"Norman" wrote in message
...

Out of curiosity, I was wondering if anybody happened to know whether the
maint
hours of the F-14D is significantly better than the A & B? Do the newer
engines
and digital avionics markedly reduce the maintenance requirements, or is
it the
airframe itself that requires the majority of the service time?

The engines in the D are the same as the B.

In general terms, the F-14D is somewhat harder to troubleshoot, as the newer
systems are less tolerant of being run up on deck without cooling air. It is
very hard to get an air conditioning cart to a jet on the flight deck! I
never cruised with "D's" though I did work on them at Pax. Can't say I was
very impressed - a lot of stuff (like the ASPJ) is really shoehorned into
the airframe.

Getting rid of that POS VDIG in the A/B was a good thing though.

-CJ