F14 Tomcat Quotes

Kleeman, Muczynski, nor their RIOs expected this engagement to devolve into a dogfight. Collectively, they expected this to be just another “close encounter”—perhaps with a photo opportunity and a good round of colorful hand gestures. Muczynski even told Anderson to get his camera ready.

After this encounter, and despite being a US ally, the Italian government alerted Libya of the incoming attack. Whatever their motives may have been, the Italians succeeded in alerting Gaddafi at his Bab al-Aziziya residence only minutes before the F-111s arrived.

After this encounter, and despite being a US ally, the Italian government alerted Libya of the incoming attack. Whatever their motives may have been, the Italians succeeded in alerting Gaddafi at his Bab al-Aziziya residence only minutes before the F-111s arrived. The Libyan leader barely escaped with his family.

AWG-9 radar—an all-weather, multi-mode Doppler system. It was the most advanced radar system of its day and could simultaneously track up to twenty-four targets at a range of 195 miles.

While tracking these twenty-four targets, the AWG-9 could engage six of them at once, launching the AIM-54 Phoenix missiles. Thus, the F-14 Tomcat became the first fighter jet with the ability to engage multiple targets simultaneously.

Thus, the plane to which they had jokingly called “Tom’s Cat,” officially became the F-14 Tomcat.

The US Department of Defense subsequently awarded Grumman the final contract on January 14, 1969.

Tomcat pilots derisively called the TF30 “The Little Engine That Couldn’t.

In fact, for all F-14s that were powered by the TF30, more than 28% of accidents were caused by engine failure.

Initial Deployment – Operation Frequent Wind

In what became known as Operation Frequent Wind, the F-14 provided aerial cover for the hasty rescue, evacuating civilians from the wrath of North Vietnam. The rescue operation was a multi-pronged approach, including evacuations by sea and air. As it turned out, naval helicopters from the US Seventh Fleet performed most of the evacuations—making Frequent Wind the largest helicopter rescue mission in history.

From 1969-91, a total of 712 F-14s were built. More than 160 were destroyed in accidents.

The F-14D was the final variant—known as the “Super Tomcat.

In 1989, then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney opted for a $25 million modernization program,

These new variants were given to a handful of Tomcat squadrons, including Squadron VF-2 “Bounty Hunters”, VF-11 “Red Rippers”, and VF-31 “Tomcatters.

Most of these encounters with Soviet reconnaissance flights passed without incident. Some encounters were even humorous, as the pilots of either aircraft would make faces at one another or exchange colorful hand gestures.

the Tomcats assigned to support the MNF conducted daily Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance Pod System (TARPS) missions. The TARPS system was a 17-foot pod containing multiple, highly-sophisticated cameras carried on the plane’s starboard side, between the engine nacelles.

Basically 65 percent of low radar cross section comes from shaping an airplane; 35 percent from radar-absorbent coatings. The SR-71 was about one hundred times stealthier than the Navy’s F-14 Tomcat fighter, built ten years later. But if I knew the CIA, they wouldn’t admit that the Blackbird even existed.

The F-14 Tomcat made its inaugural test flight on December 21, 1970—a mere twenty-two months after Grumman won the VFX contract.

the Department of Defense set the Tomcat’s official retirement date for September 22, 2006.

Taking off from the USS Theodore Roosevelt on February 8, 2006, pilots Captain William G. Sizemore from VF-213, and Lieutenant Bill Frank from VF-31, flew the final F-14 combat mission.

Donley loved the flight deck. It excited him. A rush. He had some misgivings about navy life, but he craved the action on deck. Few things compared to the raw power of an F-14 Tomcat in afterburner. The intense heat. The smell of jet fuel. It felt like a monster truck rally with him in the middle of the action.

It seemed that the naval aviation community hadn’t considered the likelihood of an F-14 engaging a helicopter. Thus, when McElraft radioed confirmation of Broce’s kill, he reported: “Uh, splash one, uhhhh…helicopter!

Unfortunately for Broce and McElraft, despite having called “Recorder on!,” both crewmen had forgotten to insert a tape into the flight recorder, meaning that there had been no video footage of the altercation.

USS NIMITZ Toland stepped outside for a breath of air. It was a fine morning, the cotton-ball clouds overhead turning briefly pink from the sunrise. Saratoga and Foch were visible on the horizon, perhaps eight miles away, their size impressive even at this distance. Closer in, Ticonderoga was cutting through the five-foot seas, white-painted missiles visible on her twin launchers. A few blinker lights traded signals. Otherwise the ships in view were gray shapes without noise, waiting. Nimitz’s deck was covered with aircraft. F-14 Tomcat interceptors sat everywhere. Two were hooked up on the midships catapults, only a hundred feet from him, their two-man flight crews dozing. The fighters carried Phoenix long-range missiles. The attack bombers carried buddy-store tanks instead of weapons. They’d be used to refuel the fighters in flight, enabling them to remain aloft an extra two hours. Deck crewmen in multicolored shirts scurried about, checking and rechecking the aircraft. The carrier began turning to port, coming around into the westerly wind in preparation for launching aircraft. He checked his watch. 0558. Time to get back to CIC. The carrier would go to general quarters in two minutes. The intelligence watch officer took one more breath of fresh sea air and wondered if it would be his last. NORTH ATLANTIC “Contact!” the technician said over the Bear’s interphone. “Signals indicate an American airborne radar transmitter, carrier type.