Fun Fact: Lt. Larry "Music" Muczynski who was one of the F-14 pilots (Fast Eagle 107) in the 1981 Gulf of Sidra combat, said he pulled 10.4 G turn while trying to evade an explosion in the dogfight. The airframe had no damage because Grumman over-engineered the Tomcat. The maintenance people were so happy with the 2-0, inspection did not matter to them. NATOPS imposed a 6.5g limit for the pilots, but in real combat, the pilots were allowed to do whatever it took to survive (Source: 'Tomcat Fury' by Mike Guardia).

@Rickky007

Жыл бұрын

I think it was tested from the factory 16 to 14 gs & top speed Mach 2.5 .

@jimw8016

Жыл бұрын

We had several pilots who routinely "over-G'd" our cats. Had 1 that earned the nick name rivet. Almost every flight he returned with at least 1 rivet popped. I knew exactly where to check after every flight. He would just smile. The most I ever saw was 9.1g'shang. F-14 will Always be my favorite but, she was a maintenance hawg.

@2ZZGE100

Жыл бұрын

@@jimw8016 Thanks for sharing. Really appreciate it. I am sure you know about 'Snort' (R.I.P.) who was famous for that in the Tomcat.

@lancerevell5979

Жыл бұрын

During my Airforce days at Tyndall AFB, Fl. in late 1970s, we hosted a group of F-15A Eagles, newly introduced. They trained on our Gulf missile range. One Eagle pilot over-geed his plane. It had to be trucked back to Langley AFB, Va. Looking down the line of parked Eagles, we could easily see the "bent" airframe. The cockpit and nose were literally bent downwards several degrees! Had he been in a Tomcat, he'd likely have had no problem.

@Twolegger

Жыл бұрын

My one-time boss Bill “Root” Jarrot was the RIO on a ready cat while the others were already aloft in the snarl. He and his front seater were on deck should they be needed. I loved working for retired USN Aviators. Even if 1/4 of the stories were actually true, they were all fantastic to hear.

Iran wasn't a lethal enemy at the time of the sale. They had a higher priority for some high-tech U.S. equipment than some NATO allies.

@timothystrawn1844

Жыл бұрын

And they had the option to purchase the F-15 Eagle if they didn’t want the F-14 Tomcat

@MFitz12

Жыл бұрын

@@timothystrawn1844 - Sure, but Iran never wanted the F-15.

@LCol718

Жыл бұрын

@@MFitz12 Wasnt there a demonstration flight of the two (F14 and F15) and iran chose the F14? If im wrong, i apologize. i read that somewhere a while back.

@MFitz12

Жыл бұрын

@@LCol718 - It is true. The Shah himself attended IIRC. The F-14 team cheated and violated the rules of the demonstration to show off. Not that this mattered as the demo was a formality. The Shah and therefore the IIRAF were all-in on the F-14. Iranian F-14's were BTW fully multi-role capable and it was intended to use them with precision guided air-to-ground weapons including the Condor missile, which was cancelled before entering production.

@Wildstar40

Жыл бұрын

Yeah but it still amounts to selling weapons to the enemy who then pointed and fired said weapons right back at you.

I was lucky enough to witness the last official flight of the F-14 at NAS Oceana in 2006. It was sad, but awesome at the same time!

@greggstrasser5791

Жыл бұрын

Saw it on a show. That was just sad. They didn’t waste time gutting those things.

The F-14 was a remarkable aircraft for its day! And one of the most beautiful planes to ever fly.

@prophet1782

Жыл бұрын

I saw one in Bangalore India in Indian Air Force Show.

@MeBallerman

Жыл бұрын

It wasn't "beautiful" - It looked menacing. The Concorde was beautiful.

Destroying F-14s and parts should be one of those unforgivable sins.

@Coinz8

Жыл бұрын

So that they don't land in enemy hands? Forgivable sin.

@AndyFromBeaverton

Жыл бұрын

@@Coinz8 There are 2 f14s in private hands here in Oregon. Should they be destroyed?

@Coinz8

Жыл бұрын

@AndyFromBeaverton You mean the ones in McMinnville? The wanted parts on those were taken out BEFORE they were sold to the private collector. All non-essential parts remain.

