The last Tomcat...

[Sleek-Jet]

Picked this up off an aviation forum...
http://www.navytimes.com/static.php?f=lastF14flight080206.php
End of an era...

[Ultracrazy]

Picked this up off an aviation forum...
http://www.navytimes.com/static.php?f=lastF14flight080206.php
End of an era...
That was way cool.........God Bless them.

[Keith E. Sayre]

Was it just me or was that a pretty emotional video? I've always been a
nut for flying but to me, the F14 was one of the weapons among many that
I credit for getting us past the Soviets in the Cold War era. We owe that
plane and those that designed, maintained and flew it a great deal today.
Keith Sayre

[Blacksheep]

One of the best fighters ever built!!! God Speed!!

[Havasu1986]

Is that why Conquests boat is named Tomcat

[CMATT21]

Video brings back some memories. Not of flying but growing up with my best friend and watching TOP GUN so many times. He passed away at 30yrs old from an aortic aneurysm. He left behind a young wife and child. We both loved those planes. Weird how seeing that video brought back those emotions.

[HCS]

That was cool!!
Now I suppose they can sell those to Iran. :rolleyes:

[NorCal Gameshow]

Thanks,Sleek
:cool: Very Cool link...

[atomickitn]

wow that was kinda sad to see...like saying good but to your best friend :cool:

[Jbb]

18 Maint. Hrs/Flight hr...................................pricey.....

[Not So Fast]

Having operated in a "Hunter/Killer" group back in the day I have always been jealous of the deck hands on a carrier, seems like a very exiting place to be. Thanks for the vid, very cool!!! NSF

[spectratoad]

Having spent several years on an aircraft carrier and seeing the Tomcat in action it is sad to see them go. I remember being over in the med in 87? and Ghadafi's mig's tried to come after us and tangled up with a couple of the f-14's. Needless to say the lost. I have the video from our aircraft showing the mig's getting a missle from behind. :cool:

[seanv]

wow lil' emotional. i love several of our aircraft from the a-10,f/a-18 f-4's amd f-15's but the f-14 always had a top spot in my book. like someone said before it's a symbol of our supremecy during the cold war.

[centerhill condor]

"Tomcat" was named for Tom Connelly who during congressional hearings said the Navy did not want the F-111 to be a carrier plane. Good job old friend!
those planes and their brave flight crews served this country very well for many years. The Gulf of Sidra and the line of death come to my mind... when the F-14 shot down two migs during a confrontation at sea... old Col Kadafi didn't give much more trouble after the carrier tasks forces showed up with that big stick. No telling how many "unknown" accounts of valor and missions accomplished we will never hear.

[Jesster]

That's really sad. I went into the Navy in 85' and started my F-14 experience in VF-24 (Fighting Renegades) aboard the USS Kitty Hawk. I worked first in the line division as a Brown shirt. Next cruise was aboard the USS Nimitz and worked as an AD (green Shirt) on the engines. The 3rd cruise on the USS Nimitz as a trouble shooter (white shirt) many many hours spent on the flight deck, all of it working on the F-14 sometimes sleeping in the intake of all places :rolleyes: in the middle of night shift or trying to keep warm during watch on the flight line in Adak Alaska. It definitely brings back a lot of memories. It will be missed. :)

[havasu haulin]

I just put in my Top Gun dvd.

[Wet Dream]

That was very cool.

[Not So Fast]

That's really sad. I went into the Navy in 85' and started my F-14 experience in VF-24 (Fighting Renegades) aboard the USS Kitty Hawk. I worked first in the line division as a Brown shirt. Next cruise was aboard the USS Nimitz and worked as an AD (green Shirt) on the engines. The 3rd cruise on the USS Nimitz as a trouble shooter (white shirt) many many hours spent on the flight deck, all of it working on the F-14 sometimes sleeping in the intake of all places :rolleyes: in the middle of night shift or trying to keep warm during watch on the flight line in Adak Alaska. It definitely brings back a lot of memories. It will be missed. :)
In watching some of the Discovery Channel shows on the action on the deck of a carrier during operstions it sure looks exiting. Is it as intense as it looks?? Has to have a real sense of satisfaction for all involved. NSF

[Jesster]

