Skip to comments.

Posted on 10/30/2001 1:32:16 AM PST by grimalkin

When the U.S. Navy's F-14B Tomcats streak over Afghanistan dropping laser- and satellite-guided bombs, the legendary fighter planes represent the military's massive and modern firepower.

But when the VF-102 Diamondback squadron returns from Operation Enduring Freedom, the 12 Tomcats based on the USS Theodore Roosevelt will be turned in, and the pilots sent to train on a new generation of aircraft.

One of the Navy's most recognizable fighters, with the swept-back wings, is 30 years-old, older than some of the pilots that fly them.

"Tomcats are a piece of history, I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to fly a Tomcat," Lt. Matt, call sign "Rub," a 27-year-old from Blythe, Calif., said. "But it's going to be nice to fly a brand-new airplane."

Pilots flying combat missions against Taliban and al-Qaida targets in Afghanistan are only allowed to be identified by their first names and call signs, unless they are commanding officers.

The Diamondback's commander, Cmdr. Roy Kelley, said he will miss the plane he has flown for the last 15 years and still the world's fastest and most maneuverable fighter plane.

"About a year and a half ago, when I was told this squadron was going to transition (to the F/A-18F), I wasn't really excited about it," Kelley, from Newark, Ohio, said. "That's going to be the hard part, walking away from an airplane you are comfortable in."

But Kelley said he warmed to the Super Hornet after visiting the Boeing factory where they are being built and flying one earlier this year.

"Getting a brand-new airplane is like getting a brand-new car, everybody gets excited," he said. Kelley also admitted that the Tomcat is breaking down more and more often.

Lt. j.g. Dave Woods, in charge of the Theodore Roosevelt's general aviation maintenance department, said the 20-30 year-old planes have begun to show their age and are now considered "high maintenance."

"They are very similar to an automobile, the older it gets, the more often things are going to wear out and break," said Woods, of Chesapeake, Va. "A lot of the air frames have been put through a lot of stresses ... as a result I'm going to get a lot more work."

Indeed, when the Tomcats sit in the carrier's hangar below the flight deck, crews place oil pans underneath them to catch leaking hydraulic fluid, a problem mechanics can do little to stop on the old planes.

After the Theodore Roosevelt's current deployment's scheduled end in March, the Diamondbacks, currently based in Virginia Beach, Va., will move to Lemoore, Calif., where most of the pilots and weapon's officers will train on the Super Hornet, a long-range, two-seat version of the F/A-18C that one Navy and one Marine squadron are currently flying off the Theodore Roosevelt.

All Navy F-14s, which can carry 13,000 pounds of explosives, are scheduled to be retired by 2010.

Kelley praised the Super Hornet's new technology, saying it is a far better fighter-attack plane than the Tomcat, which was designed solely for air-to-air combat. But he said it can never match the Tomcat's long range, mach 1.8 speed and predator mystique. Kelley said when his wingman is in an F/A-18C, he must be careful not to leave the slower plane behind.

"The capability the Tomcat has for speed is amazing, there is not another plane in the Navy's inventory that can come anywhere close to it," Kelley, 40, said. "You look at the plane on the ground and it looks intimidating, it looks like something that is made for war."

Thank God the Navy doesn't fly these anymore, or the State Department would die of apoplexy!

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.