Grumman F-14A Tomcat

Plane History

The F-14 Tomcat is the last of a long pedigree of “Cats” built by the famous Grumman “Iron Works.” Its predecessors in order of their appearance from pre-WW II are: F2F & F3F (bi-plane fighters), F4F, F6F, F7F, F8F, F9F, TF9 and F-11. It was designed as a multi-role, fighter / interceptor, but primarily a “dog fighter.”

Although exotic materials had been used in the much earlier F-4 Phantom, the F-14 prototype really pioneered this new area of aircraft construction. The Tomcat would not only replace the Phantom, it would also fill the niche the F-111 did not successfully occupy, that of a carrier based fighter / interceptor.

It is the world’s first operational air superiority fighter with a variable-sweep wing, which changes the position of the wings for the best performance according to flight requirements. Its turbofan engines produce over 40,000 (27,000 lbs. each) pounds of thrust. (The Museum has had two Pratt & Whitney TF-30-414A engines producing 17,000 lbs. thrust each. Each engine was valued at $2.5 million at the time they were returned to the government.) This kind of thrust makes the F-14 one of the fastest Cats around at Mach 2 — over twice the speed of sound.

The aircraft has many interesting features. Its curved fuselage creates additional lift, allowing it to be pulled into steep angle of attack. The variable-sweep wing can move from 20 degrees to 68 degrees in flight and over-sweep to 75 degrees for storage.

With the wings fully swept in the 68 degree position, the Tomcat’s nose can be pulled up vertically-maintaining vertical flight from the brute energy of its jet engines. The plane is virtually “unstallable” and resists any tendency to spin. With wings fully forward, the stall speed is only 90 mph. Spoilers and stabilizers control roll and two vertical stabilizers allow a low profile for below deck storage.

Twenty years ago, F-14 Tomcats first entered a war zone, flying top cover for the evacuation of Saigon. They did not engage any hostilities, however, and in general, were not available in time to participate in the Vietnam War.

However, on August 19, 1981 in the Gulf of Sidra, two Libyan Sukhoi Su-22 “Fitters” attacked two patrolling F-14 Tomcats, the former firing their AA-2 Atoll missiles at the American planes. Both missed. The Tomcats turned and launched their AIM-9L Sidewinders which found the Soviet built aircraft and destroyed them.

In a very delicate mission, four F-14s of the 6th Fleet intercepted an Egyptian Air Boeing 737 in 1985. The Egyptian craft carried Abbas Abbas and his fellow terrorists who had hijacked the Italian cruise liner ACHILLE LAURO and pushed American Leon Klinghoffer, wheelchair and all, overboard. The fighters forced the 737 to land in Sicily – a small victory in what was then a new kind of warfare, terrorism.

Then on January 4, 1989, two Libyan MiG-23 “Floggers” engaged two F-14A Tomcats of VF-32 flying from the USS John F. Kennedy over the Mediterranean. After repeatedly trying to evade the Libyan fighters and avoid a shooting incident the F-14s shot down the two MiGs.

F-14s played a prominent role in the Persian Gulf War on Barrier Combat Air Patrol (BarCAP). During this activity, F-14s were constantly airborne to protect the fleet. They were vectored immediately toward any threat from the enemy and took action instantaneously as they were already airborne.

They also performed MiG sweeps (MiGCAP) to eliminate enemy air-to-air opposition and Tomcats provided fighter cover over targets to protect strike groups (TarCAP). In less hostile roles the fighters performed as photo reconnaissance and radar pathfinders to clear the routes for strike packages.

The Air Zoo’s F-14A Tomcat (Build No. #160395)

The Air Zoo’s F-14 was accepted by the Navy in May 1977, and was assigned to fighter squadron VF-41; the Black Aces and went on to serve with many other famous squadrons including the VF-142 Ghostriders, VF-32 Swordsmen, and the VF-102 Diamondbacks.

It became a “Desert Storm” veteran as part of VF-33, the Starfighters, where Cmdr. Dale Snodgrass flew it on five fighter intercept sorties to “downtown Baghdad.” The Commander also remembers that he flew some strafing missions, but cannot recall if it was in this aircraft or another – he did say that the plane flew other missions with other pilots and could have participated in hostilities.

In an interesting coincidence, while this F-14 was flying off the deck of the USS America in the Persian Gulf, its fuel was being supplied by the Fleet Replenishment Oiler, USS Kalamazoo.

According to its logbooks, the Air Zoo’s F-14A made 1569 catapult launches and 1579 “traps” (arrested landings aboard a carrier) in its 5020 flight hours prior to retirement.

The Tomcat is on loan from the National Museum of Naval Aviation and is displayed in the markings of the final unit with which it operated; the VF-84 Jolly Rogers.

Plane Stats

Design Firm: Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation

Powerplant: Two Pratt & Whitney TF-30-P-414A turbofan engines producing 17,000 lbs. thrust each.

Armament: One M61-A1 20 mm cannon, various missiles, and possibly bombs.

Wingspan (Unswept): 64 ft. 1.5 in.

Length: 62 ft. 8 in.

Height: 16 ft.

Weight: 40,104 lbs. (E); 74,349 lbs. (L)

Speed (max.): Mach 2.4 (using Mach at 742 mph at sea level this would be 1,780.8 mph or 1,547.2 knots. Being based on the “Speed of Sound”, this will vary with altitude, temperature, humidity, and other factors).

Service Ceiling: 50,000 ft.

Range: 2,000 mi. (with tanks)

Crew: 2