long BS6 catapults could have handled a Tomcat with the ability to launch 70,000ibs aircraft (assuming compatibility with Tomcat nose wheel attachment point) the arrestor wires could still only handle 35,000ibs aircraft (though I suppose they could be upgraded) but apparently the lifts which could handle 40,000ibs aircraft were 71ft by 30ft suitable for Phantoms and Buccaneers but not Tomcats.

Figures in italics taken from McDonnell Douglas F-4k and F-4M Phantom II by Michael Burns. Figures for Blackburn Buccaneer are for S2 model and are taken from www.blackburn-buccaneer.co.uk except for those marked with an * which are taken from www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk.

Yes F/A-18RN asked the exact same question as the first post, almost exactly 5 years ago to the day!
But also there is this thread http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=63922

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=44318

I started a thread on this some time ago based on info from a couple of books I read that claimed it happened. Unfortunately the thread went off on bit of a tagent and was never resolved.

Catapult strops on a A6. Never heard of that before.

The A-6A was designed for bridle-launch. The prototype, designated A2F-1, made its first flight on 19 April 1960.
The A-6A (the USN changed its designation scheme to match the USAF in the fall of 1962) entered squadron service in February 1963.

On 19 Dec 1962, an E-2 Hawkeye catapulted from the USS Enterprise in the first shipboard test of nose-tow gear designed to replace the catapult bridle. A second nose-tow launch was made by an A-6A.

A-6 bridle

Besides the tractors, the red stripes in the landing zone are a dead giveaway for Ark Royal. Yes the A-6 was a surpriase to me. Could the Ark catapult shuttle be adapted for nose gear launched airplanes, or was it cable bridle only?

I’ve seen pictures of F8s and (I think) A7s on a UK carrier as well.

Think you might like this site.

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CC0QFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eacott.com.au%2Fgallery%2Fv%2Fnavy_photos%2Fphantom%2F%3Fg2_page%3D3&rct=j&q=usn+intruders+on+ark+royal&ei=W4IaTNLXMaKO4gbn59XOCg&usg=AFQjCNGg1tJ-jvnE1dmhX6i0eddpFabfxw

John, does post here from time to time, hopefully he can add something

Think you might like this site.

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CC0QFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eacott.com.au%2Fgallery%2Fv%2Fnavy_photos%2Fphantom%2F%3Fg2_page%3D3&rct=j&q=usn+intruders+on+ark+royal&ei=W4IaTNLXMaKO4gbn59XOCg&usg=AFQjCNGg1tJ-jvnE1dmhX6i0eddpFabfxw

Cool

Any shots of the an A6 being launched from the Ark anywhere on the web?

A6’s on The Ark Royal

The pictures depicting the A6’s were taken on Ark Royal ….check out the AWD tractors. These beasts are still in service today with the FAA….they really belong in museums!

Catapult strops on a A6. Never heard of that before.

The A-6 shots arent from the Ark, they are on the JFK when the RN crossed decked over in a reciprocal arrangement.

The shot with the A-6 on the deck in the first link that sandiego89 posted is aboard Ark Royal. And again on page 22 of the second link shows them on the Ark’s forward deck.

The A-6 shots arent from the Ark, they are on the JFK when the RN crossed decked over in a reciprocal arrangement.

Some more pictures:

I was aware of the F-4’s but not about the A-6’s cross decking on the Ark. A google search of “F-4 Cross decking Royal Navy” turned up all sorts of good stuff.

http://issuu.com/penandsword/docs/century_of_carrier_aviation

Photos of cross decking

Some nice shots of US F-4 and A-6 jets on the Ark can be found at the following link (scroll down a bit)

http://forums.airshows.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=7442&p=186771

Never happened

F-14’s never cross decked to the Ark. F-14 was too big and too heavy for the Ark’s arresting gear and deck, and the catapults were too short and not strong enough to get the F-14 up to flying speed. F-14’s were not equipped for briddle launches.

Several cross decks in the 1970’s were taken with F-4’s, but not the F-14. USS INDEPENDENCE did several I believe. US F-4’s did not have the same nose strut jack up or blown flaps as the FAA version and could not operate with a full load from the Ark.

Operation Frequent Wind

First “combat deployment” was to cover the evacuation from Saigon, 1975.

Its an interesting question, as i beleive F-14’s first saw active service in 1977?

limited service from 1972, as a fully capable system from ’74, it saw some limited action in ‘nam

Its an interesting question, as i beleive F-14’s first saw active service in 1977? It would be an interesting thread to show pics of any aircraft types cross decking on other navies ships