@tobyallred4413

Жыл бұрын

@@AndyFromBeaverton The wing box on every Tomcat was cut so no F-14 on US soil are airworthy.

@cjcoleman3893

Жыл бұрын

​@@AndyFromBeaverton were they intentionally destroyed as to make them not be airworthy? Or are they still airworthy craft?

I made two incredible movies staring this plane. The F18 paled in comparison to my Tomcat in the follow up film. All those years later and the 14 is still larger than life.

6:53 So that was the scene that inspired them to use T-38s as "MiG-28s" in that tight formation interdiction in the opening scene of the first Top Gun movie. Nice!

@jimw8016

Жыл бұрын

The mig 28s were f5s from nfws

@eflanagan1921

Жыл бұрын

T38 with guns is an F5 , often used as opfor training.

@MattKearneyFan1

Жыл бұрын

F5s

The F 14 was an excellent aircraft!

I was a young man and I lived through these times, there is NO single source. I had five library cards, I had a "reading addiction" plus, also love to drive forty miles to Stanford University's engineering library, California State University in San Jose, their library spending my Sunday afternoons reading in libraries. I read Aviation Week and Space Technology Magazine, most issues. I bought a life time subscription to the monthly magazine US Naval Proceedings starting in 1974. I subscribed to Armor Magazine -the professional magazine for the armor units in the USMC and US Army armor units. I worked at the company AMI, as a design draftsman when the company designed the six chips for the F-14's "wing sweep computer!"

FB-111 also had variable geometry wings...

Formidable is not a word I'd use to describe the P&W TF30 engines. It's a fine engine for the F111 for which it was designed, but the second you take it through high AOA maneuvers, you risk upsetting it. It would probably be a really good engine for a bomber.

Ward Carroll has some great background on what really happened in that incident. Thanks to Ward, I discovered the REAL significance to the F-14 I saw at the Smithsonian.

The Tomcats that the Iranians have are the F-14A model built in the 70s and they still fly with the original 70s tech still in them so I'd say they are too obsolete to be a threat.

@jimw8016

Жыл бұрын

They have upgraded them with Russian avionics & missiles

@keithallver2450

Жыл бұрын

@@jimw8016 So basically they still are flying with 70s tech. 🤣🤣

@lancerevell5979

Жыл бұрын

Anything that flies and packs weapons can be a threat. But their obsolete tech makes them easier to kill. Likely half, at least, of their Tomcats are nonflyable donors for the few flying. Eventually having no spares will ground them too.

@EasyPeasy_Japanesey

Жыл бұрын

​@@jimw8016 You mean downgraded 🤣

@Sjadkamali313

Жыл бұрын

So why you bastards did not do anything wrong to the American soldiers when we attacked Ain al-Assad, if Iran's weapons are obsolete, then it is better to act instead of talking nonsense 🖕🖕🖕

I got to see the ultimate F-14D from VF-2, USS Constellation in 2001 when she visited Singapore. Glad I went on board. So Tom Cruise and I have something in common - got to touch and feel the bird, but he got into the cockpit and “flew’ it. But his was the A model!😊

@EddieF14

Жыл бұрын

my old squadron during Desert Storm on board the USS Ranger.

@shengyi1701

Жыл бұрын

@@EddieF14 I believe your sister squadron, VF-1 Wolfpack shot down a Mil-8 helicopter with an AIM-9!

@jtuttle11

Жыл бұрын

The 'Tulsa' aviation museum has a Tomcat on static display, I believe it is pretty much intact. Its weapons have been removed, but the engines and other equipment are still there. They have it setup so the public can access the cockpit.

@everydayhero5076

Жыл бұрын

@@jtuttle11 Wings over the Rockies in Denver, CO has one too!

@EddieF14

Жыл бұрын

@@shengyi1701 I still remember that Captain Christensen (CO) was very excited announce to the crew during dinner time.

Got to do a lot of things in and around this aircraft at a very young age thanks to my father's rank when I was a child. Not realizing it could have ended his career if someone who did not like him ever found out. Lucky for him the officers always liked and respected him. Miss those days!

