Last of the Navy's Tom Cats...

[SparrowHawk62]

Last Combat Tomcat Comes to NAS Pensacola
Navy News | Megan Kohr | April 21, 2006
NAS Pensacola, FL. - The last F-14 Tomcat to fly a combat mission over Iraq made its final flight from USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) to Naval Air Station Pensacola April 13.

The Tomcat will be immortalized at the National Museum of Naval Aviation here as the final decommissioning stages close and training for its replacement, the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, continue.

?Bittersweet,? is how Lt. Cmdr. Mark Stufflebeem, the aircraft?s pilot, referred to the final mission. ?We were the last aircraft from our squadron to leave, because we?ve had aircraft go to a lot of museums around the country; some of them have gone out to the bone yards to be put to rest.

"We?re the last guys to get to man up one of these planes in our squadron, and that felt pretty good,? Stufflebeem said. ?You kind of keep that in the back of your mind every time you touch a button or a switch, pretty much knowing that this is the last time you?re going to do that in this particular aircraft.?

The F-14D, aircraft bureau number 161159, was assigned to the "Black Lions" of Fighter Squadron (VF) 213 as part of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 8, embarked aboard Roosevelt to provide close air support to Marines and Soldiers in Iraq, according to Stufflebeem.

?[The F-14] was a great step forward in the fighter world,? said retired Rear Adm. George Furlong. Furlong was the officer in charge of the fleet introduction team for the F-14 and was the air wing commander of CVW-14 aboard USS Enterprise (CVN 65).

?[The F-14 was a] much larger airplane than anything we have ever flown before; a much more complicated airplane, and that finally led to its retirement because it was a very difficult aircraft to maintain, both because of the early technology in the computer age that it was based on and the fact that it was just a very complex airplane to begin with."

A Grumman-built aircraft, the F-14?s main purpose was air-to-air combat, with advanced weapons capabilities. It later evolved into a multimission aircraft. The last leg of the F-14?s purpose became air-to-ground support in its recent deployment to Iraq.

?I do not know if there will ever be another aircraft of this nature that has as significant an impact as it had, not only on the Navy but [also against] our potential threats,? Furlong said. ?The aircraft was feared probably more than any other aircraft in existence because it had the over-the-horizon capability."

Patrons of the National Museum of Naval Aviation will soon be able to view the aircraft once it has finished being prepared for display. For more details on when the display will be available, call the National Museum of Naval Aviation at (850) 452-3604.

Rember the Tomcats while I was on the Kitty Hawk, the Connie, and the Ranger. Man they were an awsome aircraft during their time.

[SparrowHawk62]

Tomcats Officially Retire
Navy News | SN Katrina Scampini | September 26, 2006
Virginia Beach, VA. - The F-14 Tomcat was officially retired after 36 years of service at the Final Flight Ceremony held at Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana Sept. 22.

More than 1,300 former and present F-14 aviators, maintainers, and support personnel attended the ceremony.

?The Tomcat helped maintain freedom and democracy around the world,? said Aviation Support Equipment Technician 2nd Class Christopher Kaelin, a support equipment maintainer with Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department (AIMD). ?When you see it come off the flight deck, you know it?s a force to be reckoned with.?

According to Corporate Vice President and President of Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems Scott Seymour, the Final Flight Ceremony is as much a dedication to the aircraft as to the people who contributed to its legacy.

?We are here to salute the vision that conceived the aircraft,? Seymour said, ?as well as the intellectual capital that engineered it, the pride of those who built it and the dedication of the Sailors who have maintained it and the raw courage and icy nerve of the flight crews that flew it in defense of our country.?

Seymour said although the F-14 is being retired, the human qualities that brought it about are still as vital as ever.

The Navy?s new F/A-18E/F ?Super Hornet? will replace the F-14.

?The Tomcat lives on to its enduring mission and to the men and women committed to those missions,? said Adm. John Nathman, commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command. ?It?s a transition from one superb aircraft to another; the Tomcat to the Super Hornet.?

A small number of F-14s will be departing NAS Oceana through Sept. 30 to their final destinations at museums or be placed in war reserve at Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz.

To further recognize the F-14 retirement, Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf publicly dedicated Sept. 22 as ?Tomcat Day? in Virginia Beach.

?We love the Navy,? Oberndorf said. ?And today, the Tomcat is at the top of the list.?

[Jerry D]

I still have "in the box" a model of the F-14 "Testors" made for the Movie "Top Gun" I guess with the retirement of the F-14's it will become even more of a collectors Item now. I have always liked the F-14 and the F-15 since both had two engines and could be armed to the teeth with all the maneuverability they needed.While stationed at Incirlick AB I saw/heard about numerous single engine fighters crashing from losing their ONE engine to FOD(foreign object damage) while all the Twin engine aircraft made it back after the training mission. to all the Tomcat drivers out there who flew and finished the mission!