USN Photo of the Day: Meet Sir Authority, Sir Power, Sir Fear-Me -- Meet The F-14D Super Tomcat!

http://chamorrobible.org/images/photos/gpw-20040818j-UnitedStatesNavy-990710-N-6483G-001-Prandtl-Glauert-Cloud-F-14D-Super-Tomcat-19990710-medium.jpg ^ | July 10, 1999 | Ensign John Gay, United States Navy

[EnjoyingLife]

United States Navy Pilot Lieutenant Commander David Burnham and Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) Lieutenant Commander Bruce Defibaugh attached to Fighter Squadron Two (VF-2), bring their [transonic] F-14D "Super Tomcat" through the sound barrier during an air-power demonstration with USS Constellation (CV 64) battlegroup on 10 July 1999.
Large or medium photo via http://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-20040818.htm (photo 10). Image ID: 990710-N-6483G-001

Photographer
Ensign John Gay, United States Navy

[Mr. Lucky]

The F4U Corsair set the bar pretty high.

[magslinger]

I had already googled him to refresh my memory and still had that wiki article in another window.

[neodad]

I ditched school a half-dozen times my senior year to see that movie.

[Ronin]

More than thirty years old, I’d imagine. The Shah fell in 1979.

[antiRepublicrat]

I think Iran has like over 60 of them, but only about 20 are flying. They’ve been cannibalizing and replacing parts with foreign equivalents when possible.

It’ll be a turkey shoot. Or maybe Iraq will get its planes back with a few extra? :)

[DesScorp]

“Don’t worry boys. We’ve got your back.... “

Not with 183 fighters, you don’t.

And good luck “getting our back” when we’re off the coast of a hostile country far from a land based squadron.

We never should have retired the Cat.

[Bean Counter]

Looks like the only thing that’s still sub-sonic is the cover on his tail light...

Great shot!

[potlatch]

Plane ping!

[Vision]

Toughest looking fighter jet ever.

[devolve]

.

Good post potlatch -

[EnjoyingLife]

DN-SN-82-03011, 1 December 1981 -- An air-to-air right side view of a Russian Tu-95 Tupolev bomber aircraft, center, and two U.S. Navy F-14 Tomcat aircraft, acting as chase planes above the aircraft carrier USS KITTY HAWK (CV-63) as the ship makes a right turn. The NATO designation of the Tupolev aircraft is Bear.

Source: http://www.dodmedia.osd.mil/DVIC_View/Still_Details.cfm?SDAN=DNSN8203011&JPGPath=/Assets//Still1982/Navy/DN-SN-82-03011.JPG

Alternate photo link: http://img517.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dnsn8203011eo3.jpg

[potlatch]

Thank you.

[PIF]

and those US pilots will be using the latest prop driven designs maybe like the Brizilian design - if too expensive, then a cheap version of some WWI figher - hopefully it will be equiped with a light duty machine gun - AK 47s are propably cheap enough for the Dems to include.