I worked for Grumman Aerospace on Long Island, N.Y. at their final assembly plant #6 on the F-14 production line ( power plant dept. ) and final flight plant #7. I remember the last Iranian F-14 that was finished when the U.S. Government seized it before it could be sent out. The aircraft was fully camouflaged and looked unusual to us since we were building U.S. Navy tomcats right along side in the production line. It was stored in an empty hangar for months until one day it was gone. It was said it was flown out one night by an unknown crew to where nobody knew. It just disappeared into the night. Makes you wonder what it was used for ?

@williammoore5277

5 ай бұрын

Training dummy for North Island NAS Air Rework Depot likely. Grumman didn't want the D level repair work.

F14 Tomcat is the most beautiful fighter jets in history and also for the time was the best ever in Iran Iraq war one of the F14 took the 11.5 G and still flow back I wish they never ended the Tomcat and we could see the super F14. Thanks for making this great video

The Tomcat is arguably the most iconic and beautiful fighter ever built

@specialman6004

Жыл бұрын

Mig-21 is the most iconic jet of all time. The F-14 is likely the most iconic in America.

I love this channel, but this isn’t how the Gulf of Sidra incident played out. There’s guncam footage and audio of the entire event. We locked them up from long range which usually makes them turn tail and run. But this time they didn’t run. To confirm that they were actually attempting to intercept, the F-14s made about 5 changes in direction and every time they turned their nose into us. At that point the F-14s received “weapons hold” over the radio, meaning they were free to hold weapons in their hands. We fired first, not them, from about 15 miles out. The AIM-7 Sparrow is good for about 7 miles, so considering the closing speed of the aircraft the missile would get there at it’s max range. A 2nd missile was immediately ripple-fired, in case the first failed. At some point one of them fired a missile after our birds were already in the air, but it didn’t matter because that plane was hit and the missile could no longer track since it had no beam to ride. Now we’re merging and the 2nd F-14 should have taken out the 2nd MiG already, but he was in the wrong weapons mode and was too close for an AIM-7. After his RIO urged him to take a shot, the pilot said he can’t because he doesn’t have a tone. At that point he realized his mistake, switched to Sidewinders, got a good tone, and knocked the 2nd MiG out of the sky. So I’m not sure why this video’s talking about them getting the first shot and last minute jinks; possibly confusing Sidra with a different furball.

@rtrThanos

Жыл бұрын

I’m pretty sure this video is confusing the Sidra incident with another incident in the same area against 2 Libyan Su-22s. In that incident they did fire first and a missile was jinked. So I’m either misinterpreting the video, or the video is confusing multiple incidents with Libya. Regardless, still a fun vid to watch and I appreciate the vids this channel creates.

Mighty beast indeed .At that time Iranian pilots were directly trained in u.s. I know this first hand as an Iranian The Shah of Iran at that time, just couple of years before the 1979 revolution, chose F14 over F15.we owe tomcat😊a lot.

@shaahinrapsong

Жыл бұрын

That piece of shit Khomeini wanted to give them back to US Shah bought modern military equipment, his majesty dreamed a powerful iran. And Khomeini: "We don't need your scraps" his stupidity said

@lancerevell5979

Жыл бұрын

During my Airforce days (late 1970s), in tech school at Chanute AFB, Ill, we had several Iranian students for the Avionics Instrument Tech field. They had trouble with the written part of the course due to language, but were generally good in the practical lab portion. They also tended to be real "party animals" while here in the USA. They couldn't do that at home.

Thank you for a awesome video! The Tomcat is by far one of my favorite aircraft of all time! Never did get to see one fly

Let’s not forget The Final Countdown. Splash 2, I repeat, splash 2 Zeroes!

I heard the full radio comms of the gulf of Sidra engagement. Libyan jets took on an intercept course for the F14's. The F14's diverted coarse six times to avoid them, but the Libyans kept reengaging after each change, finally consent to go weapons free was given and two Libyan jets went down in flames, I for one was pretty proud of our Navy that day.

Another amazing document, thanks much!

Great video. Please keep them coming

It's really a very good video with war time footages. Good work done.

Nothing beats a good old early, dark skies upload to enjoy 😏

Thank you for making such a fine video!

Loved this video thanks you for your endless work.

F14 will always be my most fav fighter jet! Nothing can replaced it!

