Today we will pay a Tribute to Mighty F-14 Tomcat – Tomcat Aircraft Carrier Action. The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is a supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft.
Tomcat served more than 34 years during that tenure the F-14 Tomcat transformed from an analog fighter to a digital precision attack platform.
In addition, The Tomcat came in three different models: A, B, and D. with two
Read more: A Tribute to Lt. Kara Spears Hultgreen First Female Naval aviator who Died in F-14 Tomcat crash
F-14 Tomcat Cockpit View flying
Initially, tomcat used Pratt and Whitney TF-30 engine that has low thrust. So they required the pilot to run the afterburner when launching from the carrier later these engines were replaced by General Electric F-110 engines
F-14 Tomcat Scenes from “The Final Countdown” HD Part1
The F-14 had its first kill in U.S. Navy on 19 August 1981 in the Gulf of Sidra incident. In that incident, Two F-14s from VF-41 Black Aces were engaged by two Libyan Su-22 “Fitters”
Furthermore, both Su-22 was shot down by Wing RIO Lt. Jim Anderson, Lead pilot Cdr. Hank Kleeman, Wing pilot Lt. Larry Muczynski and Lead RIO Lt. Dave Venlet were flying F-14s
on 4 January 1989, U.S. Navy F-14s once again came head to head with the Russian fighter jets but this time they were against MIG-23 “Floggers”. Both MiGs were shot down and the incident is known as the second Gulf of Sidra incident
on 21 January 1991, The U.S. Navy suffered its only F-14 loss from the enemy action when BuNo 161430, an F-14A upgraded to an F-14A+, from VF-103 was shot down by an SA-2 surface-to-air missile while on an escort mission near Al Asad airbase in Iraq. Both crews survived ejection with the pilot being rescued by USAF Special Operation Forces.
The F-14 also achieved its final kill in US service, a Mi-8 “Hip” helicopter, with an AIM-9 Sidewinder.