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

[squeeze]

I think if you got 22 Harriers airborne at one time, the space-time continuum would rip or something.

 

[AllAmerican75]

I think if you got 22 Harriers airborne at one time, the space-time continuum would rip or something.

Sorta like if there were two Chuck Norris's in the ring together?







Cross thread points?

 

[JT Eagle]

Well, it might not QUITE be the end of the Tomcat at sea. This is from the 'Virginia Daily Press" I believe. Anyone care to comment?

"And so they fly off today, with VF-213 taking a short break, then beginning
training on the Super Hornets. It falls to VF-31 to fly the Tomcat for the
final time, staying on ready status into August, then beginning on the Super
Hornet in September. The VF-31 pilots will even get a final cruise, to
England for a show-and-tell a couple of weeks in April."

They can't mean NEW England can they? Or is it the Merrie Old one?
Anyone care to comment?

JT

 

[HeyJoe]

Well, it might not QUITE be the end of the Tomcat at sea. This is from the 'Virginia Daily Press" I believe. Anyone care to comment?

"And so they fly off today, with VF-213 taking a short break, then beginning
training on the Super Hornets. It falls to VF-31 to fly the Tomcat for the
final time, staying on ready status into August, then beginning on the Super
Hornet in September. The VF-31 pilots will even get a final cruise, to
England for a show-and-tell a couple of weeks in April."

They can't mean NEW England can they? Or is it the Merrie Old one?
Anyone care to comment?

JT

I met the Daily Press writer briefly at the fly-in, she was trying to figure it all out...not worth beating up on press when they hardly get stuff like this right. They're just filling up those column inches and moving on to the next topic.

TR has another at sea period in the summer as well. VF-31 has FRP commitment through Sept so there are still traps ahead for Tomcatters.

 

[89-LX]

Maybe someone can correct me if I am wrong, but I heard that the Tomcat will fly in the 2006 NAS Oceana airshow. If that is true, I am taking the 11 hour drive from Michigan just to see this.

 

[Gatordev]

I met the Daily Press writer briefly at the fly-in, she was trying to figure it all out...not worth beating up on press when they hardly get stuff like this right. They're just filling up those column inches and moving on to the next topic.

TR has another at sea period in the summer as well. VF-31 has FRP commitment through Sept so there are still traps ahead for Tomcatters.

Hey Joe, you probably have much more info than I, but I read that press excerpt as VF-31 providing the surge coverage for post-deployment. Since that's the new way of doing things now (welcome home, standby to leave again), I just figured -31 drew the short stick while -213 transitions. But I could have misunderstood or it's just the standard inaccuracy, like you mentioned.

 

[HeyJoe]

Tomcats at Oceana Airshow

Maybe someone can correct me if I am wrong, but I heard that the Tomcat will fly in the 2006 NAS Oceana airshow. If that is true, I am taking the 11 hour drive from Michigan just to see this.

Last official word form airshow coordinator is that there will be no Tactical Demo (2005 was last high performance demo that requires a specially qualified aircrew and lots of practice), but the door is open to allow Tomcat to participate in the fleet fly-by (typically Tomcats and Hornets...both kinds). There will be at least one Tomcat on static display at airshow as well.

Ceremonial last flight will be on 22 Sept as part of Tomcat Sunset. Go to: http://www.tomcat-sunset.org/forums for updates on all of the above

 

[Brooklyn]

I met the Daily Press writer briefly at the fly-in, she was trying to figure it all out...not worth beating up on press when they hardly get stuff like this right. They're just filling up those column inches and moving on to the next topic.

Funny you mentioned that. The Virginian Pilot guy I was with exhibited the same. After fielding question after question for his article, I knew this guy had no clue what the community was like. But hey, he is a Tomcat fan so I can't bust his chops.

One question asked was: "...so do the younger guys get stuck with the Tomcat because it's the oldest aircraft being used?"

Gotta love em. Like I said, he seemed to be a fan, so he got away with not even a chuckle from me. :icon_smil

 

[HeyJoe]

VF-31's summer plans

Hey Joe, you probably have much more info than I, but I read that press excerpt as VF-31 providing the surge coverage for post-deployment. Since that's the new way of doing things now (welcome home, standby to leave again), I just figured -31 drew the short stick while -213 transitions. But I could have misunderstood or it's just the standard inaccuracy, like you mentioned.

VF-31 has FRP and is not complaining about it as both squadrons wanted to be last to transition or share the honor (although they are somewhat bittersweet about transitioning to E and not F because all RIOs must go when FRP commitment ends). Their summer isn't a deployment; just staying ready...believe me, everyone and their brother wants to join them for last at sea period.

 

[scotty008]

This is directed primarily at HeyJoe- I've checked out the tomcatsunset page, and still have some questions. My Dad is a retired Tomcat driver and has expressed interest in attending the sunset ceremony. What is the best way for him to go about getting information? Any info would be much appreciated-
SD

-and, on a side note, Pensacola is a much nicer place than Quantico. For all you TBS and aspiring USMC bubbas out there... keep your eyes on the endstate. Just checking in to P'cola (which is all I've done at this point) makes TBS worth it. Stay motivated-

 

[Brooklyn]

Here is an excellent article and a Daily Press photo gallery on the events with lots of great comments by Tomcatter CO, CDR LaBranche, and others involved with the Fly-In:

http://www.dod.gov/news/Mar2006/20060310_4455.html

http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-roosevelt,0,4633177.photogallery

 

[HeyJoe]

This is directed primarily at HeyJoe- I've checked out the tomcatsunset page, and still have some questions. My Dad is a retired Tomcat driver and has expressed interest in attending the sunset ceremony. What is the best way for him to go about getting information? Any info would be much appreciated-
SD
QUOTE]

Tell him to register as a user on the forum (http://www.tomcat-sunset.org/forums) and standby for registration form for the event (should be up anyday). If he is web challenged, send me his email address via PM and I'll take care of it. HJ

 

[HeyJoe]

Here are two excellent articles and a photo gallery on the events with lots of great comments by Tomcatter CO, CDR LaBranche, and others involved with the Fly-In:

http://www.dod.gov/news/Mar2006/20060310_4455.html

http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-84738sy0mar10,0,2915301.story?track=mostemailedlink

Second article contains erroneous reference to VF-31 making a trip to England in April. AIRLANT PAO is scrambling to kill that rumor...maybe wishful thinking on part of a JO or having sport with reporter....??????

 

[Brooklyn]

Second article contains erroneous reference to VF-31 making a trip to England in April. AIRLANT PAO is scrambling to kill that rumor...maybe wishful thinking on part of a JO or having sport with reporter....??????

Good catch HJ. I edited the post to help squash the bad info.

 

[Brooklyn]

A few more links too good to miss:

Fantastic photo gallery put together by a Blacklions Nugget RIO during this last Tomcat Cruise. He's got some of the best in-flight shots I've ever seen:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/timmeh_2/

Great photo gallery showing the Fly-in and emotional reunions. Please respect the families by not re-posting these shots elsewhere:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gratefulgirlie65/sets/72057594082279128/

Finally, a great blog by a former Tomcat RIO. He's got a few entries on the final Fly-in. Great read:
http://www.instapinch.com/