Love your Dark series'! Great work!

Did they account for the F-14 Tom Cruise took from Iran?

Great Channel: Keep it up! 💯

I loved it when the Tomcats intercepted Soviet bombers and transmitted back live video of them shadowing a Bear. Made you feel why you were doing all of this.

@glamdring0007

Жыл бұрын

I like seeing Raptors doing it even better...the Bears never even know the Raptor is there until they decide to let them know.

@tetraxis3011

Жыл бұрын

@@glamdring0007 Except they do. Because at a certain range, even the F22 becomes detectable to radar.

@glamdring0007

Жыл бұрын

@@tetraxis3011 I highly doubt any Bear has a radar capable of detecting an F22 at any range...it's amazing the Bears even can still fly given the sad state of Russia in general today.

@williammoore5277

5 ай бұрын

​@@glamdring0007I think that's what he said.

@williammoore5277

5 ай бұрын

​@@glamdring0007Oh, they have one, whether it's working is another matter.

If the Tomcat didn’t have such a high maintenance man-hour per flight hour ratio it might have been upgraded and flown for many more years. Now we have the ‘Swiss army knife’ FA-18 that does everything that their predecessor aircraft did but not as effectively. I miss the Tomcat, Intruder, Prowler, and Viking.

@gorflunk

Жыл бұрын

Hey, don't forget the Corsair II !

@donalddowning4108

Жыл бұрын

@@gorflunk. I loved the A-7E but those were getting outdated even before the Gulf War. Shoot, I even prefer the Skyhawk over the Hornet for CAS and precision bombing (not to mention ease of maintenance).

@redred222

Жыл бұрын

id take a plane that can go do a mission come back get re fueled and re armed and go back out to fight, often f14s had to have there engines serviced after one battle because of heat, my father serviced f14 it was a good plan but keeping that plane in the air was a pain in the rear, and in fact most f14s after maybe 20 or 30 sorties the engines often had to be replaced the f18 doesnt need that and they can have more planes in the air its sad but the plane was a beast but it needed better engines that could handle the stress of wear and tear

@delten-eleven1910

Жыл бұрын

Yes, what about the S-3B, it shouldn't have been retired.

@donalddowning4108

Жыл бұрын

@@delten-eleven1910. Very short-sighted on the Navy’s part.

2:24 F-111 was GD, not Grumman

@surlyogre1476

Жыл бұрын

That's General Dynamics, for those viewers that don't speak in acronyms.

@lancerevell5979

Жыл бұрын

General Dynamics also built the F-16. These days, Boeing and Lockheed have pretty much bought out all the others. In most industries monopolizing is highly frowned upon.

Thanks again, Leona.

F 111 was from General Dynamics. Not from Grumman. And Tomcat could carry six and not to Phoenix.

@sonnyburnett8725

Жыл бұрын

WHAT?

@nickwanrooy6130

Жыл бұрын

Yeah some of the videomakers facts are off (as always with these kind of channels). He says the tf30 was a formidable engine. Even though it was known for compressor stalling and killing pilots on landing.

@michaelpipkin9942

Жыл бұрын

Welcome to the party. Take a shot every time you see a mistake.

@kdrapertrucker

Жыл бұрын

Grumman was subcontractor on the F-111, as general dynamics had no knowledge of carrier aircraft design. Just as McDonnel Douglas was subcontractor on both the YF-17 (F-18), and AV-8. But made so many modifications they became the primary contractor

@cjcoleman3893

Жыл бұрын

I think he referred to general combat loadout not technical capability.

The engines alone were top notch for the time. Perhaps the best navy fighter ever, despite her size. The Libyan pilots were most likely cadets. Mincemeat.

@wb6353

Жыл бұрын

The original TF-30 engines of the Tomcat were replaced with General Electric F110. TF-30 we’re far from top notch.

