I regret never have seen a Tomcat fly. I had a chance in 2006 when I was living on the East Coast in Virginia Beach and the last one was at the Air Show at NAS Oceana but missed it. Thanks to YT I can see this marvel of engineering in all of her glory, but there's still nothing like being there and witnessing it for yourself.
The greatest fighter/interceptor Navy ever got. Navy admits now it was a huge mistake letting Congress force Navy to retire the F-14D Super Tomcat in favor of a significantly overall inferior design of the Super Hornet. Navy fought hard to continue Super Tomcat upgrades, but congress made excuses that without a USSR, there is no air superiority/fleet defense needed anymore. Nothing ever replaced that Navy dominance that F-14 provided for 32 years.
The Rhino does a better job at air to air interceptions, air to ground delivery and BFM. The F-14 was an outdated platform which is why the US Navy got rid of it. By 2000 a majority of the Tomcat fleet was not even in flying condition and when they did deploy most of the squadrons had maybe a handful of Tomcats flyable but not in operational condition. You had a lot of times where Tomcats would fly with no INS for navigation, AWG-9, AIM-54, hydraulics, etc not working on the Tomcat. It was very problematic aircraft.
@@BrianO2A That is loads of BS. Even F-18 pilots always say F-14 was superior in most respects especially the F-14D that was upgraded in the 90s with digital avionics. One F-14/F-18 pilot said "Give me an F-14 and I will run through F-18s all day. No questions". F-14s was always Navy's premiere air superiority fighter right up until 2006 when it was used to escort Super Hornets. No one would ever say Rhino does anything better than the F-14 other than air-to-ground strike missions. These are FACTS! Navy never wanted F-14 to be retired. Navy fought tooth and nail to keep the F-14 especially the D version, but it was congress forcing the decision on the Navy. F-14 was MUCH Faster, could go much longer range, could carry much bigger payload and still break Mach 2, could engage far more enemies at the same time, had one of the best radars in the world, had a much bigger combat radius and also had much superior energy addition rate in extreme G maneuvers like sudden pitch up etc. primarily because of a superior airframe design and thrust advantage. Again, it was Congress that made the decision. Navy asked for more F-14Ds to be built in the early 90s. Congress as a compromise gave them only 55 F-14Ds. I have read and heard many Naval aviators talk about this and never has anyone said F-18 was a replacement for the F-14. It never was. It was simply the best cost cutting measure given the end of cold war.
@@KLRGT500KR - The F-14 Tomcat was and is a very special plane. The engineering and technology that went into were first rate and very innovative, especially with its swing-wing design, which provides a phenomenal combination of high speed and excellent maneuverability. No other plane in the world can do what the Tomcat could and can do. Sadly, it was retired after the cold war was over and long range threats from Soviet bombers no longer existed. Unfortunately, the powers that be that cancelled the Tomcat program were not very forward thinking and now, just a few short years later, our aircraft carriers are now facing the very real threat of long range anti-ship missiles. To counter this threat, a very high speed interceptor/fighter is needed to be able to intercept enemy planes that can launch these anti-ship missiles. Both the F/A-18 Hornet and F-35 the Navy currently is using are about 400 mph slower than the F-14 Tomcat, leaving them comparatively very deficient in defending our aircraft carriers. That's a huge speed advantage the F-14 Tomcat provides and can make the difference between one of our aircraft carriers being hit with anti-ship missiles or not. The need for the F-14 Tomcat has once again arisen, if that need ever even went away. Grumman has the next evolutionary step of the F-14 Tomcat all ready to go in blueprints. It's an amazing, even better plane than the F-14 Tomcat and is known as the F-14 Super Tomcat. This plane needs to be built and the sooner the better. As a side benefit, building this plane would put thousands of Americans to work at a time we need that most. Here is the link to this outstanding plane; www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/29653/this-is-what-grummans-proposed-f-14-super-tomcat-21-would-have-actually-looked-like?fbclid=IwAR2gopwZXDPcnQsK7GLiqt1Clf-DFMi5VesHRAUjcQRmy2GH-ndkm36fKmk
And now our carrier groups are facing the very real threat of long range anti-ship missiles that can’t be intercepted because the F/A-18 and the F-35C are both too slow 🥲
F-14B and F-14D two had the upgraded more powerful 30,000 lbs thrust GE-110 engines with a better than 1:1 thrust to weight ratio. The F-14D had glass cockpit with fully electronic/computer avionics.
