F-14 Tomcat Miscellany

It's hard to believe that Grumman's F-14 Tomcat is over 30 years old, and even harder to believe that it is in the twilight of its career, with the first operational units having already converted to the F/A-18F Super Hornet. By 2010, the mighty Tomcat will be extinct in US Navy service, but not before having left an indelible mark on US Naval Aviation and the mind of the public, thanks to films like Top Gun and The Final Countdown. For the past decade, the Tomcat has been at the forefront of the various conflicts that the United States has been involved in, from Desert Storm through Kosovo and Afghanistan. As I write this, Naval Aviation waits in the wings for possible major action against Iraq. There can be little doubt that the final years of the Tomcat's career will not be tranquil ones.

I freely admit to a deep fascination with the F-14, having fallen in love with it from the time I saw a picture of the full-scale mockup as a kid. I still think that it's perhaps the sexiest jet ever built, embodying both power and grace.

Following are a few photos that I have shot of F-14s over the last quarter century, mostly focusing on unit markings. I hope that they are of use to modelers, and provide a source of nostalgia for the glory days of the Fleet.

Seen above is an F-14D in the markings of my absolute favourite Tomcat unit, VF-2, the Bounty Hunters. One of the first two operational Tomcat units (along with VF-1), this Tomcat was photographed at a Trenton air show in the late 1990s.

This shot down the right side of the VF-2 Super Tomcat shows the twin Sidewinder rails on the glove vane pylons to advantage. Alternately, these pylons can be fitted with adapters for AIM-7M Sparrow and AIM-54C Phoenix missiles. Since 1993, VF-2 has operated the F-14D as part of CVW-2 on board the USS Constellation (CV-64).

The F-14 has a retractable refuelling probe on the right side of the nose. A fairly common modification is the removal of the probe's door, as seen on this F-14D from VF-2. A Battle "E" (for excellence) marking can be seen on the nose, as well as the low-vis version of the nose stripes (these were red, white and blue on the 1970s iteration of these markings, which were themselves inspired by the so-called "Langley stripes" which the unit wore in the 1920s, when deployed aboard the USN's first carrier). This photograph also affords a good view of the various panels on the nose, including the low-voltage formation lights.

VF-74, the "Bedevilers," transitioned to the F-14A in 1983, and continued to operate that variant until the unit was disestablished in 1994. Their spectacular (although now politically incorrect) markings were long familiar to observers on the tails of F4D Skyrays and F-4 Phantoms. Notice that the near aircraft in this photograph has a low-visibility version of the insignia, while the far aircraft has a red lightning bolt and blue devil's face. Aircraft 116 is in the subdued blue-gray camouflage scheme, while 110 is in overall Gull Gray.

VF-143 has perhaps the most distinctive name of any unit, the "World Famous Puking Dogs." The colourful name stems from their insignia, a griffon, which outsiders remarked looked like a dog in the process of purging its dinner. VF-143 transitioned from F-4J Phantoms to the F-14A in 1974, and have operated the Tomcat ever since. The unit is currently flying F-14Bs as part of CVW-7 aboard the USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67). This photo of the squadron CO's aircraft was taken in the summer of 1986, when the squadron flew F-14As as part of CVW-7 from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69).

This shot down the port side of the VX-4 F-14B gives a good view of the open boarding ladder, as well as teh revised gun blast vents around the M61A1 Vulcan cannon (late F-14As and and all F-14Bs and F-14Ds have the NACA vents shown here). The white interiors for landing gear and boarding ladders and bays, as well as the red edges, have been a feature of USN and USMC aircraft since the Gull Gray and White scheme was introduced in the 1950s.

Our final shot is of the tail feathers of the VX-4 F-14B. The differences between the TF-30 and F110 exhausts is very apparent when you compare this shot to the tail end of the VF-74 Tomcat above. Notice that, on Tomcats, the port exhaust nozzle is always in the closed position and the starboard fully open when the aircraft is powered down, due to the procedure of shutting the port engine first. Once the starboard engine is shut down, there is no power to close that exhaust nozzle.