F14 Tomcat - Thank you. Show your gratitude with your favorite pics!

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - F14 Tomcat - Thank you. Show your gratitude with your favorite pics!

Posted: 9/3/2005 9:37:01 PM EDT

I don't know if it's proper to thank an airframe but I hate to see this one go. Final combat tour just headed out. You've GOTTA read the article, some guys extended their tours to be on this final voyage!

{And yeah we all have our opinions on the do-it-all E and F hornets, but I talked to a couple of guys who work at CNA this weekend and even they are sad to see her go. They basically said if the over the horizon concept had worked (they still call teh phoenix a concept, how funny is that? They claimed success rates hovered around 30 percent and dropped once you got out of medium ranges...), we might see another decade or two of service... but as it now stands, teh tomcat's speed was overcome by the aegis/super hornet combo in terms of CAP capabilities and the single airframe capability of a multi role airplane.}

Personally, I'm just sad to see Maverick's ride retired....

Is it true for machines too? Old soldiers don't die, they just fade away.......

And even if they only worked some of the time, carrying six of those bad boys sure must've scared the spit outta some Flogger, Foxbat and Blackjack drivers out there!

Carrier Roosevelt deploys for Persian Gulf

By KATE WILTROUT, The Virginian-Pilot
© September 1, 2005

Their namesake is about to become history.

The venerable F-14 Tomcat, a mainstay of naval aviation, Hollywood movies and air show awe since the 1970s, will retire for good after a final combat deployment, which began Thursday.

The Navy’s final Tomcat squadron – VF-31, known as the “Tomcatters,” – left behind the tarmac of Oceana Naval Air Station for the busy flight deck of the Theodore Roosevelt.

The nuclear-powered carrier and a coterie of smaller ships in its strike group are steaming toward the Persian Gulf, where the Roosevelt will relieve the Nimitz. The Tomcatters will be joined by the “Blacklions” of VF-213, the other of the last two F-14 squadrons.

Cmdr. Rick “Twig” LaBranche said his crew of aviators and technicians are aware they’re making history.

“Epic. Historic. I’m looking for words,” said LaBranche, who took over the squadron in February. “It’s not lost on any of these guys. They understand that being the last Tomcat squadron is a historic event. They’re proud to be here, they’re proud to put it to bed. They’re very excited.”

The Blacklions will change over to the Super Hornet upon the carrier’s return, probably in late winter. The Tomcatters will be the last to trade in their rides, probably next summer.

That day has been a long time coming.

The Grumman F-14, with its variable sweep wings and distinct profile, has slowly been phased out and replaced with the F/A-18 Super Hornet, a smaller, more advanced jet that’s lauded for technical prowess but lack s the Tomcat’s “muscle car” reputation.

One of the biggest differences is wingspan: With its wings fully forward, the Tomcat covers 64 feet of airspace; the Super Hornet measures less than 45 feet from wingtip to wingtip.

“The Tomcat is to aviation what the Harley-Davidson is to motorcycles. It is the airplane,” LaBranche said.

“You go to an air show and people are looking for the Tomcat. It’s the last of the big-wing fighters. Even today, it’s still a very, very capable aircraft.”

So capable, the commander said, that the squadron has won two awards for its retention rate.

The Tomcats require between 40 and 60 hours of maintenance for every hour in the air, LaBranche said. For the F/A-18s, it’s more like 10 to 15.

LaBranche said the men and women who keep the jets in flying shape are happy to work the long hours – but the Navy has decided it’s not a prudent use of their time or money.

“How can you, in good conscience, make them work four times harder than they need to work?” LaBranche said of the enlisted forces whose dark blue coveralls get covered in grease and hydraulic fluid.

Until the end comes, the Tomcats still have to do a lot of flying , including combat sorties that require mid air refueling and, often, nighttime carrier landings.

In Iraq, the Hornets and Tomcats focus on air-to-ground missions, supporting U.S. forces on the streets. Called urban close-air support, the planes respond to service members below who want extra firepower in the area.

After decades of training for air-to-air combat – think Tomcats vs. Soviet MiGs in “Top Gun” – working in sync with military units below is a challenge that offers unprecedented precision attacks.

LaBranche said the Iraq mission often consists of loitering above hot spots.

“Where you make your money is letting the bad guys know you’re overhead,” he said.

The Tomcatters have embarked on their third deployment in three years – a tempo that might ordinarily have sailors grumbling.

Not this time.

“I had a lot of people actually extend just to be part of the last Tomcat cruise,” LaBranche said.

“People are beating my door down. They want to come here, and I don’t have room for everybody.”

Posted: 9/3/2005 9:38:56 PM EDT

[#1]

tag

Posted: 9/3/2005 9:39:29 PM EDT

[#2]

Good ol classic American whoop-ass.

Posted: 9/3/2005 9:40:25 PM EDT

[#3]

Quoted:
Good ol classic American whoop-ass.

my sentiments exactly, its like teh article says 'the muscle car' of our fleet!

