Wish we could see more of what's in the tunnel in your picture - I have
a number of friends whom are Tomcat RIOs and have been discussing
loadings for my Tomcat kits (I have one Revell one completed, another on
the bench, and two more Tamiya ones waiting) with them for some time.
Without fail they have all told me that 2 GBU-24 on the forward pallets
is not possible, and that having anything on the forward pallets doesn't
allow loading of a missile in the aft Sparrow bay. In fact, many of the
loadings depicted in the Tamiya instructions are in error - the best bet
is to look at pictures of operating aircraft and load your model as
evidenced.
I'm doing my current Revell project as a VF-41 Bombcat - I'm told VF-41
was the first Tomcat squadron to take the LANTIRN pod into actual combat
over Bosnia, so there's some history there to be built. I'm using the
Tecknics cockpit and LANTIRN pod, Cutting Edge AIM-9's, CAM GBU-10's and
decals, and odds and ends from the Eduard exterior sets meant for the
Tamiya kit...and doing a ton of scratch building on the landing gear and
in the wheel wells.
Most Bombcat pictures I have seen have had 500 pound LGBs loaded -
GBU-12, I think. That's what I want to put on my current project, but
I've only been able to find GBU-10s. My RIO friends tell me that 2 x
GBU-10 is acceptable, but that usually that much "bang" isn't required
to get the job done (and that they wouldn't prefer to fly with that sort
of load - again because of forward CG considerations)- the preferred
weapon is the 500 pound one, as evidenced by the pictures I've seen, and
also the picture you've shown me. I bet my choice of GBU-10 is actually
wrong for Bonsnian operaratons, but I haven't been able to find any
actual combat photos so I'll stick with my current choice unless I can
find two 500 pound GBU in 1/32, as I do know that the 2000 pound class
weapon is all wrong. I suppose I could scratch build them, as the
airfoil group and CCU are the same - I'd just need some 500 pound bomb
bodies and a razor saw... My current plan is: LANTIRN/2 x AIM-9/1 x
AIM-7/2 x GBU-10. Still looking forward to your construction article!
I'm curious as to why they would have mounted any Phoenix...they are
virtually unopposed in the air over Afghanistan, so I'd think that
AIM-9's would have been the self defense weapon of choice...but I'm not
their mission planner.

Signature
- Rufus
> My friend who is the photographer on the USS Carl Vinson answered this
> question. He is saying that "Generally what's on that photo is what we flew
[quoted text clipped - 59 lines]
>>>
>>>correct.
Rufus - 23 Apr 2004 20:43 GMT
OOPS!!! - now I have to correct myself...GBU-10's are 2000 pound weapons
(Mk84 body - same weight, but a bit smaller than GBU-24)...now that
we've been talking about this, I've convinced myself NOT to use these.
I need to find some 1000 or 500 pound GBU's for my project!

Signature
- Rufus
> Wish we could see more of what's in the tunnel in your picture - I have
> a number of friends whom are Tomcat RIOs and have been discussing
[quoted text clipped - 35 lines]
> AIM-9's would have been the self defense weapon of choice...but I'm not
> their mission planner.