Emergency

Fire Detection and Suppression System

Fire Detection System

The fire detection system in the F-14 has two fire sensing loops, one in each engine.

If these loops detects a temperature over 600 °F (about 316 °C) along its whole length or 1,000 °F (about 538 °C) in a single 6-inch section it triggers the fire detection circuits. The left detection loop illuminates the left fire warning light on the ACM panel and the right detection loop illuminates the right fire warning light, see Air Combat Maneuver Panel.

In addition there are also sensors designed to detect hot air leaks in the engines and illuminate the BLEED DUCT caution light on the pilot caution - advisory indicator (see Caution - Advisory Indicator) if temperatures above 575 °F (about 302 °C) are detected.

Left	Right

The fire suppression system in the F-14 contains two bottles filled with a fire suppression agent capable of being discharged into one engine selected by the pilot. Though the system contains two bottles, both are discharged at the same time making the system a one-shot system, capable of extinguishing only one engine.

As the effectiveness of the agent depends on it remaining in the engine until the fire is out the effectiveness is greater at lower airspeed as it takes longer for the agent to be blown clear of the engine. The agent itself is a low toxicity agent, designed to do as little damage to the engine as possible while still being an effective fire suppressant.

To activate the system the pilot pulls the FUEL SHUT OFF handle (pictured above) corresponding to the alight engine and pushes the fire extinguisher button behind that handle. The pull-out of the handle shuts off the fuel to the connected engine and the button behind it releases the fire suppression agent into that engine.

Two advisory lights are connected to this system, each one indicating low pressure in one of the fire suppression agent bottles. The ENG FIRE EXT indicates low pressure in the main bottle and the AUX FIRE EXT the same in the auxiliary bottle. Both are located on the pilot caution - advisory indicator, see Caution - Advisory Indicator.

The advisory lights will both illuminate after a successful application of the system and will also indicate if an error drains the pressure in the bottles.

Fire Detection and Suppression System Test

Both systems can be tested by selection of the FIRE DET/EXT position on the master test panel switch. (See Master Test Panel.) This will illuminate both fire warning lights on the ACM panel if their respective loop is functional and the GO light on the master test panel will illuminate if the suppression system is functional. If the NO GO or no lights illuminate there’s a problem in either the suppression system or the test circuitry.

Ejection System

The F-14 Tomcat is equipped with dual Martin-Baker GRU-7A rocket-assisted ejection seats, one for the pilot, one for the RIO. The ejection system is a zero/zero system, capable of successfully ejecting the crewmembers at zero airspeed, stationary, on the ground.

As the F-14 is a two seat aircraft it has additional controls apart from the ejection handles and arming systems, namely the ejection command lever. This lever, which is located in the RIO cockpit, selects if the RIO ejects the pilot as well when he ejects.

The lever is situated beside the sensor control panel, see Eject Command Lever. When set to PILOT, the pilot ejects both crewmembers, while the RIO ejects only himself. When set to MCO both crewmembers eject both crewmembers.

The system does not allow pilot-only ejection because it would be undesirable for the RIO to remain in the aircraft alone.

The pilot has indication of what position the ejection command lever is at on the Landing Gear Control Panel, the EJECT CMD flip-flop indicator showing PILOT when the lever is in pilot and MCO when in MCO.

If the canopy does not jettison when initiating the ejection sequence it’s possible to manually jettison it using the Canopy Jettison Handle in the pilot cockpit or the Canopy Jettison Handle in the RIO cockpit. If the canopy inhibited ejection after ejection initiation, jettisoning the canopy will most likely restart it. If ejection is needed during a flat spin, it’s also recommended to manually jettison the canopy and allow it to clear before initiating the ejection sequence as the canopy might need longer to clear during a flat spin.

Jettison System

The Jettison system has four modes of operation: emergency, ACM, selective, and auxiliary.

Emergency Jettison

The emergency jettison is selected via the EMERG STORES JETT on the Landing Gear Control Panel. Selection causes the EMERG JETT caution light to illuminate on the pilot Caution - Advisory Indicator.

The emergency jettison requires only no weight on wheels indicated (no master arm) and ejects all stores except for Sidewinders.

ACM Jettison

The ACM jettison is selected via the ACM JETT button under the ACM cover/switch on the Air Combat Maneuver Panel.

The ACM jettison, like the emergency jettison, requires no master arm but instead requires that the landing gear lever is up. Unlike the emergency jettison the ACM jettison only ejects those stations selected by the RIO on the Armament Panel (set to SEL or B for stations 1 and 8).

Selective Jettison

The selective jettison is set and executed by the RIO on the Armament Panel. This mode of jettisoning requires the landing gear handle to be in the up position and the master arm to be on.

The procedure for jettison in selective mode is to set the desired station switches to SEL and hold the SEL JETT switch to JETT.

Auxiliary Jettison

The auxiliary jettison mode is a backup mode to use when the other modes have failed. Like the selective jettison mode it requires the landing gear handle to be up and the master arm to be on.

This mode can only eject air-to-ground stores and ejects them by actuating the normal release hooks. This means that the aircraft needs to fly straight and level as the stores are not ejected forcefully but instead just released and cleared using gravity.

💡 No jettison mode can jettison ITERs or stores loaded on those, they need to be dropped like normal, with or without the fuzes armed.