USN Photo of Day: Forever-Fearsome F-14 Tomcat Fighter Jet's Last Official Launch, Flyby, Landing

United States NavyNews- Eye On the Fleet ^ | July 28, 2006 | Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Nathan Laird, USN

[Northern Yankee]

LOL...

Great aticle!

[LM_Guy]

The end of an era is at hand......

[Tommyjo]

The B at Edwards got replaced by an H.

[sukhoi-30mki]

Are you sure about the range part of the SuperHornet???I've read numerous articles criticising it's combat radius when compared to stuff like the Strike Eagle or CFT equipped F-16s.Which is probably why those 2 aircraft still are winning orders,while the more modern Super Hornet still has a bare cupboard.I think there was an article in Janes last year or so about a proposed "Block-3" variant to hedge against delays in the JSF.It's supposed to be more stealthy,uprated F-414 engines & possibly conformal fuel tanks.Now that's a possible winner on the export front!!!

[Renfield]

THe Super Hornet is optimised for Carrier-based operation. The US is the major market for carrier-launched fighters; I wouldn't expect a huge export market for the Super Hornet. The F-16 is a much more cost-efficient platform for any buyer who will launch from land only.

[sukhoi-30mki]

So was the Hornet-but it won orders from around 6 countries!!! Being carrier-specific is in fact an advantage for some countries which need aircraft with rugged engines & reinforced undercarriages among other things.

[EnjoyingLife]

In post #40 on 8/8/2006 hiramknight wrote: "I don't have photos or video. I don't recall the pilots name, I just remember that he was a full captain, which I found unusual that someone of that rank would be flying a flight demo. It was one of those moments that started out like "yea, yea, yea. Ive seen dozens of different flight demos, let's go get a beer", that turned into one of the most unforgetable moments in my life. It was almost mystical so to speak."

Could the pilot have been USN Captain Dale "Snort" Snodgrass? The F-14 pilot that did this famous and amazing 1989 maneuver near the USS America?

(Photo source: http://aerofiles.com/f14flyby.html)

Captain Snodgrass talks about the maneuver, and much more, in the following interview with John "Spoons" Sponauer:

"Q&A: Capt. Dale "Snort" Snodgrass (USN, Ret)" by John "Spoons" Sponauer: http://www.sponauer.com/snodgrass/index.html

[EnjoyingLife]

Image link: http://www.aviation-fr.info/militaire/murduson/F14%20Tomcat%20066.jpg

Via: http://www.aviation-fr.info/militaire/IIB1.php (page 1), http://www.aviation-fr.info/militaire/IIB2.php (page 2)

Prandtl-Glauert Condensation Clouds and the F-14 Tomcat:
1. http://FluidMech.net/tutorials/sonic/prandtl-glauert-clouds.htm (Prandtl-Glauert vapor cloud tutorial)
2. http://www.GalleryOfFluidMechanics.com/conden/pg_sing.htm
3. http://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-20040817.htm
4. http://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-20040818.htm

[elc]

My dad (F-14 RIO) and I were talking recently about the Israeli-Hezbollah war. We were talking about the use of human shields and placing weapons near residential areas, mosques, etc. He vividly remembers taking photos of a (insert big a** gun here) on top of a mosque in Beirut in the 80s (83 I believe). A very good friend of the family was shot down maybe the next night. I was only 8 at the time so the timing is cloudy in my memory. I just remember getting the phone call and being glued to CNN. Does anyone remember the days that CNN just basically rolled headlines up over a blue background?

[EnjoyingLife]

A sobering F-14 Tomcat story: "Remember My Mistakes" by Lt. Christopher Alexander
http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/MEDIA/approach/issues/mayjun06/Remember_My_Mistakes.htm