Posted on 08/21/2015 10:48:17 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
[The F-14 – yes, even the A-model]
Thought all “A” models got the engine refits and essentially became the “B” model.
Makes me wonder how much assistance lil boy Barky is prepared to give to Iran to keep their remaining F-14’s in service (at least report, Iran has around 60 of them, unsure of how many are combat ready).
Those little goat humping maggots have reverse engineered the Navy’s AIM54 Phoenix missile, and that’s not good.
A family member was on the team that designed the swept back wings of the F-14. This was in the Grumman facility in Bethpage, Long Island, New York.
Our family is here in Calif. because the F-14 was brought to Point Mugu to test the missiles out over the Pacific Ocean. And another family member was part of the Pt. Mugu team.
It is said the Navy pilots loved that plane.
It’s too bad the F-14’s fell into the hands, so to speak, of the Ayatollah.
Bump
I'm sure many below this post will correct me with the F-16, F-18 having better capabilities. But what is the deal with the over-priced F-35 that just doesn't work in many scenarios?
The above aside, I can't understand why the A-10 Warthog is going away with its amazing ground support. The grunts swear by that aircraft. Should we also get rid of the C-130 Spectre gun ship for close in ground support?
I often don't understand the procurement system at DOD. Probably politics as usual and some Admiral trying to make a name for himself. Hell, I remember when I joined the USN in 1975, the enlisted were wearing combination caps and double breasted coats like the officers and chiefs.
Two years later, the new SecDef reverted enlisted back to bell bottoms and dixie cups because the officers and Chiefs made such a big stink. While I hated the dixie cup, I understood the traditional need to differentiate between Officers, Cheifs, and E-6 and below. Got used to it as I did my job. While I was fine with the dress bell bottoms and working bell dungerees, just never liked the stupid dixie cup. Would have preferred a "piss cutter".
Now, Navy is wearing digital blue shirts and trousers with a five star cover. I kinda understand that since the chambray shirts and denin trousers would show every little dirt or piece of grease. They were impossible to clean and cost the enlisted so much to replace. Plus, the camis now fit in with other service camis. Also like the new velcro for patches on the camis. In my day we had to iron on new chevrons as we advanced and use a stencil for any new shirt for the name.
just about anything from the Grumman Iron Works was a good airplane. They built them tough and they built them right.
Beautiful plane...always one of my favorites.
Two years later, the new SecDef reverted enlisted back to bell bottoms and dixie cups because the officers and Chiefs made such a big stink. While I hated the dixie cup, I understood the traditional need to differentiate between Officers, Cheifs, and E-6 and below. Got used to it as I did my job. While I was fine with the dress bell bottoms and working bell dungerees, just never liked the stupid dixie cup. Would have preferred a "piss cutter".
I joined in 1976. The enlisted raised as much a stink as the chiefs and officers about the old pants and shirt with jacket dress blues officer and chief type. They were highly dysfunctional, hard to stow on ship without them getting wrinkled or filthy, and high maintenance. The Crackerjacks were welcomed back by most junior enlisted I knew. But IIRC they were optional UOD up till almost 1981. I mustered out in Oct 80 and chief checked my sea bag before I got out. I had to buy the Crackerjacks before I could leave.
The old blue jean dungarees were kinda hard to keep clean I got gigged by the MAA's all the time. That and not wearing a tee shirt. Well Duh it was bloody well hot LOL. I washed them after a days use & our shop had our own washing machine. Ships laundry didn't want the snipes greasy clothes LOL. But when you constantly worked in oil and grease what did they expect?
IMO Coveralls are the most practical clothing to wear be it uniform or otherwise. Seriously that's all I own. I do not own even one pair of pants. It's either coveralls or overalls. LOL.
I first got to wear coveralls when I was T.A.D. to the Boat Shop for Boat Crew and liked them. When I got out and started working maintenance I began wearing them instead of a typical work uniform. In my line of work they prevented a lot of embarrassment having to work bent over half the time LOL.
The return to tradition was badly needed though. You and I enlisted close to the same time frames within a year. Morale in early 1977 when I got to the ship was low Navy wide. There really wasn't any tradition. We did a MED SEA cruise in 77, came back in early 78 and things were really changing. Pipes began being sounded again by the Bosuns. The dress blues uniform changed. Small changes but the right direction. The last chief I had was one who had retired and volunteered back for a few years due to a shortage. We had a shortage of E-6 and E-7 Snipes. My WCS was usually the senior E-5 holding an E-6 or E-7 billet. We had an E-6 maybe a total of two years in the shop. The E-7's oversaw three shops each.
They were also great ventilation cleaners. Have a couple come by at flight deck level full speed and every bit of dust in the ships ventilation comes flying out LOL. They shoulda put it up on the PMS Board as a semi annual task :>}
We did a dependents cruise and my brother in law came on the ship for it. We were off VACAPES for the day fixing to head up river to Portsmouth and we had an airshow out at sea. They had two F-14's flyby at full speed about a quarter mile off just above flight deck level. You had to watch fast. The Boom hit and then my shop began getting trouble calls about dust coming out of the A/C vents LOL.
The HUD on my ‘99 Corvette Convertible was an offspring of the HUD in the F-14
First time it was ever used in a production car was the 1998 Corvette.
They’re pretty common in a lot of cars these days.
bookmarked.
That is some hilarious stuff (about cleaning out the ventilation), and although I had little involvement with NAVAIR, I know the Tomcat was one superior aircraft.
I’ll bet you miss those days on the America don’t you?
Have a great weeend.
Very damn few, I bet.
I was in Bandar Abbas in '78 in a P-3 out of Barbers Point (well, out of Dodge, actually) and they were cannibalizing their T56's to keep their pink P-3 fleet airborne left and right. I think they didn't do well in the desert environment. Or their maintenance sucked. Or both.
I don't think they had a half-dozen APS-80 sets working among them - so even if they got airborne they would have been relatively useless as a (insert mission here) platform.
I suspect their Tomcats are little more than shells.
MiGs, anyone?
were you a fresh air snipe???
cool story, I was on the kennedy in ‘78, commanded by jerry o tuttle....
he started as an e-1 and eventually became a vice admiral, truly a seaman’s captain..
he would get in line for chow with the rest of the enlisted men and would get a tray of what they were serving that day... if it was not up to standards, a cook would be in the brig...
anyway one day I was in line for chow, and the skipper was in line several people ahead of me..
suddenly, right next to the skipper, a snipe hole opened up and out came the dirtiest, unshaven, long haired snipe I had ever seen..
I guess the skipper had not seen one like that either, because he sent the guy directly to the barber shop en route to the brig..
priceless memories...
Bump
I saw him act in a way, regardless of the circumstances, a way I do not think the Captain of a carrier should act. It unsettled me, even though I agreed completely with his position at the time.
I bought this off Ebay (from the 1978 cruise)...:)
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