Grumman F-14 Tomcat

Eric Antipuesto, e-mail, 13.12.2015 00:14 The F-14 Tomcat was almost retired in 2006.We hope we can take any opportunity. Some the aircraft was been flown for the squadron to NAS Miramar.We like to be flown to Oceana. reply

Tim, e-mail, 02.04.2015 21:36 The first flight was December 21,1970. The second flight on December 30, 1970 ended with the crash about a mile off the end of runway 32. reply

Bob Doernberg, e-mail, 01.02.2014 23:10 Just wondering if anyone is going to do the work necessary to get the Grumman-American Aircraft Company listed? They had at least two, ground-breaking, general aviation airplanes , the AA-1 Yankee and the AA-5 Tiger, that used adhesive technology to hold the aluminum parts together, yielding a very clean outside skin, and good efficiency. I flew both variants in the early '70s and found them easy and fun to fly. reply

Bill Crabill, e-mail, 21.01.2014 04:12 I spent 33 years at Grumman in Quality Control. Retired in '96 when Northrop bought the Company & basically shut down the company. Remember a number of names referenced by others, worked with Ed Wagnor on the A6 for quite a while. I didn't work on the F14 but I did accompany the first delivery A /C to Pax River for the Navies recieving inspection. The Aircraft Contract was cancelled by Dick Cheney, Secy of Defense at the time, as part of the budget cut back when the cold war was declared over. reply

Ed Bates, e-mail, 16.01.2014 16:39 I had the privlage of working on the production line @ Grumman, Calverton Long Island back in the day when these were in production. As a young Aviation structure and composite mechanic I found this bird to be amazing, and in some cases very difficult to work in such tight quarters.Being the small guy on the crew had its disadvantages some times. The best part was watching it put through its paces,its armor was a sight to behold in use as it would be dialed in. As they flew off the base the pilots would always give us a show as the delivery times always seemed to be during our lunch hour. I remember sitting on the tailgate of my old Ford pickup with the giant American flag flying in the bed,eating my lunch and those boys would light up the afterburners and within seconds be out of sight.....i still get goose bumps thinking of the pride we took as we would say goodbye to another one...every one had a piece of each of us on board. reply

Tom "Parky" Parkinson, e-mail, 23.08.2012 18:31 I was in the first group of 18 Navy people that trained at Hughes Aircraft in Los Angeles for the AWG-9 computer /radar system for the F-14 (January 1971). Following that training I was sent to VX-4 at Point Mugu, CA. Worked there in AIMD until 1975. Was there when Grumman had borrowed on of our F-14's for a missile shoot that went bad and hung in the rail - plane went down in the Pacific. We had various paint schemes including the all black one with the white Play Boy Bunny on the tail. Then off to VF-124 in Miramar and then into VF-143 when they transitioned from F-4 to F-14. Did the 1976 cruise with VF-143 on the USS America. Was sad to see the F14's go. reply

carl wintemberg, e-mail, 24.07.2012 17:14 Jim would love to have a F-14, they don't sell them, unless you know a person in the office, they use my baby the F-4 and F-14 for target practice, they take them up and shoot at them, what a shame, would love to put one or both of them up at the front of my property, would look mean reply

carl wintemberg, e-mail, 24.07.2012 17:09 VF-124 GO CATS reply

Carl Wintemberg, e-mail, 24.07.2012 17:08 I started working with the F-4 in school, in millington tenn, When I first saw the f-14, I thought what a great looking plane, was lucky enough to work on them at Fighter town in California, (Miramar) AO miss those plane reply

Arne, e-mail, 21.06.2012 04:44 I came on board Grumman just before the F-111 was aborted for both Navy and Air Force use. I then was attached to the F-14 aircraft development. I personally believe the dumping of this aircraft was a mistake. Any time there is a machine as complex as an aircraft and this was no ordinary one there are bound to be quirks that have not existed on the "standard" designs. I started working on the "D' upgrade and got caught in a R.I.F.T. I have photos of this aircraft in flight with one wing out and the other pulled all the way back. That is the stability this aircraft had. The armament that it carried and could carry was incomparable. A neighbors son was a pilot of this ship and also swears by it. reply