@redred222

Жыл бұрын

@@wb6353 yep my dad has told me stories on how the planes would come back after a sortie and needed at least one of the engines serviced, and im not talking about normal they needed to be torn completely apart and put back together, or they had to be replaced all together, and then reagan sold them to iran, such a stupid move

@jaws666

Жыл бұрын

​​@@wb6353 yep.the TF-30 was actually very UNRELIABLE and thats why they were switched out....while they were equiped with the TF-30 engines the U.S. navy had a LOT of problems with their F-14s

@jaws666

Жыл бұрын

Poxy robot voice

@robertf3479

Жыл бұрын

@@wb6353 The GE engines only made it into part of the fleet. F14A and C models were still equipped with the TF-30 right up until the end while the F14B and D ... the GE F110 improved the performance of the aircraft, greater acceleration and thrust meant that at times the Tomcat B & D did not need afterburners for carrier launch when lightly loaded, plus the GE engine wasn't as temperamental as the P&W TF-30.

Talked to a couple Navy pilots. They both said the Navy retired the wrong plane. F-14 was a far better platform and would be far more lethal if they would have gotten the upgrades proposed by Boeing.....

Best one yet 👌

Most interesting. I'm a fan of Tomcat & never knew this part of its operational history.

I love how the movie, "Top Gun: Maverick" showcases the vast differences between the technologies of the F-18 Hornet and the F-14 Tomcat.

@eriknewman5288

Жыл бұрын

The Hornet while newer and more modern is still inferior to the Tomcat in the most key aspect. LOITER. The F14 is the sword and shield of the Navy carrier groups with a 1600 mile range. Meanwhile, the F18 is topped out at 1000 miles. Also the F18 is an air superiority fighter its not equipped to defend like the F14. The 14 while expensive to maintain is still better than relegating your Aegis cruisers to Pickett duty when they should be destroying other naval vessels. Upgrading the 14 like we did with the Hornet and the 15EX would've been better.

@davidbarber7487

Жыл бұрын

Maverick should have just pushed the throttle to the firewall and exited the theater by outrunning everyone else. The Tomcat could have done that. See you back at the ship he radios and he's outta there, showcasing one of the outstanding features of the F-14 holds over all modern fighters.

@dillonh321

Жыл бұрын

It’s a movie so it’s not the most accurate representation. But the F14 was meant to be a advanced fighter and the fa18 was meant to be a low cost replacement.

@eriknewman5288

Жыл бұрын

@@dillonh321 it doesn't replace the F14 because it lacks the defense role the 14 filled. It's just a cheap air superiority multi role fighter.

@dillonh321

Жыл бұрын

@@eriknewman5288 It does lack, but the Navy replaced the f14 with the fa18 anyways.

You can't say "with the addition of a variable geometry wing" when the F-111 Aardwark has that too! That is what the two planes have in common; variable wings and the engines!

2 AIM54? that was just one configuration. she could carry 6 at a time minus aim9s and aim7s. The 2 AIM54 config gives 4 aim7s and 4 aim9s depending on the mounts used.

I like how when ever library footage is shown of aircraft design there is always a chap with a pipe huffing away at his favorite tobacco...it is almost cannon at this point.

I was a surface sailor. Both times I sailed in Harm's Way (Libya - Gulf of Sidra well below Ghadaffy's Line of Death and during Desert Storm) we had Tomcats overhead flying BARCAP with Hawkeyes on overwatch. Having the Toms overhead was reassuring even though one of our three ships was an Aegis cruiser.

@sameerthakur720

Жыл бұрын

It truly was a line of death, but for whom? Unlucky Libyan pilots who had to obey their master's command and engage US fighters.

There was an incident in 2013, when two Iranian F-4s were sent to intercept a US MQ-1 flying routine surveillance mission over Persian Gulf. However, they were unaware about two F-22s escorting the drone. The two F-22s flew under the F-4s to check their payload, remained undetected by both the F-4s and Iranian radar control. Until the F-22 pilots flew from under to beside the F-4s, broke radio silence when they can see each other, one of the F-22 pilots told those Iranians: "You really ought to go home" and the F-4s retreated.

you can dedicate an episode to Iran-US pre revolution defensive cooperations (like never realized purchase and assembly of 400 F-16s)

That is the problem with arms sales (for any country, not just the US) is that you simply cannot see into the future. No one has a crystal ball. The "friend" you are selling your equipment to in one decade can suddenly become your hated enemy in future decades, as the US saw with Iran, who flipped a complete 180 in 1979. Another example would be Vietnam, whose relations with the US have become increasingly cooperative and comprehensive, evolving into a flourishing partnership that spans political, economic, and security spheres, forty-eight years after the Vietnam conflict.

