File:F-14 -991 in flight during spin entry and recovery tests DVIDS693601.jpg

English: NASA's F-14 (tail number 991, Navy serial number 157991) in 1980, soon after its arrival at the Dryden Flight Research Center. The aircraft has its landing gear down and its wings swept forward. At the nose, the hydraulically actuated canards are extended. Other modifications for high angle of attack and spin tests were an auxiliary power unit, a nose boom, and an emergency spin chute.

Following the loss of several F-14s in spins, due to their automatic flight-control system's control law architecture, in partnership with Grumman and Honeywell, Langley Research Center engineers developed new control laws involving what was called an aileron/rudder interconnect (ARI) that succeeded in limiting departures and providing recoveries from spins. The F-14 with the new control laws proved to be "very responsive and maneuverable above 30 degrees angle-of-attack, with no abrupt departure or spin tendencies."

The program was an unqualified success, but the Navy did not immediately incorporate the new control laws into its F-14s because of insufficient funding. As a result, mishaps with the Tomcats continued. Finally, the Navy contracted with GEC Marconi Avionics of the United Kingdom to incorporate the control laws into a digital flight-control system with minimal changes, and this was deployed on fleet F-14Ds aboard the USS Kitty Hawk and USS Roosevelt in March of 1999, decreasing the danger of out-of-control flight and making powered approaches to carrier landings much safer. Meanwhile, already in 1980 Dryden research pilot Einar Enevoldson had received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal for his contributions as project pilot on the F-14 stall and spin resistance tests.