Jim McLaughlin, e-mail, 10.06.2012 02:26 are there any f14f for sale? reply

AOC Shaw, e-mail, 05.02.2012 02:02 Truley a GREAT A /C. Served over 6 years with it with VF-142 on CVN-69. Remember loading 6 sparrow and two winders, then 6 sparrow, then 4 winders,4 phoenix. That Gun was a piece of shit first couple years. But finally got the bugs worked out. Overall, a great machine. reply

reza, e-mail, 14.01.2012 13:55 i work in IRIAF.AND want new data about f.14 maintenance. TANK YOU reply

reza, e-mail, 14.01.2012 13:55 i work in IRIAF.AND want new data about f.14 maintenance. TANK YOU reply

Steven, e-mail, 09.11.2011 16:05 I was attached to VF-84 "Jolly Rogers" from 87 to 90 as an ordnanceman. Absolutely one of the most exciting times in my life. The tomcat was just a fantastic weapon system. reply

Jack, 12.06.2011 08:12 The f14 has a more capable radar system then the f /a 18 and it also has the best long range air to air missle in the us military. But they still replaced it with the hornet. reply

larry kenendy, e-mail, 12.05.2011 07:50 the first five F-14s were modified in California at Point Mugu Air Base before the US Navy took control. reply

Tony Moors, e-mail, 06.05.2011 00:31 I came to Grumman in 1970 as a contractor for Control Data when a Cyber 6400 Super Computer System was being set up for Real Time Flight Testing. We had three streams of data coming to the station with most important data displayed in real time(before the pilots were aware). The remaining data was stored on tape. Our CDC 808 disk was made up of 3' diameter disks with up to 48 disks. We could copy CRT data to a photo sensative spaper at 1 per second. Hard to do that even now. First flight was Dec. 21, '70 with a couple of passes around the Calverton facility. The crash was on Dec. 30 '70 after a run out over the ocean with chase planes. Hydrolic oil was spotted leaking about 10 minutes from the field. The plane nose dived about 100' from the edge of the runway. The pilots ejected but were heading down into the fire when the rising heat lifted them to a safty. I heard a lot about problems with Pratt & Whitney TF-30 engines but like the TANKER PROGRAM Congressional BS picked the less capable plane. I moved from Data Systems to Flight Test Instrumentation and was given F14 #007 to instrument for the GE F110 engines. This was SUPERTOM. We now had Navy pilots flying with Grumman pilots doing flight test on #007. In the earliest debriefs we heard the Navy pilots say "...they didn't have to fly the engines now..." No more TF-30 angle of attack restrictions and rapid throttle movements were fantastic. From the Supertom Grumman got funding for advanced avionics and finally had a superb 'D' ship. In '91 the Navy wanted to do their own flight test at their facility and #007 was scheduled to go. I took early retirement and headed to Florida to fish. I always wondered what became of #007. In '02 I was taking a cruise out of New York. On the way down the Hudson I noticed the USS Intrepid. Sitting on the deck were the twin tails of F14-007. Don't miss a visit when in NYC. Grumman was a super place to work! It was non union and pride in workmanship was obvious. reply

Cdr Jack Sullivan USNR Ret, e-mail, 16.04.2011 20:41 I was the Grumman Base manager at Tadayon IAf Bbase in Shiraz, Iran. I interfaced with the Commander of the Tactical Air Force and we often conversed about the capability of the F14. He told me a story about the Shah having a conversation with the Russian Premier and asking him if the Russians were overflying his Country. The Russian said "No". The Shah then said "good because I have just bough 80 F14's and plan to shoot these intruder down". ' The overflights soon ceased. Another story, this froman Iranian F14 pilot who has moved to the States after the Iran /Iraq war. He told me the radar on the F14 was so good that the Iranians used the F14 as we use the E2C to vector F4's and F5's in to intercept the Iraq fighters. As an old Navy Fighter pilot I agree with the strong comments made as to the capability of the F14. Until the arrival of the 5th generation fighters I believe the F14 was the best fighter weapen system we owned and with the exception of the failure to arm the F4 with guns the most serious mistake the Navy madewas not considering modifications to the F14. Remember we have not had a replacement for the A6E and the F14 was a natural. reply

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