Adios F-14 Tomcat

[microbrewst]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig1GvxFdjes

 

[StrykerFL]

Thanks for posting that video. It's a real sad thing to see this great bird be retired. I just got back from attending the retirement ceremony events in Va. Beach, and aside from the final flight it was all done very well.

I really did enjoy seeing it fly and the sound of those twin F110-GE-400 engines as it would scream by. Of all of the many times I have seen the F-14 over the years, this one was definately the saddest.

RIP TOMCAT. Thanks for all of the memories.

 

[Huggyu2]

I, too, heard that the Friday morning final flight was pretty lame. A basic 350 knot & 500' straight-and-level pass. There was a collective sign amongst the attendees. Within a couple of hours, pilots/NFO's were sporting T-shirts lambasting the flyby.
Overall, though, it sounded like a great party.

 

[ExAF]

Broke?

I heard today that the final flight taxied to the end of the runway and promptly broke. Luckily, they had a spare prepositioned at the end of the runway and it took off and completed the flight. Anybody know if there is any truth to this?

 

[joepilot29]

I heard today that the final flight taxied to the end of the runway and promptly broke. Luckily, they had a spare prepositioned at the end of the runway and it took off and completed the flight. Anybody know if there is any truth to this?

I was wondering that myself the other day. I was lucky enough to get on top of the Red Rippers hanger. We could see it taxi out and you could see the standby aircraft. I heard it was was some sort of electrical problem.

 

[McGillicutty]

Dave,

I'm curious, why do you feel this is such a great Navy airplane? Most people would say it's probably one of the worst CAS platforms in either OEF/OIF.

 

[StrykerFL]

From what I understand, it was a generator problem. After they started up one of the engines, the ground crew pulled out the ground power plug and 30 seconds later they plugged it back in. It was then that we knew something was wrong. I was standing about 100 feet from it while they started it up. My dad, a retired F-14 pilot said almost immediately that they already had a problem. He said that when they put the external power back in that it was most likely a failed generator.

They did have a turning spare at the hot pad for just this type of situation. It was definitely a different aircraft in that it had Felix instead of Grumman on the tail and drop tanks. We also later found out that they were told no afterburners, fly 500' or higher and 350KIAS or less. That is a pretty sad way to see this great airplane go out. We were all expecting at least a 5 minute demo. I guess it was just a sign of the "New" Navy.

Video:
Note, if you watch after the first engine is started about 30 seconds later you see them plug the ground power back in.

http://www.alert5.com/2006/09/tomcat-final-flight-taxi-22-september.html

Pictures:
http://www.alert5.com/gallery/TomcatSunset22?page=1

 

[RamOne]

True Warriors??

The final F-14 flight is Friday at 10AM at NAS Oceana. I am fortunate enough to be able to attend the Tomcat Sunset Ceremony this weekend. So far all of the events have been great. It's very cool to be in the company of so many true warriors.

True Warriors?? Over the life of the airplane (30+ years) how many air-to-air kills?? Five maybe? The two Tomcat squadrons in our wing aboard USS JFK during Desert Storm expended nothing but chaff and flares. They sure wanted into the air to mud business after that debacle. 70's era airplane taking up too much real estate abourd ship to deliver two PGMs. Maintenance nightmare who's time to go passed years ago. Wont miss those primping Prima Ballerinas from the early 80s who said "..not a pound for air-to-ground.. you don't haul trash with a Caddilac.. etc". Wonder what their collective boarding rate was over the years...

 

[Mud Eagle]

Most people would say it's probably one of the worst CAS platforms in either OEF/OIF.

Actually, F-14 crews were no kidding the best FACs that I worked with in OIF. Can't speak for their overall CAS ability, but as FACs they had their act together.

 

[SIG600]

Ya as much as I love the Hornet... the Tomcat definatley evolved into a fantastic multi-role a/c. The Tomcat 21 IMHO would have been a much better step in the evolutionary ladder than the Super Hornet. How many F-18's were doing FAC(A) work? None to my knowledge... and the thing was a bomb truck with way more gas.

 

[The_Russian]

The should have had Felix on the tail.

"Felix 11, proceed direct the initial!"

 

[The_Russian]

Does anyone know who flew it?

 

[Mud Eagle]

Ya as much as I love the Hornet... the Tomcat definatley evolved into a fantastic multi-role a/c.

Well, let's not over do it. It was adequate...not really "fantastic"...in the interdiction role. It had some big limitations (comparitively) in terms of LGBs -- the system was not well integrated with the other sensors, and the pod masking profile was more severe than many other fighters.

 

[Huggyu2]

Over the life of the airplane (30+ years) how many air-to-air kills?? Five maybe?

Back around 1994, the US Navy shot down a USAF RF-4 over the Med. Wasn't that a Tomcat that did it (I'm pretty sure it was)?? If not, what was it?
The "baggage" the Navy pilot was carrying made it a great story, but I've killed too many brain cells to remember anything other than it was a great story.
The RF-4 pilot was at Randolph briefly with me, and showed us the gun camera video from the Navy aircraft. He is lucky he got out alive.

 

[LJDRVR]

Don't be so sad fellas, the Iranians are still flying them.

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...&hl=en&lr=&rls=GWYA,GWYA:2005-32,GWYA:en&sa=N

 

[tomgoodman]

First-class cruise

Back around 1994, the US Navy shot down a USAF RF-4 over the Med.

The way I heard the story, the AF crew didn't know what had happened to their aircraft, and the Navy didn't tell them at first....thought an engine blew up or something. They were fished out of the water and placed in VIP quarters on the boat. Couldn't believe how royally the Navy was treating them!

 

[Gorilla]

The way I heard the story, the AF crew didn't know what had happened to their aircraft, and the Navy didn't tell them at first....thought an engine blew up or something. They were fished out of the water and placed in VIP quarters on the boat. Couldn't believe how royally the Navy was treating them!

Not to thread drift, but this is a perfect example of why the U.S. military cannot be a part of any terrorist conspiracy scheme, such as the Pentagon, 9/11, and TWA 800. They couldn't even cover up a simple event like this, even when they controlled every aspect of it. "Well, we lost an AIM-9 warshot on this cruise when it rolled overboard in 10,000' of water. That RF-4? An engine shredded itself. We rescued the crew."

 

[DaveGriffin]

Not to thread drift, but this is a perfect example of why the U.S. military cannot be a part of any terrorist conspiracy scheme, such as the Pentagon, 9/11, and TWA 800. They couldn't even cover up a simple event like this, even when they controlled every aspect of it. "Well, we lost an AIM-9 warshot on this cruise when it rolled overboard in 10,000' of water. That RF-4? An engine shredded itself. We rescued the crew."

Great point Gorilla. This is true of any bureaucracy’s ability to keep a secret. I remember hearing someone talk about all the 'secret alien stuff' out in NV that we will never hear about.

The president can't even get a BJ from an intern without the whole world knowing about. How are they going to keep secrets like alien spaceships?

 

[Hagar17]

I love that salute the doll is giving. Makes Bush look like a Boy Scout!

Note that the salute is left-handed.....

 

[DaveGriffin]

Dave,

I'm curious, why do you feel this is such a great Navy airplane? Most people would say it's probably one of the worst CAS platforms in either OEF/OIF.

McGillicutty,

I never said the F-14 was a good CAS platform. As an observer of Naval Aviation I admire the Tomcat because it did its job well during a time when there the nature of modern air warfare was in transition. It was designed soley to be a fighter, and airplanes designed as single mission fighters are usually really bad CAS platforms.

Just like the F-22.