The Tomcat Legacy; 35+ years from Fleet Air Defender to Recce to Precision Strike

[HeyJoe]

F-14 Tomcat's "other"

It's funny how older pubs can BS you... I have 1977 book on USN fighter Aircraft and for the F-14 entry, the aircraft is hailed as being so stable that it is "spin proof" :icon_lol:

gotta wonder how they messed that up...

At the time, they believed that the aircraft was spinproof. Then they lost one at Pax and found out that it had a nasty flat spin mode (upright and inverted) that appeared to be unrecoverable although two separate gents claim to have successfully recovered from them. It was the top boldface procedure and every Tomcat rider could recite the steps in their sleep (ejecting the RIO to get the nose down in upright spin was not a step, although it was talked about in the Ready Room). Problem was if spin got fully developed, both pilot and aircrew would likely be incapacitated and out of position to eject so you had to do something fast. Motors are so far apart and the TF30 in the A model so stall prone that loss of one presented real danger of departing and starting the dance.

 

[mules83]

Last Combat Trap for the Tomcat

The final day is coming closer......

ABOARD USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (NNS) -- A chapter in naval aviation history drew to a close Feb. 8 aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) with the last recovery of an F-14 Tomcat from a combat mission.

full story

 

[Schnugg]

This is BS when the CAG steals the glory...as if being the CAG is not enough....

Piloted by Capt. William G. Sizemore II, commander, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 8, Fighter Squadron (VF) 213’s aircraft 204 was trapped at 12:35 a.m. and marked one of the final stages of the Navy’s transition from the F-14 to F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet.

When the USS John C Stennis was coming up on some remarkable number of traps for the whole carrier like 50,000 (can't remember the exact number). The CAG was flying in a Tomcat to get the "magic trap" we even put him in a certain order coming down for the Case III recovery.

As luck would have it the a/c in front of him sh!ts in the wires and he get a FDWO.

The LT jg and LT in the jet behind him bagged all the glory.

JOPA

 

[AllAmerican75]

8 February was a sad day. I wish the Tomcat wasn't leaving, I would have loved to have gotten a ride in one.

 

[A4sForever]

Would CAG William G. Sizemore II be RADM William G. Sizemore's .... son???

 

[DanMa1156]

This is BS when the CAG steals the glory...as if being the CAG is not enough....



When the USS John C Stennis was coming up on some remarkable number of traps for the whole carrier like 50,000 (can't remember the exact number). The CAG was flying in a Tomcat to get the "magic trap" we even put him in a certain order coming down for the Case III recovery.

As luck would have it the a/c in front of him sh!ts in the wires and he get a FDWO.

The LT jg and LT in the jet behind him bagged all the glory.

JOPA

What he has to say about it:

“It’s the end of an era and it just kind of worked out that I was the last trap,” said Sizemore.

Right. Anyway, an end to an era of an incredible platform.

Cheers, Tomcat.

 

[jai5w4]

Rank has its privileges, I guess...

Not too classy in my opinion, but I don't know all the circumstances. I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt, but I'm a realist and I have a hard time convincing myself that it, "just worked out that way..."

jai5w4

 

[Blutonski816]

Lt. Bill Frank, a VF-31 pilot, also took part in the last mission, and is credited with being the last pilot to ever drop a bomb from an F-14 Tomcat.

Well, at least a J.O. got the above distinction...

 

[ElCidAv8tor05]

Isn't the skipper of -31 Richard "Twig" Lebranche? If I remember correctly he was there when the A-6 got retired, and now he's here for the Tomcat retiring. Maybe he's got the bad touch... haha just kidding. At any rate it is sad to see the Tomcat go, hopefully the Super Hornet will create some of the same feelings that the Tomcat did.



-"Easy"

 

[jarhead]

CAG on a combat mission, hmm ... similar to the MEU CO that went on the Helo ride into Yugo to pull out O'Grady ... RHIP, i guess, gotta get the accolades, & it's great for morale

"O-6 shot down", press would have a hay-day

and what counts in end is how your bio reads ....

S/F

 

[Pugs]

Every combat cruise/op I went on, ODS, Provide Comfort, Bosnia, Kosovo, Northern and Southern Watch CAG flew missions. Not unusual at all.

 

[HooverPilot]

This is BS when the CAG steals the glory...as if being the CAG is not enough....

When the USS John C Stennis was coming up on some remarkable number of traps for the whole carrier like 50,000 (can't remember the exact number). The CAG was flying in a Tomcat to get the "magic trap" we even put him in a certain order coming down for the Case III recovery.

As luck would have it the a/c in front of him sh!ts in the wires and he get a FDWO.

The LT jg and LT in the jet behind him bagged all the glory.

JOPA

Doesn't always happen. I got the 340,000th trap on the JFK last cruise (8/13/04). The 1,000th trap on the Reagan was a buddy of mine who got it because the boss was tired of the Politically Correct person selected (female Hornet pilot) kept boltering so he charlied 1 Viking for the honor.

 

[A4sForever]

CAG always flies .... as in ALWAYS. It's always been that way and always will be that way. At the Battle of Coral Sea, CAG William B. Ault led his aviators off the USS Lexington (CV-2) and never returned. He was listed as MIA and NAS Whidbey's Ault Field is named in his honor.

Even if they came from another community, CAGs used to like to get checked out in the A-6 so they could lead AirWing Alpha strikes with a senior (experienced) B/N along to cover their back. CAG birds are designated in each jet squadron and are usually identified with the modex "00" --- a.k.a. "Double-Nuts" as the CAG bird. It's tailfeathers are usually painted brightly to set it apart from the rest of the squadron birds.

Depicted below is an AirWing 11 A-7 Corsair II from VA-192 "The World Famous Golden Dragons" ... also know as the "Worms" by the rest of the AirWing .... getting ready to launch from the deck the Kitty Hawk -- in CAG war-paint.



Tooter Teague (below) , a.k.a. the "Bossier City Bearcat" was one of my CAGs and he flew 423 combat missions during the Viet Nam conflict and bagged an NVAF MiG 17 while in VF-51.


... the "Bossier City Bearcat" manning up .... Tonkin Gulf style


The moral of the story ??? ..... CAG flies .... always has -- always will.

 

[jarhead]

i figured he flew (our MAG CO flies weekly) but not on combat missions. learn somethin everyday ... still pretty convenient that he flew "the last recovery of an F-14 Tomcat from a combat mission" though - good for the bio

S/F

 

[Brett327]

i figured he flew (our MAG CO flies weekly) but not on combat missions. learn somethin everyday ... still pretty convenient that he flew "the last recovery of an F-14 Tomcat from a combat mission" though - good for the bio

S/F

Maybe you Marines just aren't as tough as you think you are.

Brett