Aviation wrote:
My young nephew is convinced that the F-14 can land vertically, as
in drop straight down and land. As far as I can tell, that just
ain't so. From the right perspective, can it ever appear that an
F-14 is 'hovering' and 'dropping down' onto a carrier deck? (I
thought F-14 carrier landings would use tail hooks and arrestor
wires.)

No.

Maybe a really skillful pilot can slow down and stall an F-14 a
few feet off the ground and 'drop it' without destroying it making
it LOOK like a VL in a movie or photograph?

That's not how it's ever done. An F-14 will hit a carrier deck at a
horizontal speed of around 120 knots (say 140 miles per hour). It will come
in at a steeper angle than a land plane, but still only a few degrees below
the horizontal.

(Just in case, he might have meant F-15 or F-16: same question,
though.)

Same answer.

As to real aircraft, I found that there are Harriers (AV-8 series)
currently deployed that are either VTOL, STOL, or STOVL. Are
those the only such aircraft in the US Armed Forces? Others
elsewhere?

Harrier is the only STOVL fixed-wing aircraft in US service. It's also used
by the British, Spanish, Italains, Indians, and Thai air forces and navies.
At the moment, it is the only vertical-landing fixed-wing aircraft in the
world.


I also read about the F-35 (X-35) in development for deployment
in 2008 that is supposed to come in a STOVL version (for the
Marines and Royal Navy).

Maybe he saw a picture of an F-35 test plane or a Harrier and
assumed it was an F-14. Once I have some better facts, I'll try
to figure out and explain to him what he saw. So the key Q is:
Can an F-14 land safely vertically?

I can't imagine that anyone could confuse the X-35 with an F-14, but I
suppose anything is possible. They don't look at all alike.



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