I served 6 months TAD (TDY for army guys) on the USS Forestal which had new F14s. A great performer but the aviation machinist mates cursed the swing wing system. Heavy, complex and difficult to work on.

@davidkelley5382

Жыл бұрын

A small price to pay for the lives of our pilots & sailors alone & domination of naval avation thrown in as a bonus. They were incredible machines that any foe had to consider if they wanted our carriers on the bottom.

@willisix2554

Жыл бұрын

If they had the same wing pivot point as the F- 111. I know exactly what he meant

@redred222

Жыл бұрын

my dad said it was the engines that gave them the most problems, saw a few crash because of engine damage during normal training missions, two things if they could have found the right engine for the beast and two if reagan hadent sold them to iran, what the heck was he thinking

@willisix2554

Жыл бұрын

@@redred222 Regan didn't sell then

@redred222

Жыл бұрын

@@willisix2554 who was president when those where sold to Iran

The F-111 was a General Dynamics product.

Nice video, two corrections: The Libyian planes were not Sukoi 22, they were Mig-23 floggers. As for the F-111, they were woefully underpowered and designed as more of a bomber than a fighter.

@k.h.1587

Жыл бұрын

Pretty sure the mig23 were only in the second gulf of sidra incident, the first were su22

I always find the tornado and the f14 Tom cat similar both had swing wing and were very capable

Imagine seeing an F-14 Tomcat on your radar as an Iraqi pilot.

@junxuan5983

Жыл бұрын

naw bro u wouldnt even see the tomcat if you were flying a older soviet iraqi jet

@Jahr_1974

Жыл бұрын

@junxuan5983 the Iraqi did fly French fighters right

@terminalfx

Жыл бұрын

If you were an Iraqi in the air lucky enough to see em on radar you likely had a Phoenix already en route to greet you.

The TF30 engines were horrible for the Tomcat. Lots of compressor stalls that killed a lot of aviators.

So on the whole correct but seems some of the basic weapons info is off a bit. Can mount six phoenix and 2 side winders (AIM-54, AIM-7) but not usually. CAP load out was usually an AIM-9 on one pylon, an AIM-7 on the opposite and an AIM-54 on a forward belly station although I seem to remember a 2 - 2 - 2 load out working up in Roosevelt Rhoads

"Selling a Lethal Aircraft Fighter to the Enemy" don't underestimate the Power of Money.

Love the cobra @ 4:50

@ Dark Skies You said Iraq by mistake, I know you meant Iran would have been the hostile regime you were referring to. Keep up the good work! I watch all of your videos.😁

Aint that a tomcat movie ? Maverick persian? Hell yea

She's one of my favourite aircraft ever designed, not only is she a technical marvel and unbelievably powerful, she's achingly beautiful to look at from every angle. ❤️

9:43 Thank you Jimmy Carter.

5:30 “regarding armament. The new fighter was equipped with 2 AIM54…” No it wasn’t. At least double that. Sometimes 3 times that. [And the video just showed a Tomcat carrying 6x AIM54s a moment later.]

A lethal but beautiful aircraft as a brit its beauty is on par with the spitfire all aircraft have issues nothing is perfect but it's done its thing in combat.

What was the U.S. assessment of that extraordinary Iran-Iraq War kill to loss ratio claimed by Tehran? Anybody have any ides?

When did the Soviets ever have air superiority

@montevallomustang

Жыл бұрын

The soviets never had air superiority, in the late 60s the us projected they would gain air superiority because of the mig 25. Military intelligence (lol) thought the mig 25 was going to be a super maneuverable fighter.

Do we now have a remote kill switch for exported lethal arms which might fall into enemy hands? Like they have to "check in" with a US server every 30 days or be disabled? You would think nowadays we'd have a "password" of some kind to prevent this from happening.

1) No, we didn't sell them to the enemy. 2) they are early 4th gen at best...maybe late 3rd. I mean not late 3rd....but retired for a reason. 3) We ran ours through a grinder so parts are mighty hard to come by.

