OT / Goodbye F14 Tomcat

Last I heard there were a couple of Iranian birds still flying. What's the latest word there??

Bill Shuey

really seems to modern to be obsolete already. when did they enter service?

First flight was around 1970, I have a couple of drawings of an "A" that entered service in 1972. For longevity, I remember an Indian-Pakistan conflict during the 1980s where a Mig-21 was shot down by an F-86 Sabre. That MiG pilot must have been really green and the Sabre pilot really experienced. But that Sabre was pretty old at the time as well.

wow, it's kind of like a dr1 shooting down a mustang....

I know the movie Top Gun was done in 1986. Wasn't that the Tomcat?

Hmmmm... I thought they were good til '08.

WmB

Here is a link to the story inStars & Stripes. The last combat flight appears to have taken place on February 8. They returned to base here in the US today. There was a some kind of ceremony with some present and retired pilots who flew them in combat.

IIRC the Pakistani Airforce is still flying ex RAAF Mirages.

The 'official' hail and farewell will be in September at Oceana. There's a website (if I can dig it out) that outlines the events over one weekend in September. I'd love to make it to that... It's supposed to coincide with VF-31's conversion over to the SuperHornet, IIRC...

Frank Kranick

Now I feel really old. It doesn't seem that long ago they were the next new thing. My first was the old Monogram kit with solid engine inlets. That didn't give me warm feelings about Mattel.

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

the dc3 has been around longer. and they keep finding a way to restore and renew. i wonder if the gooney will be flapping in 2050? the 52 is slated for 2040 and i bet they reinvent it just from sheer momentum. still lotsa good parts at d-m. are there turboprop dc3's? would seem like a natural. imagine the old bird buzzing at 400 mph. yee haa!

ah, don't be an old poop. what's a little poetic license?

i never built one. it doesn't have spinny things or swastickers. they are pretty.....

I didn't realise the Tomcats were going - are they replacing them with anything or is it felt that the dedicated interceptor role isn't needed any more?

Cheers,

Nigel

Is ist already that late? I does not seem so long ago when the first models appeared in the seventies.... Always a great aircraft to look at. So if the USN can't, we must keep it alive. Next are Sea Harrier FA2 I think it's this year also...much too early.

And as the Eurofighter is getting closer to service, the days are counted for F-4Fs and RF-4Es too...

Seems so - Super Hornet is supposed to to nearly everything now. But no dedicated interceptor aircraft any more. I wonder if its a good idea, but I am no expert.

As it has been often said before, the guys that mothball the last B-52 will likely return to base aboard a Herc.

WmB

There have been many turbo DC3s, but the 400 MPH thing is just fiction. Read about airframe stress limitations and a little thing called VNe.

And sleep overnight in transient quarters that were built "as a temporary measure" during the Second World War.

and the guys who retire the herc will fly home on a c-47 with warp drive and a transporter.