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

Schnugg

It's gettin' a bit dramatic 'round here...
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Ahh...where do I start young grasshopper....

Lots of goods, lots of others.

Goods: Strong radar, lots of gas, good speed, lots of ordnance, 2 man crew, in it's heyday very manueverable compared to other jets...

Others: originally very stall prone motors (PW TF30-P414A), lots of moving parts, not fly by wire, 6.5 G limited when at low fuel state, originally had a 64K computer with a tape (yes tape like a cassette) read in for the tactical OFP.....

But it got better with the F-14D: GE motors, digital flight control system, new HUD, APG-71 radar, Digital TARPS, GPS, LANTIRN, JDAM capable, JTIDS, and more...

But alas it's the same old 6.5 G airframe with a huge RCS.

So now going on 33 years old...it's time has come...and it will be put out to pasture...just like me. :)

The F/A-18F is a good replacement.

r/
G

currently in Qatar: "My what a lovely sand lot you have here..."
 

rare21

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
got to see its last performance today at the NAS Oceana airshow. sexy bird even though i never did like the look of it. too bad its gone
 
B

Blutonski816

Guest
yeah, I got the pictures to prove it

top-gun-260.jpg
 

puck_11

Growler LSO
pilot
Barnard1425 said:
I hear that an F-14 can shoot down four or five F-5's in one sitting, but only if they're painted black and have big red stars on the rudder.......


Haha thats awesome.

Is it true that in a dogfight you had to unload the wings before changing the throttle settings?
 

TurnandBurn55

Drinking, flying, or looking busy!!
None
A4sForever said:
Downside to the F-14??? It's not in the front-line inventory anymore ..... :)

Actually VF-31 and VF-213 are still scheduled to do one last deployment... methinks starting in October?

Downside? I'd add not being able to carry the AMRAAM or the HARM...
 
B

Blutonski816

Guest
^ nope, they already left on the Roosevelt...

Kinda fitting to see the last Tomcat cruise end the way an airwing used to be, with two sqadrons of Toms aboard...
 

JIMC5499

ex-Mech
Barnard1425 said:
I hear that an F-14 can shoot down four or five F-5's in one sitting, but only if they're painted black and have big red stars on the rudder.......
I would like to get the Libyan Air Force's views on the F-14. :D
 

SteveG75

Retired and starting that second career
None
How about a MIM-23 HAWK air-surface missile modified for air-air work?
6.jpg

7.jpg


This was the Iranian answer to the embargo in the '80s. Not too effective as I understand it so they worked on making the old Phoenix work.

Interesting that the Iranians will still be flying the Tomcat after us.

More info on Iranian Tomcats kills:
http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_210.shtml
 

Brett327

Well-Known Member
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
TurnandBurn55 said:
Actually VF-31 and VF-213 are still scheduled to do one last deployment... methinks starting in October?

Downside? I'd add not being able to carry the AMRAAM or the HARM...
What? You don't like being my HARM truck? Just tell your RAG-Is that you're not going to bother learning anything about HARM because the Prowler guys in the fleet are going to do all your HARM planning anyway. ;)

Brett
 
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