@williammoore5277

5 ай бұрын

That's what we got from reducing the Carrier fleet from the numbers even during the Post Vietnam era to the Reductions we saw after The Soviet Union collapsed. Every CTF and CAG retired was billions to pay for what we have now.

@jacobmccandles1767

5 ай бұрын

@@williammoore5277 we seem to be faring well. Weak leadership is doing a lot of damage though.

During WW II Grumman developed a series of fighters that used the cat name; F4F Wildcat, F6F Hellcat, F8F Bearcat. When they developed their F7F Tigercat they were going to call it Tomcat, but in the 1940's "Tomcat" was considered lewd terminology. Funny how when they decided to use the Tomcat name for the F-14 they clarified that they named it after an Admiral....lol

@EddieF14

Жыл бұрын

It's because of Vice Admiral Tom Conolly's testimony in front of Congress about how bad the F-111 was for the navy and the program got canceled. That didn't sit well with SECDEF McNamara because he was pro-F-111 program and buddies with the CEO of GD. The testimony basically halted his promotion to a 4-star admiral so the navy decide to name the F-14 "Tomcat" to honor him instead.

@williammoore5277

5 ай бұрын

Is that why the Official patch has a cat with two tails?

Why are the wings coming out Mav?

Too funny, I literally just finished working on a model of an Iran F-14

The F111 had variable geometry wings.

Maverick approves this video 👍🏼

Has it ever been considered, with planes we sell to other countries, to have a hidden ‘self destruct/turn-off function in the aircraft’s computer in case the country in question becomes our enemy?

@tamer1773

Жыл бұрын

I've heard from retired Grumman people that before the Grumman technicians left Iran around the time of the return of the nutty Ayatollah they made some corrections and additions to software that rendered the Iranian F-14's a lot less capable than when they were delivered.

Now we need the F14 Tomcat video from Dark Skies.

F111 was general dynamics not Grumman. Grumman did team up with GD on the B version, but that got cancelled

The F111b never had a crash. Seven development aircraft was built. When the US navy scrapped the program all 7airframes went on the USAF and became FB111A .

Iran has proved how an airframe or fighting platform isn't obsolescence when the manufacturer or politicians say so. It's when it's truly unable to continue. I say the tomcat to this day was is and will always be a better platform than the F-18 and maybe eventually f35 as they are too into technology and not enough piloting.

@Coinz8

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, no. Airframe expiration is set by the manufacturer, not a politician. It is the politician who approves of replacing a piece of equipment with something that is cheaper and hopefully better than its predecessor. The F35 is flown by a pilot, just like the F14 which also had computers. The F35 is the better plane, way better as its modern tech and not 70s tech.

@radarmike6713

Жыл бұрын

@@Coinz8 manufacturer says this long...but many times airframes are no where near the degrigation. So the manufacturer can sell another new airframe. Politicians decide a lifespans of an airframe by politically making issue or some other way to pressure the retirement or cancelation. Airframes and technology are not truly human controlled. Computers will override people at times. We've seen this in the civillian sector with disastrous results. 70s tech used the best of both worlds. Intuition and technology as a cohesive partnership. There's too much tech that can fail or have issues keeping the birds on the ground or a 100 other factors affecting performance and mission capability. I understand where you come from. But as a person whose been around a lot of platforms and airframes...I'll forever stand by my statement.

@shsfootball7478

Жыл бұрын

@@Coinz8 Saying the F-35 is a “better plane” doesn’t tell even a quarter of the full story. The mission profiles for the F-14 and the F-35 are vastly different and were designed for very different purposes. The F-35 is obviously superior in terms of its stealth / radar cross section, radar, anvionics, and its datalink tech. The F-14 was (and still would be) a much better fleet defense interceptor than the F-35 (and the F-18). The F-35 is slower and less maneuverable than the F-14 and many 4th generation fighters because that’s not important in its mission profile. Head-to-head, an F-35 probably destroys a Tomcat because it could lock and fire before the F-14 even knew it was there. But head-to-head is not a measure of “which plane is the best,” because they are designed for different purposes. It’s like saying a 2023 Honda Civic Type R is a “better vehicle” than a 1968 Shelby Mustang GT500. They’re totally different things from totally different eras with such different capabilities in various dimensions. Is the F-35 equipped with superior tech? Of course. Is it a better fleet defense option than the Tomcat? No. Not even close. But a Ferrari also isn’t as awesome in the snow as a Ford F-150.

