Goodbye F-14 Tomcat~~!!!

[Passions]

Navy's F-14 fighter jet flies its final mission
Tomcat retired because of cost, new technology

USA Today 02/17/06
author: Steven Komarow
(Copyright 2006)



WASHINGTON -- The F-14 Tomcat, the fighter jet that soared into the national imagination in the movie Top Gun, has flown into the danger zone for the last time.

The Navy announced Thursday that the last F-14 combat mission was completed Feb. 8, when a pair of Tomcats landed aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt after one dropped a bomb in Iraq.

Capt. William Sizemore, who flew on that last mission, said the Tomcat will be missed.

"This is one of the best airplanes ever built, and it's sad to see it go away," Sizemore said in a Navy report from the ship. "It's just a beautiful airplane. And it just looks like the ultimate fighter."

Although still swift and deadly, the F-14 is a victim of changing times. For example:

*Sophisticated missiles have made its specialty, aerial dogfighting, obsolete. Opposing aircraft target each other from miles away, often before the pilots can see each other except on radar.

*Precision bombing is the new priority, and despite modification, the Tomcat can't carry the loads of the new F/A-18 Super Hornet.

*It's too expensive in the long run. The jet that flew its first combat missions in September 1974 requires 50 hours of maintenance, compared with five to 10 hours for the Super Hornet, for each hour of flight time.

The F-14 and its Navy pilots were at the heart of the 1986 movie Top Gun, in which Tom Cruise played Maverick, an impetuous pilot training at the Navy's elite flight school in Miramar, Calif.

Top Gun enhanced the reputation of an already legendary jet, said Adm. William Fallon, the U.S. Pacific commander and a former F-14 weapons officer.

"Potential opponents, at the mere thought there might be Tomcats around, would head off the other direction," he said.

Although the Navy is better served by the newer jets, the beautiful F-14 will be missed, Fallon said. "It was the last of the pure fighters."



I remember watching them fly overhead on the 15 fwy when I was little. =*( ***


BEAUTIFUL!!!

http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/aircraft/f14/tom-sun.jpg

 

[maddogchen]

 

[Aimster]

Sell them to other countries for millions a piece.

 

[techs]

I thought they had another 5 years left.
A truly remarkable airplane.
A pity it never got the engine it was promised. Even without the upgraded engine it did yeoman service.
Sorry, but the F/A 18 just doesn't have the F-14's panache.
Too bad it didn't have a bigger send off. Flybys in major cities, etc.

 

[CaptnKirk]

Into the Danger Zone . .

 

[Aimster]

Originally posted by: CaptnKirk
Into the Danger Zone . .

did he survive?

 

[arsbanned]

I was in an F-14 squadron in the early 80s. That was their peak period, with the shooting down of the Libyan MIGS, scoring 4 confirmed kills.
Iranian F-14s shot down Iraqi MIGs and Mirage aircraft during the Iran/Iraq conflict. The Iranians are still flying them, though I'm sure in a very limited way with the dearth of parts available.

Edit: Actually the U.S. had 2 kills in the early 80s and then 2 more in the late 80s.

 

[CaptnKirk]

Originally posted by: Aimster

Originally posted by: CaptnKirk
Into the Danger Zone . .

did he survive?

Don't know - compressor stall . . . then 'POP'.
He was banking to the right, and the fuselage is shown tumbling to the left.
What looks like the ejection seat continues straight ahead.

 

[techs]

Originally posted by: CaptnKirk

Originally posted by: Aimster

Originally posted by: CaptnKirk
Into the Danger Zone . .

did he survive?

Don't know - compressor stall . . . then 'POP'.
He was banking to the right, and the fuselage is shown tumbling to the left.
What looks like the ejection seat continues straight ahead.

It was hard to find and it was in a another forum. The crew survived.

