Triple Ejector Racks USN vs Air Force

[ORANGF15Guy]

Hi Everyone,
I'm getting ready to start a project and would like to know if there are differences between the TER from the NAVY versus the Air Force? There are aftermarket TER's that are labeled as Triple EjectorRacks and one that is labeled as a NAVY specific a TER. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks

[f-15ERJ145]

I'm not sure the difference but what's the project & maybe I can help find the answer.

[ORANGF15Guy]

Since the SWS F-4J came out, I've been wanting to do Showtime 100. And after doing some research it was carrying AIM-7's, AIM-9's and Rockeye II's on a TER. So after looking for the Rockeye's and TER's I found that the aftermarket makers had them labeled as "NAVY" TER's and just wanted to make sure that I got the right ones if there was in fact a difference

[f-15ERJ145]

Originally Posted by ORANGF15Guy

Since the SWS F-4J came out, I've been wanting to do Showtime 100. And after doing some research it was carrying AIM-7's, AIM-9's and Rockeye II's on a TER. So after looking for the Rockeye's and TER's I found that the aftermarket makers had them labeled as "NAVY" TER's and just wanted to make sure that I got the right ones if there was in fact a difference

Oh. Who's the aftermarket?

F-4J or B?

[picknpluck]

It's a J. And the TERs are the same.

[ORANGF15Guy]

Originally Posted by f-15ERJ145

Oh. Who's the aftermarket?

F-4J or B?

AeroBonus make the "Navy" TER's and Brassin make a TER that isn't labeled as service specific, so that's where my question came from!

[ORANGF15Guy]

Originally Posted by picknpluck

It's a J. And the TERs are the same.

Thank you Sir!

[GW8345]

What Pick said

[f-15ERJ145]

Originally Posted by picknpluck

It's a J. And the TERs are the same.

I never realized it was a J and I have the kit.

Look the same to me too. Gerry?

[ORANGF15Guy]

Originally Posted by GW8345

What Pick said

I knew you guys would know....thanks for the help!

[ORANGF15Guy]

Originally Posted by f-15ERJ145

I never realized it was a J and I have the kit.

Look the same to me too. Gerry?

I think I'm going to roll with the AeroBouns TER's....they look more detailed!

[GW8345]

Originally Posted by f-15ERJ145

I never realized it was a J and I have the kit.

Look the same to me too. Gerry?



This is a BRU-42 ITER, there will be the small differences between it and the Vietnam to 1980's style TER (A/A37B-6). The main difference is the removal of the aft switches and safety pin in the aft end and that area was blanked off.



Old style TER with switches.


Air Force TER, the main difference between it and a Navy TER is the lack of aerodynamic fairing going to the centerline bomb rack. I never saw too many of these used by the A/F, Navy TER's always had the fairing.


A/A37B-6 TER's that were in use between the 60's to late 80's.



This is actually a MER but the back ends of a MER and a TER were virtually identical. The switch positions changed over the years (depending on sub-variant) but I never paid attention to that since they worked the same.

There are subtle differences between the Navy and Air Force TER's but in 1/48 scale you would go insane doing them and no one will know the difference anyway. The differences are mainly in the mounting brackets used for mounting the bomb racks to the strong back, the parent rack sway brace pads (were the parent rack sway braces contacted the TER) and the safety stop lever but in 1/48 scale those details are so small you would need a magnifying glass just to see them.

One other difference I would like to mention is that for early Vietnam TER's (and MER's) there was a safety pin for each sub-station that would go just above the aft hook on each sub-station bomb rack. Starting in the late 60's that pin was deleted from the rack and the safety stop lever on the back of the sub-station bomb rack was installed.

The AeroBonus TER's are very good and the only detail you will need to add is the breech leads going from the raised protrusion on the aft tail cone (the are inline with the bomb racks) to the breech barrel (tube at the back end of the racks). The round recessed detail that are offset from the racks is where the rocket cables (called rocket pigtails) would plug into when you loaded rocket pods.

hth

PS, I added captions to the pics (in bold) to provide some narrative for the discussion.

[ORANGF15Guy]

Thanks Gerry, I appreciate the help!

[Stefan Buysse]

Hi,

Great thread.
I bought the Eduard 1/32 MER set and I have a question.
One has to make a choice beteen resin parts R15 and R16.
The parts can be seen in the .pdf with the instructions: https://www.eduard.com/store/out/media/632102.pdf

What's the difference between R15 and R16? Is one early and one late? Or is one Air Force and one Navy?


Cheers, Stefan.

[GW8345]

Originally Posted by Stefan Buysse

Hi,

Great thread.
I bought the Eduard 1/32 MER set and I have a question.
One has to make a choice beteen resin parts R15 and R16.
The parts can be seen in the .pdf with the instructions: https://www.eduard.com/store/out/media/632102.pdf

What's the difference between R15 and R16? Is one early and one late? Or is one Air Force and one Navy?


Cheers, Stefan.

R15 are the late style sway brace pad while R16 is the early style.

R15 would be used if you wanted to make an IMER (Improved Multi-Ejector Rack/BRU-41) for aircraft like the F-18 and late A-6E's. Basically, any aircraft after the early to mid 90's.

R16 would be used if you are doing a MER (Multi-Ejector Rack / A/A37-6) for aircraft like the A-4, A-7, F-4, A-6's (Before the early 90's), etc. Basically, any aircraft before the early 90's (except the F-18, they always had the late style).

The spacing provided in the instructions may not be accurate, the pads should match the spacing of aircraft bomb rack sway-braces.

Part PE1 appears to be an switches that are placed inside a drilled out portion of the back end. If you are doing an IMER (BRU-41), these switches are not present and there is no recessed area on the back-end, the back end is just flat. Only the A/A37-6 had the recessed area and switches. Also, if you are doing a MER, there will be a RBF flag placed in the top back end switch, no RBF for the IMER.

hth
Gerry

[Stefan Buysse]

Hi,

Thanks for the swift and comprehensive reply, Gerry.
Mine are intended for USMC F-4's of the 1960's, so I'll go with R16 parts.
Good to know that these are sway brace pads and that they should match the spacing of the pylon's sway braces.

I've bought some micromagnets with the intention of being able to display the model with different load-outs.
I'll probably do some experiments with less expensive TER's, MER's and pylons.
First task will be to paint the top of every magnet red...the last thing I need is magnets pushing each other away.

Cheers, Stefan.

[GW8345]

Always a pleasure to help out sir.