Small correction. General Dynamics designed the F-111, not Grumman. Grumman modified the F-111B design for carrier use.

@robertf3479

Жыл бұрын

The Grumman F-14, in all but concept, engines and general layout is a totally different aircraft. Unlike the F-111B, the F-14A was designed from the outset for carrier operations. People would point out how large and heavy the Tomcat was, but the F-111B was even heavier with a lower thrust to weight ratio, critical for carrier operations.

3:55 The Tomcat had all the stuff the F111 had and added variable swept wings-that’s not accurate. The F111 had variable sweep wings too. The Tomcat featured a lifting body. Which it doesn’t look like the F111 had.

@Lexe-is5nv

Жыл бұрын

And was the first plane to have terrain hugging radar and a few other tech things that are common place these days

Turkey and the F-35 might be a similar story.

The beautiful jet ever build..as are kid ihave 1 model f 14 tomcat

It was the Iranians that made the Tomcat the legendary it truely deserved.

Please can't you stop the sound of (music) or whatever you call it. It is so disturbing for us who have hearing problems

They still have ca. 49 operational ones, some of them upgraded.

All fighter planes are lethal! There would be no reason to have one that wasn't.

The Iranians have fitted, I Hawk SAM'S to their Tomcats after running out of the Phoenix missiles.

we should still be flying these things , the st21 tomcat would completely outclass the f18 superhornet . vectored thrust, with that 12g capable frame and swing wings , modern electronics giant range upgrades the plans for the f14 would have had it own every other fighter the enemies have while the superhornet and the f35 disappoint

The Tomcat was my favorite jet aircraft.

@Davis2920022001

Жыл бұрын

Was?

@codystout5353

Жыл бұрын

@@Davis2920022001 well they really don't fly anymore

When mentioning its armament, why not mention the AIM-9 Sidewinder??

Well we know Tom Cruze took at least one F-14.

thank you so much for sharing this information I'm iranian when Iraq attack and start war with our country top weapons cold help our resistance and keep safe and push back saddam Hussein's regime was f14 tomcat and iranian peoples(no fascists and dirty Iran's regime) tanks from all of the big USA in fact we love you and wish my regime fall down and friendly relationship between our people

Uh… the F111 had variable geometry wings too

They have been reverse engineering all the parts for the plane so they can keep them flying. With the help of the Soviets it was probably pretty easy to make most of the parts they need to keep them flying.

Tomcats proved their worth during Iran's war with Iraq. The designers of this platform are worthy of respect, this is a fact that Iran has called for many times. It is sad that the American authorities destroyed their fleet of Tomcats following an emotional decision. Just to prevent Iran from getting the parts it needs, it is ironic that Iran's Tomcats are still flying by supplying and manufacturing what it needs, it is made inside Iran and various parts have been upgraded.

To think that canada came this close to buying Iran' Tomcats following the regime change. RCAF Tomcats would have been awesome.

Would love a video about John Boyd!! The man who was instrumental in the f-16,f-18 and f-15. After the f-111 failure

@christophergregory2839

Жыл бұрын

He is not instrumental, he claims to be a engineer. However he just was on a committee and wasted taxpayers dollars. Check out laser pigs video on him. He just lies and claims he had something to do with these planes in order to earn fame and money

The F-14 is still to this day the most beautiful bird to fly in any military!!!

This may or may not be true, but i heard somewhere that despite America having to toss all it’s F-14s into the shredder so Iran can’t get parts for theirs, the us Department of Defense still owns 11 fully combat-ready tomcats that are used for research and combat training

@johnpinckney4979

Жыл бұрын

Certain units of the U.S. military still use the Colt 1911 pistol.

@lancerevell5979

Жыл бұрын

Three generations have flown the same B-52 bombers. The B-1B and B-2 Spirit will be scrapped before the BUFF!

@williammoore5277

5 ай бұрын

NASA and Pax River maybe 1, but no. Iran had gotten caught stealing parts from static displays even.

@williammoore5277

5 ай бұрын

​@@johnpinckney4979true that.