F-35C can also move the wings.F-18 can also move the wings.Was this all a move in congress against Grumman?
>>65333495Those wings don't move in flight.
>>65333495big fucking difference. The F35 wings fold up for storage on carriers. The F14 wings swing out to give it different flight profiles in flight. These are very different things that you are able to google.
More force placed on the pivot point (shafts, bearings, gears).This is a couple of hinges and a hydraulic piston, or something like that.They also get locked in tight before flight where as swing wings need to be able to endure more dynamic forces.It is a pity because swing wings are cool.
>>65333495Wouldn't it be safer to have them flop downwards so they can't flip up mid flight if something fails?
>>65333637Then the outermost weapons pylon would smash into the center one and the ground clearance would be horrible.
>>65333495It’s not just the swing wings that made the f14 difficult as hell to operate. It was basically the pinnacle of 60s aero tech in terms of electronic, electromechanical and hydraulic systems - which means that the systems performed very well, but were very complicated and not built with serviceability as a core design goal. F16 vs f14 is like comparing a Tesla to a Lamborghini in terms of complexity of service, even with the apg66 being a maintenance headache in itself
