'Top Gun' jets return from final combat

Seattle Post-Intelligencer ^ | March 10, 2006 | SONJA BARISIC

[neverdem]

ASSOCIATED PRESS

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- There will be no more dogfights for the Tomcat. The last two squadrons of 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.

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."

The F-14 squadrons that returned Friday were from the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, which has been on a six-month deployment for the Iraq war. The Roosevelt was to return Saturday to nearby Norfolk Naval Station.

On the Net:

F-14 information: http://www.anft.net/f-14

Oceana Naval Air Station: http://www.nasoceana.navy.mil/

[Criminal Number 18F]

A.A., the prototype photo is a publicity shot. Grumman was trying to sell the idea to the Navy, but the Navy didn't buy -- then.

They just wanted the F-14 for what they had wanted the F-111B for ten years earlier -- something that could loiter a long time, observe a wide area, and blow anything threatening the carrier battle group out of the sky. Mission accomplished!

It was only after the cold war wound up that the Navy really looked at bombing and PGM capability on the 'cat. It had to get all new software and lots of new wiring to enable that, and would have needed another round of upgrades to handle JDAMs and JSOWs and various stuff that the F-18 E/F can handle now. But it was a good capability to have, and it let the Navy send the A-6 to the showers after long and honorable service.

The F-18 is still not an optimum plane for the strike mission because of its range issues. But it is what it is.

Note in the carrier picture you posted, one 'Cat has been painted in early-70s high-visibility colours. I bet we see that on the airshow circuit this summer (the Air Force has done the same thing with a couple of Phantoms, restored them to their appearance circa '72).

Even in September, the F-14 flies on. Unfortunately, that's with the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force. The IRIAF used its Tomcats as mini-AWACS during the Iran-Iraq war... daring Iraqis managed to sneak up on a couple of them. Lots of bravery and imagination on both sides in that air war... both sides serving evil leaders!

The Tomcat is still operated by two Iranian squadrons, 82 and 83 Squadron. It may still be in the radar-picket role, as Iran has acquired newer fighters from Russia and China. They have been maintained by buying parts on the black market, where Iran hasn't been able to reverse-engineer them. (They have reverse-engineered complete aircraft, including the F-5 and the Bell 206 and UH-1 helicopters).

That photo's from scramble.nl, a very good site for open source order of battle.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

[MikefromOhio]

you forgot Northrup Grumman and McDonnell Douglas....

[Jackknife]

PING!

[truemiester]

I recall was going to school with the Air Force (Lowry, AFB)at the time the movie "Top Gun" came out. The 'enemy' air craft were T-38s. We called them 'MiG-28 MATO code name "Flamer"' due to fact that they blowed-up-real-good when Cruise merely pointed his F-14 at them. (Perhaps there were Scientology leaflets in the arheads!)

[truemiester]

I recall was going to school with the Air Force (Lowry, AFB)at the time the movie "Top Gun" came out. The 'enemy' air craft were T-38s. We called them 'MiG-28 MATO code name "Flamer"' due to fact that they blowed-up-real-good when Cruise merely pointed his F-14 at them. (Perhaps there were Scientology leaflets in the warheads!)

[truemiester]

That is one big honking airplane

[timydnuc]

The F-14 Tomcat may be gone but the spirit will live forever.

I remember a story about the Libyan affair, back in the 80s. They had extended the internation boundary to 25 or 30 miles. Uncle Mo was getting out of hand. We sent the fleet to correct his aberrant behavior. We went into the "fire zone", he sent out his MiGs to assault us. The thing he didn't count on was CAP (Carrier Air Protection), and the flying force of Tomcats and the resolve of a great President.

His MiGs came in attack mode to the Carrier Group. The tale has it that the Tomcats were under attack by the MiGs waiting for orders from the Carrier Air Commander to shoot back. That same tale says that the order had to come directly from the White House. In a flash the order was given to the flight crews on the Tomcats to "splash 4....repeat...splash 4" (the amount of MiGs in the enemy formation). The Tomcats had been doing evasive maneuvers until that order. The reply from the Tomcat squadron leader was "Aye Sir" and you could hear an "Alright" from the flight group. Playing with the enemy until the order came through.

The end to this story is, they splashed 3 and wounded 1. They returned to the Carrier unhurt. Uncle Mo learned his lesson that day. You mess will the Bull, you get the horns.

