Application of Photogrammetry of F-14D Store Separation
Abstract
Conceived in the 1960's as a replacement for the F-4 Phantom, the 'A' variant of the F-14 Tomcat was first deployed as an air superiority fighter in the early 1970's. Designed as a follow-on to the F-14A, the F-14D was introduced to the U.S. Navy in 1990. Improvements were manifold and included addition of the A/N-AAS-429 Infrared Search and Track Set (IRSTS) to the 'chin' pod located beneath the radome forward of the nose landing gear. This chin pod, which was smaller and housed only the A/N AXX-1 Television Camera Set (TCS) in the F-14A variant, was postulated to adversely affect air-to-air and air-to-ground weapon separation from the aircraft fuselage stations. This warranted additional testing to validate the separation envelope previously tested and authorized on the F-14A. In an attempt to bring state-of-the-art separation prediction techniques to the F-14D weapon certification program, the Navy's flight clearance authority mandated the use of wind tunnel generated predictions to minimize program risk. Validation of the air-to-ground predictions, performed at the Naval Air Warfare Center - Aircraft Division, NAS Patuxent River, MD required a precise method by which store six-degree-of-freedom motion could be determined. Several methods of obtaining this quantitative data were evaluated with photogrammetric analysis selected as the most suitable. While tailored for the particular application detailed in this paper, photogrammetry may be used wherever precise position and orientation of objects in three-dimensional space is a requirement.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 20, 1994
- Accession Number
- ADA284154
Entities
People
- Chris J. Ferguson
- E. S. Getson
Organizations
- Naval Air Warfare Center