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'Top Gun' Jets Retired By U.S. Navy [quadrons VF-213 and VF-31 arrived in style, flying together...]
NBC10 ^

Posted on 03/10/2006 4:40:39 PM PST by Sub-Driver

'Top Gun' Jets Retired By U.S. Navy F-14s To Be Replaced By Super Hornets

POSTED: 5:52 pm EST March 10, 2006 UPDATED: 7:18 pm EST March 10, 2006

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- The last two squadrons of the Tomcat -- the sleek, Cold War fighter jet -- returned home from their final deployment Friday, two decades after the warplanes were glamorized in the 1986 Tom Cruise movie "Top Gun."

All 22 Tomcats of fighter squadrons VF-213 and VF-31 arrived in style, flying together in a wedge formation over Oceana Naval Air Station as hundreds of sailors and their family and friends cheered. Some wore T-shirts reading "Tomcats Forever" and a banner proclaimed, "Last Fly-In, Baby!"

"We're putting the premier fighter to sleep," said pilot Lt. Jon Jeck, 32, as he held his 3-year-old son Collin. "It's a staple of Americana."

The Navy plans to replace the F-14, a two-seat fighter with moveable swept-back wings, with the F/A-18 Super Hornets.

The F-14 entered service in the early 1970s to defend aircraft carriers from Soviet bombers carrying long-range cruise missiles.

"If you want to think about airplanes that have defined the air age, this would have to be on the short list," military analyst John Pike said.

(Excerpt) Read more at nbc10.com ...


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: aviation; f14; oceananas; retirement; topgun; usn

1 posted on 03/10/2006 4:40:43 PM PST by Sub-Driver
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To: Sub-Driver
Last time, Baby...!


2 posted on 03/10/2006 4:56:00 PM PST by Names Ash Housewares
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To: F14 Pilot

Ping.


3 posted on 03/10/2006 4:59:27 PM PST by conservatism_IS_compassion (The idea around which liberalism coheres is that NOTHING actually matters but PR.)
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To: Sub-Driver

End of an era.


4 posted on 03/10/2006 5:20:40 PM PST by SquirrelKing (Contrary to popular belief, America is not a democracy, it is a Chucktatorship.)
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To: Sub-Driver
Bogus headline. They're not all retired yet. VF-31 will continue flying the Tomcat until late September and they have another cruise to England scheduled for this April.

After the Cold War, the Navy became less concerned about defending carrier groups and transformed the F-14 into a bomb-dropping fighter jet, said Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, an Alexandria research center on security issues.

"But it was not designed as a bomb hauler," Pike said. "They would rather have a new plane ... than try to teach an old cat new tricks."

This is why anything "expert" John Pike says or writes should always be taken with a grain of salt. The Tomcat was designed from day one to haul bombs. The Navy never exploited that capability, beyond testing, until after the decisions to retire the A-6 and kill the A-12 were made.

F-14A prototype with 14 Mk 82 500lb bombs. The aircraft is most likely number 4, 5 or 6 (BuNos:-157983, 157984 or 157985).

5 posted on 03/10/2006 5:35:46 PM PST by A.A. Cunningham
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To: Names Ash Housewares

Of all my patches that one is my favorite. (I gave George H.W. Bush one the first time we swapped patches)

TT


6 posted on 03/10/2006 6:23:54 PM PST by TexasTransplant (NEMO ME IMPUNE LACESSET)
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To: A.A. Cunningham

The 14 bombs are the dark ones along the centerline, for those who are unfamiliar.


7 posted on 03/10/2006 7:16:55 PM PST by opbuzz (Right way, wrong way, Marine way)
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To: A.A. Cunningham

Pike's an idiot. And he has bad teeth, too.


8 posted on 03/10/2006 7:45:06 PM PST by Tallguy (When it's a bet between reality and delusion, bet on reality -- Mark Steyn)
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To: Pukin Dog

ping.


9 posted on 03/12/2006 2:01:55 PM PST by Hill of Tara ("The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.")
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