Since Commander Emory Brown’s background as a test pilot in the Tomcat Program is widely known, we believed his perspective on the Development of the F-14 is invaluable Lou Drendel’s…
Ordered to return to the ship by the AWACS after dropping all of his bombs, Lt Sidbury told everybody—including a rear admiral and a USAF general—”No”” because the guys on…
Hank Kleemann, Commanding Officer, Fighter Squadron FORTY-ONE The USS Nimitz’s catapult officer touched his extended left hand to the flight deck, signaling the launch, and the Tomcat roared down the…
‘Out of control, I reached for the “D” ejection handle between my legs. I grasped it but did not pull it, as I realized that being inverted, the ejection would…
“The F-14 crew caught a detail in the weather briefing and flew that 95 knots pass into a shear-wind (opposed to the F-15A-pilot), and then did a few turns no…
The Tomcat Designed in 1968 to take the place of the controversial F-111B, then under development for the Navy’s carrier fighter inventory, the F-14 Tomcat was designed with emphasis on close-in fighting “claws” along with standoff…
“We split S to the deck and was cruising in Mil power doing about 550 KTS when I got tally on an F-15 aggressor at our 3 O-clock /~4-5miles trying…
The glide ratio According to Globeair.com, the glide ratio measures the aerodynamic efficiency of an aircraft in a no-engine glide. It shows how far an aircraft can go forward for…
The AIM-54 Phoenix The controversial F-111B, which was being developed for the Navy’s carrier fighter inventory, was replaced by the F-14 Tomcat in 1968. The F-14 Tomcat was built with…
The F-14 Tomcat In the 1986 movie “Top Gun,” the F-14 Tomcat had a key part. The Navy required an aircraft to defend its surface fleets from hostile aircraft and long-range…