Yeah not the best picture to use...
I know few things as surely as I know that U.S. Navy carrier-based pilots are the best in the world.
I will always love that smell. *tear*Now I close my eyes and hear the clack, clack, clack of the shuttle as it moves aft for the next launch. The exhaust from the powerful and reliable F-110 engines fills my nostrils until we drop the canopy and bring our jet to life.
The thought just gets my blood pumping again.And then - even after decades of doing the same thing - the adrenaline starts to flow as we go through the deck dance unique to the Tomcat: The nose strut compresses, giving the fighter the look of a rail dragster; the launch bar comes down. Wings spread. Flaps lower.
We're flying a Tomcat. And we're getting paid to do it.
VF-84 forever!"Those were real fighter squadrons." And they were. Jolly Rogers, Swordsmen, Pukin' Dogs, Grim Reapers, Diamondbacks - mascots of an adventure.
A perfect renditionAt the center of it all was the airplane itself, and when an airplane has so much heart, personality, and character it ceases to be inanimate to those who climb into it on a regular basis.
So goodbye, Big Fighter, blessed protector of the American way and our hides. We who knew you well will miss your class, your swagger, your raw power. Even in the face of technological advances you bowed to no other.
Thanks for the memories. They are indeed the stuff of novels.
UInavy said:Were you a Tomcat pilot?
UInavy said:Did I ever say it mattered?? It was a legitimate question. Some of the statements made me think that maybe he had been. I was just curious. Chill out, dude.
does it matter?
I never was nor will be a Tomcat pilot but I'm sad to see the jet go. Do I have to be a Tomcat pilot to be saddened by its lost?
UInavy said:Why, could you hear the tone of my voice? It was a damn question. Why are you so ready to jump on me? Is it my hair? Because I have really nice hair.
HazeGray said:goodness sakes! a guy goes to get somthing to eat and the has to defend his actions. fellas fellas were all on the same team here.
no not a f-14 driver. biggest dissapointment in my life. didnt get in soon enough. but have been around them plenty to think in my head that i was![]()
i guess my words could have been better but i stand by what i said.
enough about you.....enough about me.....back to topic (heck if a mod wants to get rid of these posts..........go ahead)
this is a celebration............of sorts
Ryoukai said:I think UI was asking because of the past tense that Hazegrey used but has nothing regarding that in the profile. I'm willing to go out on a limb here that there wasn't any raising of the nose in his post. Or it could be that the tone of some posters who used ill-fitting pictures with very dramatic language yet had nothing to do with the community got his goat.![]()
![]()
Wonderful film...Schnugg said:Dumb it down for us local folk...you know morons.
Schnugg said:Rayuki...WTF are you saying here. I have no idea what you just said. Dumb it down for us local folk...you know morons.
G
TurnandBurn55 said:Well, looks like the Navy has a somewhat better plan in mind for the old Tomcat fellas than the Intruders... a few RIOs running around in VF-14, -143, -31 may have disagreed, but overall the Tomcat community seems content with the way the transition has gone...
Anytime, baby!
![]()