Tale of jet tail begins off Florida, ends on Irish coast (Tail of F-14 Tomcat)

The Virginian-Pilot ^ | 5/10/06 | JACK DORSEY

[RichInOC]

Oops. I should have caught that. He landed gear up. Sorry. :-D )))

[GATOR NAVY]

How it got at least 4,900 miles away, no one knows for certain.

What a moron! Look at your own article's map...how did it get there? It's called the Gulf Stream, dumbass

[nw_arizona_granny]

Ping

[Irish_Thatcherite]

Yet another example of how the USA is poluting Ireland!

Someone's going to blame Ryanair for this....

[bert]

I know with out any doubt how it got there. It rode the Gulf Stream. There is nothing remarkable or amazing about the journey.

A very large and indestructable object simlply floated in the current.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

No kidding. This reporter sure ain't a master of the obvious.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

The reporter seems baffled that the F-14 stab could ever be pushed anywhere by the water. He probably has it in his head that it's a solid piece of steel that should drop straight to the bottom and embed in the ocean floor.

The F-14's tail is made of a boron composite skin over an aluminum honeycomb structure. It's made to be very light and strong (in aircraft design, a high strength-to-weight ratio is a must). Floating in the ocean and catching a ride on the gulf stream is no big deal for this thing. It was bound to wash up somewhere.