It took humongous balls of brass to fly the F-4 brick off aircraft carriers.
Ramp strikes by the score. I saw the bridle hook on one F-4 break halfway through the cat shot. Two fatalities. Peacetime air ops.
A Marine F-4 squadron replaced a Navy squadron transitioning to F-14s. The Marines lost at least two.
Much safer mishap rate after adoption of the F-14.
Absolutely...by the way, didn’t realize you were a squid like me!
Yes-the F-14 was far more expensive (as are all aircraft today) both to acquire and maintain, but more modern aircraft are also better designed not only fundamentally, but to facilitate easier maintenance and have technological implementations that reduce the mishap rates even further.
Good stuff!