The F-14 Tomcat was and is a very special plane. The engineering and technology that went into were first rate and very innovative, especially with its swing-wing design, which provides a phenomenal combination of high speed and excellent maneuverability. No other plane in the world can do what the Tomcat could and can do. Sadly, it was retired after the cold war was over and long range threats from Soviet bombers no longer existed. Unfortunately, the powers that be that cancelled the Tomcat program were not very forward thinking and now, just a few short years later, our aircraft carriers are now facing the very real threat of long range anti-ship missiles. To counter this threat, a very high speed interceptor/fighter is needed to be able to intercept enemy planes that can launch these anti-ship missiles. Both the F/A-18 Hornet and F-35 the Navy currently is using are about 400 mph slower than the F-14 Tomcat, leaving them comparatively very deficient in defending our aircraft carriers. That's a huge speed advantage the F-14 Tomcat provides and can make the difference between one of our aircraft carriers being hit with anti-ship missiles or not. The need for the F-14 Tomcat has once again arisen, if that need ever even went away. Grumman has the next evolutionary step of the F-14 Tomcat all ready to go in blueprints. It's an amazing, even better plane than the F-14 Tomcat and is known as the F-14 Super Tomcat. This plane needs to be built and the sooner the better. As a side benefit, building this plane would put thousands of Americans to work at a time we need that most. Here is the link to this outstanding plane;@t
USN, 68-74, NAS Miramar, ETR-2, 70-74. Our RADAR shop was out about Q7 off the N side of high speed taxiway. I still remember the first Tomcats showing up around 73. I maintained GCA RADAR and TACAN.
This indeed was a very special jet indeed!!! I can't say who was responsible for its decommissioning in 2006, but I agree with many others here. It was retired too early! It was indeed expensive to maintain, but no other jet in the Navy could do what it could do. This jet was designed as the Navy's premier fleet interceptor. It could quickly intercept aircraft far out of visual range and with the aid of the E-2C Hawkeye, could extend the range of the fleet's enemy detection capabilities considerably. The F-14's radar could actually track up to 24 separate targets. It also sported THE longest range air-to-air missile in the U.S. arsenal, the AIM-54 Phoenix missile system. The missile was originally designed for another long range jet. After that program went kaput, the Navy adopted it for the F-14 Tomcat, making the F-14 an extremely "deadly cat" for anyone who wanted to mess with our carrier battle groups. The F-14 could carry up to 6 of these missiles and could fire at 6 different targets that were well beyond visual range due to it's powerful weapons targeting systems. I've read they had a range up to 100 nautical miles! No other aircraft in our arsenal before or since its decommissioning has been equipped with such a lethal weapon system. LONG LIVE THE TOMCAT!!!
Supposedly the AM120D can exceed the range of the AIM-54 now not sure if it has the same type of features the AIM-54 had lot of features where it would climb to high altitude 80-100k feet then it could go farther in thin air then come down on top of the target. The F-14 was an amazing airplane if you read into the AIM-54 I find it much more interesting and sophisticated when it was designed.
Who employed that controller!! How dare he insult a Tomcat pilot!! Then again at that time. Miramar had been a Marine Corp bade for 6 years after being handed over from the Navy who fly mostly bugs. He’d probably never seen the biggest baddest fighter that has ever been!
10:30 " the Hornet is returning to base for his full stop" 10:32 "AHEM THAT'S A TOMCAT SIR" Uncomfortable silence ;) :D 10:35 "TOMCAT! Sorry My bad! Old bad habit. Sorry TOMCAT!!! Tomcat is returning to base for his Landing, Full stop!"
This p lane needs to be brought back to defend our aircraft carriers from long range anti-ship missiles now on the scene! The need for the Tomcat has once again arisen!
I was based at Miramar from 84’-88’. Saw the Tomcats fly all the time. Still an awesome airplane to watch.
I worked on them at NAS Miramar, 1988 - 1995.
BEST jet ever!
I regret never have seen a Tomcat fly. I had a chance in 2006 when I was living on the East Coast in Virginia Beach and the last one was at the Air Show at NAS Oceana but missed it. Thanks to YT I can see this marvel of engineering in all of her glory, but there's still nothing like being there and witnessing it for yourself.
The greatest fighter/interceptor Navy ever got. Navy admits now it was a huge mistake letting Congress force Navy to retire the F-14D Super Tomcat in favor of a significantly overall inferior design of the Super Hornet. Navy fought hard to continue Super Tomcat upgrades, but congress made excuses that without a USSR, there is no air superiority/fleet defense needed anymore. Nothing ever replaced that Navy dominance that F-14 provided for 32 years.
The Rhino does a better job at air to air interceptions, air to ground delivery and BFM. The F-14 was an outdated platform which is why the US Navy got rid of it. By 2000 a majority of the Tomcat fleet was not even in flying condition and when they did deploy most of the squadrons had maybe a handful of Tomcats flyable but not in operational condition. You had a lot of times where Tomcats would fly with no INS for navigation, AWG-9, AIM-54, hydraulics, etc not working on the Tomcat. It was very problematic aircraft.