Brave men and good airplanes that stand in harm's way. It will always be that way.

[sully777]

Well, it happened after 9-11 too, before and during S&A. Four in row, one every minute. Wait about 15 min. and another four in a row, one every minute. Guess one or two pilots decided to move faster, prob. to maintain the timing and BOOM.

It's thrilling on the ground, must be a blast in the cockpit.

Stay safe.

[IncredibleHulk]

I was there and your story is totally wrong.

It was a 2 on 2 confrontation and the Libyan planes were SU-22's not MIGs. The first shot was a head-on with a heat seeker. That is almost guaranteed to miss and only a scared ####less rookie would do such a thing.

The ROE was self-defense only but everyone in a hostile formation was hostile, so splash 2 ragheads.

There had been 100's of intercepts in the last 2 days and there were dozens of F-14's, F-4's, SU-22's and a few MIGs in the air and on closing paths. As the word spread through out the ragheads, their airplanes turned tail and went home.

[xkaydet65]

Interesting about Cruise. BTW The guy who played Worf in Star Trek owns and flies an F 86.

[Criminal Number 18F]

Going supersonic is pretty much a non-event inside a modern airplane (that's designed for it; getting close to M 1.0 in a plane that's NOT designed for it is... sporty). In most jets the noise is way behind you anyway, except for rushing air; and in military jets you are usually in a helmet, which provides excellent sound isolation.

I don't think they wear a helmet in SpaceShipOne, and Edwards radar tracked them at M 3.9 at one point. The spacecraft was over Mach 3 on both ascent and descent. But it was comfortable enough inside, judging from the video.

The latest fighters including the F-22 and Eurofighter Typhoon are so aerodynamically advanced that they can cruise at > M 1.0 without the massive fuel burn associated with older planes at high speeds. Some planes have a marginal "supercruise," including the Dassault Rafale -- they can go > 1.0 without afterburners but they're still not very efficient. The F-22 takes about a 20-25% efficiency hit for going supersonic (that's a broad guess, I don't have access to the actual, classified number).

The first plane to have really efficient supercruise was the now retired Concorde liner.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

[Criminal Number 18F]

No kidding. Hope he wasn't the guy who bellied one in.

Those early jets are beautiful -- my own dream plane is a MiG-21F-13 -- but they were big-time pilot killers, even with top notch Air Force maintenance and young, hot-reflex fighter pilots. Everybody was on a learning curve.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

[Tommyjo]

The aircraft in the movie as 'MiG-28' were in fact F-5Es and Fs. None of them were T-38s.

[truemiester]

India used the MiG-21 as an advanced trainer for years. A year mistake. Lost 1/2 the inventory and most of the pilots!

[Criminal Number 18F]

Most of the Warsaw Pact nations did the equivalent of what the US used to call Primary and Basic training in the L-29 Delfin or L-39, and then advanced training (for fighter pilots) in the MiG-21UTI, NATO code MONGOL.

India still uses the UTI but in operational conversion units. A plurality of India's fighter force remains in MiG-21s. Derivative a/c are in production in China and are being supplied to Pak. Indians I've spoken to who flew the MiGs loved them, but that's normal, and of course the guys I spoke to all lived. The early ones had a really robust ejection seat and the service put a career limit of one ejection on you, even if it didn't break you back the first shot. If you checked out OK, you had to transition into another type, or preferably another mission where the ships didn't have hot seats... like helicopters, maritime patrol, etc. It was a good career point to mutter Oriental imprecations and resign to go fly for Air India.

The perfomance of the -21 is pretty good, if you accept that it's a point-defence interceptor -- and one based on the state of fluid mechanics/aerodynamics in 1952 or so.

I was offered a very attractive deal on a MiG-15UTI a few years ago. If it had been a -21 I'd have taken it.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

[truemiester]

China does build the F-7 and Super F-7. They still bear the "Fishbed" NATO moniker.

The real problem with the Fishbed (besides avionics, low Time Between Overhaul (TBO) on the Turmanski engines and a plethora of other things related to an aging aircraft) was the massive energy bleed off in a sustained turn. Its instantaneouse turn was and is impressive for its age.

Also visability was limited tot he rear and downward.

India used the -21, single seat as an advanced trainer. Some instructors have said that it was not a wise idea as such a hot airframe was unforgiving to a rooky.