This is my entry into SPMTB's dogfight tournament. I wanted to think a bit outside the box compared to the last plane I made for a tournament.
I was inspired by the fourth-gen fighters of the Cold War, specifically the F-14 and Sukhoi-SU-27, and though, what would happen if I mixed the two designs with the lengthened main fuselage and electro-optical tracking pod of a SU-27 and the lifting body and swing wings of an F-14?
This was my interpretation and I think it turned out well. There is a bit of Panavia Tornado in the mix as well with the swinging wing hardpoints and all of the ones on the plane are loaded to the brim with missiles. I've equipped this plane with missiles that have close to their real-life performance to try and keep things fair with
-6 AIM-54 Phoenix's,
-8 AIM-120 D's,
-and 6 AIM-9 X Block 2's
All controls are standard with VTOL controlling flaps along with custom air brakes if you want to control this yourself. The swing wings are completely automatic beginning to swing at Mach 1.81 and ending around Mach 2.5 which coincidentally is the top speed of the F/A-18 and the top speed of the actual F-14 to ensure maximum maneuverability and if you want to store the plane and fold the wings, deactivate group 8 and it should fold the wings back fully. Activation Group 7 also activates thrust vectoring but I wouldn't recommend using it as pitching hard causes the plane to roll uncontrollably and enter a flat spin.