Posted: 9/3/2005 9:47:50 PM EDT

[#4]

Posted: 9/3/2005 9:48:24 PM EDT

[#5]

From My old Squadron, The Jolly Rogers and Victory 200

Posted: 9/3/2005 9:52:37 PM EDT

[#6]

DUPE.

9/1/2005 4:45:10 PM PDT
by KA3B
Last of the last: F-14 Tomcat makes its last cruise......
www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=384809

Posted: 9/3/2005 9:59:31 PM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:
DUPE.

9/1/2005 4:45:10 PM PDT
by KA3B
Last of the last: F-14 Tomcat makes its last cruise......
www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=384809

Yeah but yours didn't have pics.

Posted: 9/3/2005 10:17:35 PM EDT

[#8]

Quoted:
DUPE.

9/1/2005 4:45:10 PM PDT
by KA3B
Last of the last: F-14 Tomcat makes its last cruise......
www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=384809

New Arfcom rule.... There is no such thing as an F-14 topic DUPE

Posted: 9/3/2005 10:24:32 PM EDT

[#9]

Posted: 9/3/2005 10:52:35 PM EDT

[#10]

It is to aircraft what the mucscle car is to cars. Big, agressive, shapely, curvy, heavy, big engined, and completely BAD ASS.

I am sad to see it go. I hate the super(slow)bug.

Posted: 9/3/2005 10:56:14 PM EDT

[#11]

I guess they are getting old & warn. They are definitely outclassed in technology, but the SuperBug, F-22, and F-35 just don't do it for me.

If I join the .mil after college, I will probably try for the Warthog or C-130s.

Posted: 9/3/2005 11:17:49 PM EDT

[#12]

So long Tomcat. You've pretty much protected me and kept me safe since I've been here on earth. Thank you.

Posted: 9/3/2005 11:27:31 PM EDT

[#13]

Double bonus.

VX-4

Posted: 9/3/2005 11:32:46 PM EDT

[#14]

Posted: 9/4/2005 4:13:16 AM EDT

[#15]

Sorry for the dupage, wanted this to be a pic threac of the massive bird

Posted: 9/4/2005 4:43:34 AM EDT

[#16]

Posted: 9/4/2005 4:56:16 AM EDT

[#17]

tag

I lived in Virginia Beach as a kid, those things were constantly flying overhead.

Posted: 9/4/2005 5:04:50 AM EDT

[#18]

Quoted:
img178.imageshack.us/img178/5647/cockpit6xx.png

What the hell, they made a convertible too?

Posted: 9/4/2005 5:21:09 AM EDT

[#19]

Quoted:
Quoted:
img178.imageshack.us/img178/5647/cockpit6xx.png

What the hell, they made a convertible too?

A non-aviation O-6 was riding in the back and during the flight the pilot took the acft inverted, the O-6 grabbed the first thing he could find to hold on. Guess what the first thing he found was?

Full story found here

Posted: 9/4/2005 5:30:28 AM EDT

[#20]

What an aircraft.

Posted: 9/4/2005 5:37:41 AM EDT

[#21]

Posted: 9/4/2005 5:37:56 AM EDT

[#22]

Posted: 9/4/2005 5:55:55 AM EDT

[#23]

Posted: 9/4/2005 5:56:59 AM EDT

[#24]

Posted: 9/4/2005 5:58:02 AM EDT

[#25]

Posted: 9/4/2005 5:58:34 AM EDT

[#26]

Posted: 9/4/2005 6:21:13 AM EDT

[#27]

Posted: 9/4/2005 6:47:13 AM EDT

[#28]

Posted: 9/4/2005 6:59:01 AM EDT

[#29]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
img178.imageshack.us/img178/5647/cockpit6xx.png

What the hell, they made a convertible too?

A none aviation O-6 was riding in the back and during the flight the pilot took the acft inverted, the O-6 grabbed the first thing he could find to hold on. Guess what the first thing he found was?

Full story found here

That story is AMAZING!!!! two great quotes:

"OK. Understand your RIO ejected. You're flying the plane, and you're OK?" I almost said I was far from OK, but I just told them I was all right, except I was flying a convertible.

but it renewed my faith in our escape systems. A 48-year-old man ejected from the jet when it was inverted, at negative .5 Gs, at 320 knots, and the only injuries he had were two minor cuts to his face.

wow. just wow!

Posted: 9/4/2005 7:00:58 AM EDT

[#30]

the big pics are beatiful but I have two favorites so far:
this is without a doubt the greatest pic so far! (I take it that's a whole wing?):

Posted: 9/4/2005 7:25:44 AM EDT

[#31]

Great pics!

Posted: 9/4/2005 8:14:19 AM EDT

[#32]

Posted: 9/4/2005 8:25:00 AM EDT

[#33]

God bless the Turkey. no other machine since approaches its badness. It was Regan's baby.

Now we can look back at the glory days of the bird and say, "IT WAS FUN"