Wolf
Posted on 10/01/2005 12:06:14 AM PDT by mcgiver38
End of an Era, the F-14 tomcat makes its final public appearance.
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (NNS) -- The venerable F-14 Tomcat took a final bow with a boom at its last air show Sept. 16-18 at Naval Air Station Oceana, Va.
The classic Northrup Grumman fighter jet that rose to prominence in the 1986 hit film "Top Gun" and has worn U.S. Navy colors since its first test flight in 1970 attracted a legion of fans from around the world at its public goodbye.
“It’s basically a bittersweet day for us,” said Lt. Cortney Kinna, an F-14 naval flight officer from Amarillo, Texas. "It was our favorite airplane. I just think it's the sexiest looking airplane out there. It's unique, big, powerful and loud."
Geert Meuris, who lives near Antwerp, Belgium, said he crossed the Atlantic Ocean to see the swing-wing, twin-engine jet fighter shake the skies in a four-ship formation and during a solo tactical demonstration.
“We don't see them very often in Europe,” he said as he stood near the flight line at the fighter's home base. “This is the last chance for us. It’s beautiful.”
Aviators who flew in the Tomcat said it stands alone.
“It had a little bit of a heritage feeling to it," said Lt. Mario Duarte, an F/A-18 Super Hornet pilot who previously flew the F-14 off carrier decks. “It is a cool thing to say that you've done. Everybody associates it with the movie Top Gun, and it's big and it looks great sitting on the ground.”
“The biggest thing about it is the F-14 has such a great identity,” said Lt. Joe Ruzicka, a naval flight officer from Crandall, Texas, who flew in the Tomcat's last public solo demonstration. "People have such a love and affection for it.”
Air crew with Fighter Squadron (VF) 32, the Swordsmen, and VF-101, the Grim Reapers, showed off the jet's capabilities before hundreds of thousands in attendance at the three-day show.
Lt. Jack Tangredi, a naval aviator with the Grim Reapers, put the plane through its paces during one of its solo displays.
“It was awesome,” said Tangredi, a native of Wallingford, Conn. “For me personally, it doesn’t get any better than that. The pinnacle of my aviation carrier.”
Radar intercept officers (RIO) said they will particularly miss the concentrated teamwork needed between the pilot and “backseater” to let the F-14 do its job. Unlike the F/A-18 Super Hornet, one said, pilots do not have the same cockpit controls in the front seat to operate the radar and fire all weapon systems.
“The Tomcat is a RIO's airplane,” said Lt. Tim Henry, a Gettysburg, Pa., native who took his last F-14 flight during the airshow. “It’s sad. I caught myself looking around the cockpit.”
Retired Capt. Phil Grandfield, of Virginia Beach, said he favored the Tomcat over the F-4 Phantom and the F/A-18 Hornet in his 26 years of flying Navy jets.
“I’m most proud of having flown the F-14,” said Grandfield, who has more than 2,000 flight hours in the aircraft and made his 1,000th carrier arrested landing in the jet. “It’s a unique airplane. It’s respected around the world.”
Even so, every F-14 air crew member without hesitation said they are ready to transition to the more modern and nimble Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, the Tomcat's replacement.
Now in the midst of its last cruise with VF-31, the Tomcatters, and VF-213, the Black Lions, aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), the Navy will retire the aging Tomcat from service next year.
Actually, the Osprey just got the nod for full production this week. It's alive and well and about to start flying off grey decks.
Bump
Well, believe it.
Were the Tomcat not too expensive to maintain, or had it been upgraded with modern avionics and a few changes to the airframe, there would have been no SuperHornet.
The SuperHornet represents compromise, even to a larger degree than the original Hornet did. The SuperHornet has a monster RADAR, but in all other areas, it has inferior performance to the Tomcat, and in some ways is inferior to the Hornet C/D. It can carry a lot of ordinance, but it cant carry it very far. It is slow for a fighter, and fragile for an attack aircraft. But it does both jobs for less money than the F-14/A-6 combination, so it exists, while those too great aircraft are gone.
It's true that the people making these decisions have access to more information than we do. There may well be black programs maturing that will cover the bases that look abandoned at the moment. I would not be surprised to discover that a UCAV platform was part of the solution.
Plus, products like the Sniper targeting pod are really boosting our stand-off capabilities. Well, for the Air Force, at least. The Navy went another route, which isn't working out so well. (You don't see Navy planes flying sorties in Iraq's interior, and there's a reason.)
Very good observation!
Honestly, no body knows!
BTTT
Wolf
You need to read up on the history of the program. Here's a starting place: "[1989] The first of six planned FSD-prototype aircraft accomplished first flight in March 1989. In April 1989, the Secretary of Defense canceled the V-22 program in the FY 1990 Amended President's Budget, citing affordability reasons." (emphsis supplied)
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/v-22-history.htm
Guess who the SecDef was in 1989.
Waste of resources grounding this plane AND the Warthog..
Hey Pilot. Thanks for posting the picture at Khatami. It brings back pleasant memories when I was there. "Everytime Baby"
Don't forget that they had purchased many years worth of spares for all of the aiframe, subsystems and support equipment. The Homafars were well trained to maintain the equipment.
I would not want to be around one when it came off of the rail.
agreed!
there are more!
I haven't heard of the Iranian Tom being in the air in over twenty years. I think spares made them all hanger queens.
Thanks again for the pictures.
A snap shot look at the last days of Americans that were in support of the F-14 in Iran, search on the net to find "Swoose Snead's Iranian Adventure".
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.