In watching some of the Discovery Channel shows on the action on the deck of a carrier during operstions it sure looks exiting. Is it as intense as it looks?? Has to have a real sense of satisfaction for all involved. NSF
The whole experience when you are first brought up on deck is extremely intense. You don’t know where to look with that many jet engines running at any given time, the jet wash from turning jets not to mention the E-2 props and the rotor wash from the H-3's it seems like you don't know where to look or what to watch out for. My 1st week on deck (turns out to be 2 days) I was assigned an "experienced" plane captain "crew chief for Air force guys. Which turned out to be a guy about a year older than me, I was 19. The deck doesn’t seem to be very big when 4 F-14's are turning on the fantail an E-2 and the helo turning on the waist and 2-4 A-4's as well as 2-4 A-6's on the bow.
After being up there for a while though and now looking back on it, it is amazing that there are not far more accidents, and as tight as the aircraft are parked up there and on the hanger deck very seldom are they damaged. The stories go around and we are shown video of people getting sucked up by a jet, walking into a turning prop or cut in half by a snapped arresting gear cable. Overall that happens very rarely.
Some of the best footage I have seen of the flight deck is Top Gun and some Discovery channel shots, but it can't compare to the thrill of launching Alert 5 fighters when you think there are Chinese Exocet missiles inbound or when a Russian Bear or Badger needs to be escorted through CAG air space or even when an F-14 does a supersonic fly by 50 yards out from the flight deck. Definitely stuff to remember.
The squadron I was in was part of the Top Gun movie when it came out. We got to pre-screen it.

[Not So Fast]

The whole experience when you are first brought up on deck is extremely intense. You don’t know where to look with that many jet engines running at any given time, the jet wash from turning jets not to mention the E-2 props and the rotor wash from the H-3's it seems like you don't know where to look or what to watch out for. My 1st week on deck (turns out to be 2 days) I was assigned an "experienced" plane captain "crew chief for Air force guys. Which turned out to be a guy about a year older than me, I was 19. The deck doesn’t seem to be very big when 4 F-14's are turning on the fantail an E-2 and the helo turning on the waist and 2-4 A-4's as well as 2-4 A-6's on the bow.
After being up there for a while though and now looking back on it, it is amazing that there are not far more accidents, and as tight as the aircraft are parked up there and on the hanger deck very seldom are they damaged. The stories go around and we are shown video of people getting sucked up by a jet, walking into a turning prop or cut in half by a snapped arresting gear cable. Overall that happens very rarely.
Some of the best footage I have seen of the flight deck is Top Gun and some Discovery channel shots, but it can't compare to the thrill of launching Alert 5 fighters when you think there are Chinese Exocet missiles inbound or when a Russian Bear or Badger needs to be escorted through CAG air space or even when an F-14 does a supersonic fly by 50 yards out from the flight deck. Definitely stuff to remember.
The squadron I was in was part of the Top Gun movie when it came out. We got to pre-screen it.
WOW :2purples: Just as I figured, THANK YOU. NSF (BOBBY)

[Titan7]

Sad times, I have loved the Tomcat since seeing the movie the Final Countdown that featured the T-Cats of VF-84 "Jolly Rogers". I am glad I got to see them fly many times at Mira Mar when the Navy ran the base.

[BajaMike]

That thing sure looks bad ass with the it's wings back!!
:idea:
http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:bpkRI7MW4V4u8M:http://www.conservativethinking.com/files/f-14.jpg
:rollside:

[BajaMike]

Here's a cool video on the F-14....
F-14 Tomcat (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7069648842128183770&q=f-14+Tomcat&hl=en)
:cool:

[BajaMike]

Another one....
F-14 Sonic Boom..... (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-269376791712267206&q=f-14+Tomcat&hl=en)
:rollside:

[Jesster]

Sad times, I have loved the Tomcat since seeing the movie the Final Countdown that featured the T-Cats of VF-84 "Jolly Rogers". I am glad I got to see them fly many times at Mira Mar when the Navy ran the base.
I was stationed at Miramar. It's funny, to drive by and see it now, so much has changed, a lot of good memories from there as well as detachments to Nellis for "Red Flag", El Centro, and Fallon both places I really don't care to see again. Overall I feel priviledged to have gotten to serve, it was an experience that every kid of 18 should be exposed to. You get to grow up and see the world at the same time what more could you ask for.
I don't regret leaving the service though, a life of saying yes sir didn't really appeal to me. That's probably why I am my own boss today. See, another thing the Navy did for me. :)

[Titan7]

Thanks for your service!
My brother was in the Navy too, love/hate relationship but it made him a better person.
Anybody know where I could score that Tomcat video in a higher resolution?
bummer, no more F-14s, Hornets just don't do it for me :cry:

[Kilrtoy]

Kust watched the new F22 rapture on the militarychannel...
Wow
that was a great plane and ofcourse TOPGUN made all of us cilivians aware of it
Too all those that served and are serveing, You are the best and it shows

[BajaMike]

Ok, one more video, at the Nellis AFB airshow in 2004....
F-14 tomcat (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6547793592971674062&q=f-14+Tomcat&hl=en)
:cool:

[Jesster]

Ok, one more video, at the Nellis AFB airshow in 2004....
F-14 tomcat (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6547793592971674062&q=f-14+Tomcat&hl=en)
:cool:
Thanks BajaMike, I love watching that stuff. We got a number of them every cruise sometimes for our Steel beach parties and sometimes for VIP's that had flown aboard. Watching them break the sound barrier was always the best part, and hard to do at sea level. :rollside: