Posted on 11/13/2005 4:52:41 AM PST by EnjoyingLife
". . . The True Tomcat Believers still couldn't quite bring themselves to accept that this was the last time they would see their favorite aircraft on display, but indeed this demonstration ship departed from Oceana on the day after the airshow, on its way to the Castle Air Museum in California."
(Excerpt) Read more at richard-seaman.com ...
Stole my list again, eh?
;>)
ping
Thanks. That PBY5 Catalina photo is gorgeous!
Bump.
Great pictures!
Fantastic pictures!
Always love a good Airshow
That must have been one of the best airshows ever.
My nephew spent 5 years at Oceana as a csrrier landing instructor in F-4s, currently flying for Delta.
You're right, amidst all the history and thunder, there is nothing better than the Blue Angels. I used to work in the California produce industry, where my winter work was done in the Imperial Valley, home to the Angels during the winter. There was nothing better than getting a big cup of coffee and heading out the fields to watch them practice ... well, unless you've ever seen them on the embarcadero waterfront in San Francisco during Fleet Week.
- Joe Public
Great photos! I retired from the Navy and during my stint on the Eisenhower spent almost all my free time on the observation deck watching those night launches. We put on an air show for Argentina once with a high speed flyby of two tomcats - all you could see coming at us was the ripples in the water. The sonic boom put lots of people on the deck! The Tomcat was quite the plane.
I read somewhere recently that Dale Snodgrass is going to try to buy at least 16 of the remaining F-14Ds with the intent of keeping at least a few active on the demonstration circuit.
The Collings Foundation seems to be doing ok with their F-4D, so it's not beyond the realm of possibility.
Brrrrr...
Those pics give me the shivers!
(and I'm wearing a sweatshirt, believe it or not!)
Dang I long for a good airshow! I miss going to them, I need to catch the next on at Luke AFB.
Thanks for the morning eye candy!
I've only seen the Tomcat in action once, but it was quite a treat. I was attending a little league game at the park about a half mile from the runway at Dover AFB, when this F-14 appeared overhead and spent about twenty minutes cutting all kinds of antics in preparation for an air show that was to occur that weekend. I was impressed.
You should come up here for the EAA Airventure.
I never miss it.
A few years ago they had 15 P-51 Mustangs on the taxi ramp, right in front of us. They ran up their engines, and the ground shook. It was a treat for the ears.
This year they had at least 2 B-17s giving rides for a fee. The best part was there was always 1 in the air overhead while I was there.
I can't believe that are retiring the Tomcat. It seems not that long ago that it came out.
They were just bringing in the F-16s when I was leaving the Air Force. The 86th Fighter Squadron at KI Sawyer was still using F-106 Delta Darts.
I would watch those guys take off every morning at 4:30 A.M. while stationed at Elmendorf AFB in Alaska.
They were my alarm clock.
Just awesome.
Thanks to all who flew and maintained the tomcat - one of my favorites.
mc
I love it when you talk like that!
stop it some more!
Fantastic pics! Thanks!
My contribution to the thread
http://www.airshowjournal.com/
I get to see them everytime I drive north from I-10 on Kolb Rd next to Davis-Montham AFB. Row upon Row upon Row all mothballed and awaitng recall to active service, foreign sale, or the cutter whichever comes first. The wait can be a long one, as there are nearly as many F-4s parked in the same condition at D-M as there are F-14s.
By Sandra Jontz, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Monday, September 12, 2005
ABOARD THE USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT — The mainstay of naval aviation might, the F-14 Tomcat, is retiring for good.
The Navy’s last two active Tomcat squadrons, the “Tomcatters” of VF-31 and “Blacklions” of VF-213, both based out of Oceana Naval Air Station, Va., are on their final deployment aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier as the strike group sails to the Persian Gulf to relieve the USS Nimitz.
“As a lifelong Tomcat pilot, it’s bittersweet to see those wonderful airplanes go away,” Rear Adm. James Winnefeld Jr., commander of Carrier Strike Group 2, said Sunday while aboard the Roosevelt as it sailed off the coast of Rota, Spain.
“I think that every time an airplane is retired, the people who were close to that airplane will shed a tear. It’s safe to say that the F-14 is special. It’s been with us for a long time, it’s a beautiful airplane. … It’s sort of a majestic aircraft, and so [retirement] is a little bittersweet.
“We know we have an excellent aircraft coming along to take its place. The F/A-18 [Super Hornets] are extraordinary aircraft, less expensive to operate and have a lot more of reliability.”
For decades, thanks in no small part to Hollywood, the Tomcat has been emblematic of U.S. naval aviation.
Goodbye doesn’t come without a heavy heart, said VF-213 pilot Lt. Josh “Fezzik” Rose, 28.
“The Tomcat has been the premiere fighter for naval aviation for three generations. A lot of people enlisted in the Navy and retired with the Tomcat being around. It was in ‘Top Gun,’ and if you’ve seen the movie, you know what [the Tomcat] is all about,” Rose said.
“It is the Navy’s muscle car. The Hornet’s like a Miata,” said Lt. Cmdr. Charlie “Scotty” Brown, who as a former instructor at the Navy Fighter Weapons School, best known as “Top Gun,” has flown both aircraft. “It all depends on taste. Some want muscle, some want a sports car.”
While the Super Hornet is smaller and yes, even slower, both aircraft can perform the job the military looks to accomplish in combat, said Brown, with VF-31.
Pilots will need about four months’ training to make the switch, officials said.
The Tomcat squadrons, with about 30 pilots and 300 maintenance crewmembers, described being among the last as an honor. In spite of back-to-back deployments over the past three years, more pilots volunteered to be part of this six-month deployment than the wing had available spots, Winnefeld said.
“Everyone falls in love with their first aircraft,” Rose said. “But I’m looking forward to the Super Hornet. It has a lot of new technology. Like a new car. It’ll have that new car smell, and I’m sure the maintainers will appreciate it.”
Tomcats required about 50 to 60 hours of maintenance for every flight hour, compared to roughly 15 hours of maintenance time for Hornets and Super Hornets.
It’s not about shorter hours for mechanics, Petty Officer 3rd Class Jarell Thomas and Airman Mario Guzman said. After all, they’re on an aircraft carrier — what else are they going to do, they joked.
“The Tomcat is my baby,” Thomas said. He’s worked on the engine for all three years of his naval service.
“The Tomcat leaving is pretty much a heartbreak for me.”
VF-31
VF-213
I nearly did have a tear in my eye. The Tomcat will go down in history as one of the most interesting, beautiful and important fighters this country has ever produced. As flight deck crew, I saw them from every angle and was nearly toasted, blown over or suffocated by them on various occasions...
On one occasion, there was a Tomcat waiting in the middle of the flight deck, idling. Due to the spacing, we were trying to make the choice of walking twenty or thirty yards up the flight deck to try to walk in front of the idling Tomcat, or braving the exhaust and walking behind it. My buddy and I were silently standing there, both of us doing the calculation, when a Blue Shirt, chocks in each hand walks up next to us.
Now, there is a perceived hierarchy on the flight deck, and it differs from whatever viewpoint you look at it from. I was a plane captain, and we viewed ourselves as higher than yellowshirts, but not as high as Green or White Shirts (Which is natural, given that that was what many of us were trying to be). We viewed Yellow Shirts below us, Purple shirts next down, and at the very bottom of the flight deck food chain, there sat the Lowly Blue Shirts. (Again, keep in mind this is not the actual hierarchy, but what existed in our minds...in the estimation of some other color shirts, Brown Shirts (Plane Captains) may have, and were viewed as the bottom feeders on the flight deck...)
So, anyway, we are standing there, heavily laden with tiedown chains, trying to figure out if it is safe to cross behind this idling Tomcat, when this "Bottom Feeding Blue Shirt" walks up next to us, takes one momentary look at the Tomcat, does not even appear to try to figure it out, and steps behind it to cross.
He is immediately blown down the flight deck splay akimbo, chocks flying...my buddy and I look at each other through our goggles, laughing, shrug our shoulders, and turn to walk up the flight deck to cross in front of the Tomcat...
(Again, this is no disrespect to Blue Shirts...I am sure many Plane Captains were the subject of similar perceived lack of mental prowess by the Yellow Shirts...)
It will be a shame to see this icon retired. But time marches on ...
"The Shot," USS America, 1989
Photo used courtesy of Dale Snodgrass
Must have been 30-40 warbirds that flew directly over the crowd in formation. Most awesome thing I've ever seen in my life.
Only at Oskhosh.
/my reaction had I been there!
I couldn't make it down for that one, because of work, but heard about it from my brothers who went.
Fifi is scheduled to be at Oshkosh next year.
Sadly we lost a Mustang, and pilot, this past year.
Tell me if I miss one:
Wildcat
Hellcat
Bearcat
Tigercat
Cougar
Tomcat
Seems like I missed something. Was there a 'cat break between the Cougar and Tomcat?
I got a report from a friend that looks like the Chino Museum lost their Hellcat somewhere in Tenn or Kentucky. Scud running looks like. Did'nt recognize the pilot, but I've been gone from Chino for 10 years now and lots of things have changed.
ping
There were Panthers from Korea
Grumman F-11F Tiger
Short Navy shipboard life but flew with the Blue Angels
Panther
I should have rememberd that one. I painted the No.2 Blue Angle Tiger at the Chino Muesum sometime back.
You'd have really liked being at Utapao Air Base in Thailand when the fully laden B-52's would roar down the runway. You couldn't talk, and walking was difficult due to the ground shake.
Too bad I cant get that in 1600x1200!
We saw their last 2 flights at Oceana in Sept.
Y'all get a chance check out the pics at the link
Back later
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
The F-14 Association: Tomcat Tales
http://www.f-14association.com/stories.htm
Those boys also knew when to wake us all up!
Semper fi!
wAY COOL PICS!
WOW! It's not exactly clear who (Seaman?) made all those photos, but every one is definitely a "keeper"!! Great photography of great birds!
Awesome pics, thanks for letting me know.
Great links...Thanks very much! I particularly liked the one about the guys who tried to remove a full drop tank without the benefit of a hoist...it can happen if you aren't careful...
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