Here's what I found:

NWSA1066. USS Abraham Lincoln F-14 crashes at sea
AT SEA ABOARD USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN (NWSA) -- Both air crew
from a U.S. Navy F-14A have been safely recovered following a
crash in the Pacific Ocean 800 miles west of Guam on Sept. 20.
The two aviators were safely recovered by a USS John Paul
Jones' (DDG 53) small boat shortly after their aircraft crashed
in the water approximately 56 miles from the aircraft carrier USS
Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72). USS John Paul Jones is a part of the
Abraham Lincoln Battle Group.
The aircraft was from Fighter Squadron 213 (VF-213), based
at Naval Air Station Miramar, Calif. The squadron is part of
Carrier Airwing 11.
A helicopter from Helicopter Anti-submarine Squadron 6
(HS-6), based at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego,
returned the air crew to Abraham Lincoln.

 

[spacejamz]

Text

 

[Caminetto]

10 years ago, as a visitor to Top Gun school in Fallon NV. (where my cousin was the XO) and also at the Dayton Air show, I saw these fighters of both muscle and speed in action.
Awesome machine! And at one the time experts believed that humans could not fly anything more advanced.

Yes they will be missed.

 

[Train]

the F-14 is great, but I never understood how it could be such a good dogfighter because of its size, its HUGE compared to the F-15, F-16, or F-18, its like an SUV competing in a racing league of sports cars.

 

[imported_Shivetya]

Originally posted by: Train
the F-14 is great, but I never understood how it could be such a good dogfighter because of its size, its HUGE compared to the F-15, F-16, or F-18, its like an SUV competing in a racing league of sports cars.

F15s are huge as well!

 

[spacejamz]

Originally posted by: Train
the F-14 is great, but I never understood how it could be such a good dogfighter because of its size, its HUGE compared to the F-15, F-16, or F-18, its like an SUV competing in a racing league of sports cars.

probably because it could take out up to 6 targets over 100 miles out simaultenously with its phoenix missiles...

which brings up another question: wonder how many of these missiles are left in the navy's inventory since the F14 is the only one that carried it?

<-checks ebay to see if they are being auctioned there...

 

[Train]

Originally posted by: spacejamz
...

Well I wouldn't consider firing a pa-ho-nix from 100 miles out "dogfighting"

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: Train
the F-14 is great, but I never understood how it could be such a good dogfighter because of its size, its HUGE compared to the F-15, F-16, or F-18, its like an SUV competing in a racing league of sports cars.

The advantage of the variable wing help counteract the more manuverable smaller airframes.

 

[arsbanned]

VF-213 was the sister squadron to the one I was a member of. Huh. Weird.
I saw an A-7 skid across the angle deck and into the drink one time (Enterprise). Another time an A-6 hit the fantail but still managed to grab the number 3 wire. heh. Another time an F-14 clipped off the tails of 3 H-3s. He didn't fly anything but a desk after that. Another time...well...you get the idea.
A RIO I knew from my hometown crashed into a canyon-I _think_ in the Phillipines, IIRC. They were hotdogg-er..."training" at the time.
Ohhh memories :music:

 

[Passions]

Originally posted by: arsbanned
VF-213 was the sister squadron to the one I was a member of. Huh. Weird.
I saw an A-7 skid across the angle deck and into the drink one time (Enterprise). Another time an A-6 hit the fantail but still managed to grab the number 3 wire. heh. Another time an F-14 clipped off the tails of 3 H-3s. He didn't fly anything but a desk after that. Another time...well...you get the idea.
A RIO I knew from my hometown crashed into a canyon-I _think_ in the Phillipines, IIRC. They were hotdogg-er..."training" at the time.
Ohhh memories :music:

moooooooooooore stories!

ps: what do navy pilots do after retired? go work in commerical?

 

[arsbanned]

Originally posted by: Train
the F-14 is great, but I never understood how it could be such a good dogfighter because of its size, its HUGE compared to the F-15, F-16, or F-18, its like an SUV competing in a racing league of sports cars.

High speed maneuverability was quite good actually.

