Navy's F-14 fighter jet flies its final mission

[N941WR]

Say it isn't so!

By Steven Komarow, USA TODAY
56 minutes ago (that would be around 8:15 AM EST 2/17/06)

The F-14 Tomcat, the fighter jet that soared into the national imagination in the movie Top Gun, has flown into the danger zone for the last time.

The Navy announced Thursday that the last F-14 combat mission was completed Feb. 8, when a pair of Tomcats landed aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt after one dropped a bomb in Iraq.

Capt. William Sizemore, who flew on that last mission, said the Tomcat will be missed.

"This is one of the best airplanes ever built, and it's sad to see it go away," Sizemore said in a Navy report from the ship. "It's just a beautiful airplane. And it just looks like the ultimate fighter."

Although still swift and deadly, the F-14 is a victim of changing times. For example:

? Sophisticated missiles have made its specialty, aerial dogfighting, obsolete. Opposing aircraft target each other from miles away, often before the pilots can see each other except on radar.

? Precision bombing is the new priority, and despite modification, the Tomcat can't carry the loads of the new F/A-18 Super Hornet.

? It's too expensive in the long run. The jet that flew its first combat missions in September 1974 requires 50 hours of maintenance, compared with five to 10 hours for the Super Hornet, for each hour of flight time.

The F-14 and its Navy pilots were at the heart of the 1986 movie Top Gun, in which Tom Cruise played Maverick, an impetuous pilot training at the Navy's elite flight school in Miramar, Calif.

Top Gun enhanced the reputation of an already legendary jet, said Adm. William Fallon, the U.S. Pacific commander and a former F-14 weapons officer.

"Potential opponents, at the mere thought there might be Tomcats around, would head off the other direction," he said.

Although the Navy is better served by the newer jets, the beautiful F-14 will be missed, Fallon said. "It was the last of the pure fighters."

[flymustangs]

Being an old Navy guy, I can say it was quite impressive to see the Tomcat's operate off the carriers. They looked mean just seating on the flight deck with the wings tucked back. They actually hunkered down before the CAT lanuch like they were getting ready for the fight.

[Jamie]

Check out this interesting video of a Tomcat breaking the sound barrier:

Video

I wonder if this has been doctored since the crewmen standing on the carrier don't seem to be concerned about their hearing???

[flymustangs]

Originally Posted by Jamie

I wonder if this has been doctored since the crewmen standing on the carrier don't seem to be concerned about their hearing???

Jamie,
I've seen that video many times, but can't say for sure if it's doctored. Probably not because I've seen similar flybys first hand. It's hard to tell, but the guys on deck are probably wearing "foamies" for hearing protection. The sound transient on these flybys is so short. The most interesting thing is the concusion from the shock wave if the plane is close enough to the ship.

Those airshows they put on for the visiting dignitaries were great because there was no prohibition for supersonic flight when the ship was hundreds of miles from shore.

[jimpappas]

You can still visit the F14's. For now.

Unfortunately they are almost all at AMARC near Tucson waiting for the smelter or target range duty.

Saw a bunch there last New Years with my daughter.

They had about a mile long row of Doug's Tweety birds, a bunch of T2C (Navy Trainers I worked on and flew) and even a bunch of F4 Phantoms being used mostly for drones and range targets.

It almost makes you want to cry.

[gmcjetpilot]

Originally Posted by Jamie

Check out this interesting video of a Tomcat breaking the sound barrier:
Video
I wonder if this has been doctored since the crewmen standing on the carrier don't seem to be concerned about their hearing???

Is that the one that blew an engine. After the Mach +1 pass, it does a big pull up; about 10 seconds later you see a tail pipe fire ball , resulting in the crew bailing out (excuse me punching out) and loss of plane ? Does any one know the details? George

[N62XS]

George:

It looks like the one that ditched. The flyby was staged for a Discovery Channel crew shooting a documentary on the life of a nugget, a retiring A-6 driver and life aboard a CVN. Having traveled on 11 different carriers, for weeks, as a AP photographer, I can tell you that it takes strings being pulled to get a Mach 1+ flyby. Even before the tomcat ditched, it was near impossible. The F-14 was a romantic throw back fighter that retained a hint of the lineage of the fighter heritage. While I love the hornet, the pilot is more of an integrated part of the system, rather than the ultimate authority of control over a beautiful beast.

Robby "Hard" Knox
RV-8 N184RK Completed and 4.5 hours
RV-8 Fastback N82XS tail completed. Awaiting wings.

[Les Dial]

This is what's next on the retirement list:
Nighthawk set for retirement:
The F-117A Nighthawk, the stealth fighter that launched Operation Iraqi Freedom, is "long in the tooth" and among the Southern California defense programs being put out to pasture, Pentagon officials said Monday as they unveiled a record $493.3 billion budget that eliminates some of the region's most prominent aircraft. In addition to retiring the Nighthawk, the budget calls for retiring the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, both modified by Lockheed Martin workers in Palmdale, while making room for the unmanned Global Hawk reconnaissance aircraft. Lockheed Martin spokeswoman Dianne Knippel said the company is "disappointed" with the Pentagon's decision on the Nighthawk and U-2s, but noted that with the president's annual proposed budget, "submission is always the first step." New Mexico Sens. Pete Domenici and Jeff Bingaman, who represent Holloman Air Force Base from where the F-117As are deployed, vowed to review the Air Force plans to ensure the aircraft is not being retired prematurely. (LA Daily News) -- Les

[txaviator]

TOP GUN.

Best movie of all time, period. I own it in VHS and in DVD. I watch all the re-runs on TV, and I must admit, I have even watched it in Spanish on TV.

Heck, I know almost every word verbatim.

Best movie of all time, featuring the topic of this post- the F-14.

Just my .02-cents......

(except I don't like the scene where Goose goes into Mav's room and Mav seems a little 'feminine')

Now, why the **** didn't they ever make TOP GUN 2? Unbelievable, especially when you consider movies like Rocky 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. ..........

[N395V]

Sophisticated missiles have made its specialty, aerial dogfighting, obsolete. Opposing aircraft target each other from miles away, often before the pilots can see each other except on radar.

Didn't we hear that once before? Didn't it cost a lot of lives and lead to an expensive catch up program?

Maybe this decision was made by the grandson of the armchair pentagon pilot that decided the same thing just before the F4 Phantom was produced.