Poor Poor F-14s
 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070702/...edding_tomcats

How sad. :(

Tomcats, wowh... the fighterplane of my youth. It looked like a jetfighter should look like. One of the bestlooking designs ever.

I'm going to make a documentary: "Who killed the F-14 Tomcat?":D

Isn't "Poor Poor F-14" a Warren Zevon song?:rotfl:

I think the picture and the write up from the Yahoo report says it all

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...1b541a8620.jpg

"This 1988 photo provided by Dale Snodgrass shows Snodgrass as a Navy Capt. performing a 'flyby'' next to the USS America. The F-14 flyover was shot by a crewman aboard the USS America, during a Dependent's Day cruise in 1998, during which families of the crew members are brought on the ship for a day at sea. At the time Snodgrass was Executive Officer of the VF-33 fighter squadron (The Starfighters) out of Oceana Naval Base in Virginia deployed aboard the USS America. (AP Photo/Courtesy Dale Snodgrass)"

Beautiful aircraft.

I wonder if Tom Cruise was offered one.:)
Pity. It's a majors passing of our time (well, mine anyway).

Eh... It's a big flyin turkey.

I'm surprised they didn't mothball the lot of em a decade ago...

Probably only thing remarkable bout em was their :ping: and phoenix missiles.

If I could rep you for mentioning Warren Zevon, I would.

And on topic, the F-14 was far and away the best modern fighter to ever leave a carrier's decks. And still is, even if it isn't in service anymore.

PD

Save one to sell to that South African collector!

Instead of cutting them up wouldn't it be more efficient to test ASM on these aircraft?

Not that I advocate more sabre rattling (far from it, actually) but it would be clever to equip some of our OPFOR squadrons with these planes to let our Hornet boys get used to targetting and maneuvering against them. Somebody has probably already thought of that.

Wouldn't he just take it if he wanted it? If he can take a country why not an airplane?

They seem to be very paranoid that if they aren't destroyed the parts will find their way to Iran. Rightfully so though.

PD

They would make an excellent simulated Flanker as well, methinks.

PD

Good. Except now that I can't buy one is the only problem. Not that it matters. The F-14 is a time come and gone. I won't miss it much because it was only good as an interceptor, not a fighter.

I still have this itch to find a way to buy an F-5E at some point though. I think that may be the ultimate toy if you don't count gas prices these days.

-S

Like every airplane it had its plusses and minusses. Designed for stand off missions to protect the carriers it wasn't very good in the dogfight. Large engines which guzzled fuel, and had a bad tendancy to have compressor stalls, variable geometry wings which gave its opponent information about energy. Large A/C for a carrier, reducing the numbers which could be carried.

AIM-54 which could strike A/C from long distance, RADAR which was very advanced for its time. No catapult bridle. The return of a gun on Navy A/C.

The list goes on.