Grumman F-14 Tomcat – The Tactical Air Network

The Last Time Iran Tangled With the US, the Navy Unleashed Its A-6 Intruders to Great Effect

April 28, 2015 // 2 Comments

On the evening of April 14th, 1988, the crew of the USS Samuel B. Roberts were on alert as they navigated through an eastbound shipping lane in the Persian Gulf in support of [read more...]

Tomcat’s First Ride

April 15, 2015 // 4 Comments

Mid-September 1974 would see yet another WESTPAC combat deployment for the already-battle hardened USS Enterprise (CVAN-65), the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in [read more...]

Putting Eagles Out to Sea

April 15, 2015 // 8 Comments

Most aviation buffs will agree that within the diverse realm of military aviation, one of the most interesting topics of discussion is aircraft that never were. No, when I [read more...]

The CF-14-Eh Tomcat?

February 15, 2015 // 3 Comments

The year was 1977, and the Canadian Department of National Defence had just kicked off their New Fighter Aircraft program to replace their aging fleet of CF-101 Voodoos, [read more...]

Tigers, Dives and 20 mm Cannons

September 21, 2014 // 1 Comment

On Friday the 21st, 1956, one of Grumman’s in-house test pilots, Thomas W. Attridge Jr. climed into a borrowed Navy Grumman F11F-1 Tiger (BuNo 138620), taxied out, [read more...]

Spinning Tomcats

September 15, 2014 // 0 Comments

Early F-14 Tomcats had serious issues with maneuverability, especially during close-in engagements or dogfights. When the aircraft was positioned at a high angle of attack, [read more...]

303B

July 2, 2014 // 0 Comments

This is a post from a while ago that somehow never made it onto the website for our FoldingWing Friday theme, which is generally dedicated to Lambo, Shooter’s and my [read more...]

The Vought V-507

July 2, 2014 // 0 Comments

I recently came across a number of pictures of a “Vought Vagabond”, an aircraft bearing a striking resemblance to the Grumman F-14 Tomcat and General Dynamics [read more...]

TOPGUN

May 13, 2014 // 3 Comments

Top Gun has been enshrined in the military aviation community as the official movie of fighter pilots. The film, pretty much functioning as one large recruitment commercial, [read more...]

Eagle

September 8, 2013 // 2 Comments

Fighter jets can be very beautiful aircraft, their grace and smooth lines often overshadowing their deadly nature. The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is definitely no exception [read more...]