Although it is large it is very maneuverable and is considered an excellent dog fighter.

http://www.milavia.net/users/fighterjets/aircraft/f14_tomcat.php

 

[arsbanned]

Originally posted by: Passions

Originally posted by: arsbanned
VF-213 was the sister squadron to the one I was a member of. Huh. Weird.
I saw an A-7 skid across the angle deck and into the drink one time (Enterprise). Another time an A-6 hit the fantail but still managed to grab the number 3 wire. heh. Another time an F-14 clipped off the tails of 3 H-3s. He didn't fly anything but a desk after that. Another time...well...you get the idea.
A RIO I knew from my hometown crashed into a canyon-I _think_ in the Phillipines, IIRC. They were hotdogg-er..."training" at the time.
Ohhh memories :music:

moooooooooooore stories!

ps: what do navy pilots do after retired? go work in commerical?

haha. Yeah. I'm actually getting a little misty.
I'll tell you, one of the most exciting moments of my life was when we were operating in the Russian's backyard (for reference, in the area off the Aleutian Islands) with 3 complete Carrier Battle Groups and all the support vessels and even a couple Coast Guard cutters thrown in for good measure. Wow. It was a Site to behold. The Russians were sending up Backfire and Bear bombers and we were on 5 minute alert, with these HUGE seas, even the carriers pitching and rolling (those Destroyer guys, OMG help them). The Air Boss would yell, "Launch the Alert 5 fighters, launch the alert 5 fighters! over the PA. We were struggling like hell to get the birds to the cat, the nose wheels sliding sideways, guys with chains walking along side ready to lash them down if necessary. We'd get 'em there and they'd take off and intercept the bombers and "escort" away from the battle group. They'd fly in shifts and upon recovery we were regaled with stories of certain hand signals being traded between flight crews. We did have a Bear fly about a couple hundred feet over the deck one night (it seemed like you could almost reach up and touch it as it lumbered over) with the bay doors open! I guess one got through. heh. I'm sure the Russians found the operation provocative, to say the least. The 3 groups operated at a distance of course but they did a photo op of all the vessels under way in formation. I've been trying to locate that damned picture, a copy of which I received with a sailor of the month award. heh. If I can find it I'll post it.
Anyway. There ya have it.
Apologies for the OT and bad writing.

Originally posted by: Passions

Originally posted by: arsbanned
VF-213 was the sister squadron to the one I was a member of. Huh. Weird.
I saw an A-7 skid across the angle deck and into the drink one time (Enterprise). Another time an A-6 hit the fantail but still managed to grab the number 3 wire. heh. Another time an F-14 clipped off the tails of 3 H-3s. He didn't fly anything but a desk after that. Another time...well...you get the idea.
A RIO I knew from my hometown crashed into a canyon-I _think_ in the Phillipines, IIRC. They were hotdogg-er..."training" at the time.
Ohhh memories :music:

moooooooooooore stories!

ps: what do navy pilots do after retired? go work in commerical?

Yeah, many of them, though the Fighter pilots have a sort of celebrity status as you might imagine, compared to say, a P-3 pilot.
I was deck personnel though, not a pilot.

 

[Deleted member 4644]

Originally posted by: Aimster

Originally posted by: CaptnKirk
Into the Danger Zone . .

did he survive?

http://www.digg.com/science/The_Transon...F-14A_Tomcat_Flyby_With_a_Fiery_Ending

Confirm yes on both air crew surviving! LUCKY guys.

 

[MBrown]

It will be missed

A couple of vids of the F-14 doing some super sonic fly-bys

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[Ricochet]

The designers of the F-14 definitely should be proud. When most people think of air superiority they think of the F-14 and F-15, its close cousin.

A bit of a tangent: the Valkyrie, a fictional transformable mecha from Macross, is pretty much a transformable F-14. It is the single most recognizable/popular mech ever devised by the toy makers of Japan.

 

[judasmachine]

God can anyone talk about the F-14 without mentioning that POS film?

 

[3chordcharlie]

Originally posted by: judasmachine
God can anyone talk about the F-14 without mentioning that POS film?

But why does Goose always have to die?

Everytime it happens, I lose a little bit of that loving feeling... one of these days it's gonna be gone, gone, gone music:woah-a-woah-a-woah:music: )