@@BrianO2A That is loads of BS. Even F-18 pilots always say F-14 was superior in most respects especially the F-14D that was upgraded in the 90s with digital avionics. One F-14/F-18 pilot said "Give me an F-14 and I will run through F-18s all day. No questions". F-14s was always Navy's premiere air superiority fighter right up until 2006 when it was used to escort Super Hornets. No one would ever say Rhino does anything better than the F-14 other than air-to-ground strike missions. These are FACTS! Navy never wanted F-14 to be retired. Navy fought tooth and nail to keep the F-14 especially the D version, but it was congress forcing the decision on the Navy. F-14 was MUCH Faster, could go much longer range, could carry much bigger payload and still break Mach 2, could engage far more enemies at the same time, had one of the best radars in the world, had a much bigger combat radius and also had much superior energy addition rate in extreme G maneuvers like sudden pitch up etc. primarily because of a superior airframe design and thrust advantage. Again, it was Congress that made the decision. Navy asked for more F-14Ds to be built in the early 90s. Congress as a compromise gave them only 55 F-14Ds. I have read and heard many Naval aviators talk about this and never has anyone said F-18 was a replacement for the F-14. It never was. It was simply the best cost cutting measure given the end of cold war.
@@KLRGT500KR - The F-14 Tomcat was and is a very special plane. The engineering and technology that went into were first rate and very innovative, especially with its swing-wing design, which provides a phenomenal combination of high speed and excellent maneuverability. No other plane in the world can do what the Tomcat could and can do. Sadly, it was retired after the cold war was over and long range threats from Soviet bombers no longer existed. Unfortunately, the powers that be that cancelled the Tomcat program were not very forward thinking and now, just a few short years later, our aircraft carriers are now facing the very real threat of long range anti-ship missiles. To counter this threat, a very high speed interceptor/fighter is needed to be able to intercept enemy planes that can launch these anti-ship missiles. Both the F/A-18 Hornet and F-35 the Navy currently is using are about 400 mph slower than the F-14 Tomcat, leaving them comparatively very deficient in defending our aircraft carriers. That's a huge speed advantage the F-14 Tomcat provides and can make the difference between one of our aircraft carriers being hit with anti-ship missiles or not. The need for the F-14 Tomcat has once again arisen, if that need ever even went away. Grumman has the next evolutionary step of the F-14 Tomcat all ready to go in blueprints. It's an amazing, even better plane than the F-14 Tomcat and is known as the F-14 Super Tomcat. This plane needs to be built and the sooner the better. As a side benefit, building this plane would put thousands of Americans to work at a time we need that most. Here is the link to this outstanding plane; www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/29653/this-is-what-grummans-proposed-f-14-super-tomcat-21-would-have-actually-looked-like?fbclid=IwAR2gopwZXDPcnQsK7GLiqt1Clf-DFMi5VesHRAUjcQRmy2GH-ndkm36fKmk
And now our carrier groups are facing the very real threat of long range anti-ship missiles that can’t be intercepted because the F/A-18 and the F-35C are both too slow 🥲
@KLRGT500KR no fbw 😐
F-14B and F-14D two had the upgraded more powerful 30,000 lbs thrust GE-110 engines with a better than 1:1 thrust to weight ratio. The F-14D had glass cockpit with fully electronic/computer avionics.
The F-14 Tomcat was and is a very special plane. The engineering and technology that went into were first rate and very innovative, especially with its swing-wing design, which provides a phenomenal combination of high speed and excellent maneuverability. No other plane in the world can do what the Tomcat could and can do. Sadly, it was retired after the cold war was over and long range threats from Soviet bombers no longer existed. Unfortunately, the powers that be that cancelled the Tomcat program were not very forward thinking and now, just a few short years later, our aircraft carriers are now facing the very real threat of long range anti-ship missiles. To counter this threat, a very high speed interceptor/fighter is needed to be able to intercept enemy planes that can launch these anti-ship missiles. Both the F/A-18 Hornet and F-35 the Navy currently is using are about 400 mph slower than the F-14 Tomcat, leaving them comparatively very deficient in defending our aircraft carriers. That's a huge speed advantage the F-14 Tomcat provides and can make the difference between one of our aircraft carriers being hit with anti-ship missiles or not. The need for the F-14 Tomcat has once again arisen, if that need ever even went away. Grumman has the next evolutionary step of the F-14 Tomcat all ready to go in blueprints. It's an amazing, even better plane than the F-14 Tomcat and is known as the F-14 Super Tomcat. This plane needs to be built and the sooner the better. As a side benefit, building this plane would put thousands of Americans to work at a time we need that most. Here is the link to this outstanding plane;@t
How in God’s name is THIS plane no longer ours and in service?!!!!! To this day, NOTHING compares imo.
Dick Cheney politics and congress being in the pocket of Hornet mafia. Long story, but that is the truth.
USN, 68-74, NAS Miramar, ETR-2, 70-74. Our RADAR shop was out about Q7 off the N side of high speed taxiway. I still remember the first Tomcats showing up around 73. I maintained GCA RADAR and TACAN.
This indeed was a very special jet indeed!!! I can't say who was responsible for its decommissioning in 2006, but I agree with many others here. It was retired too early! It was indeed expensive to maintain, but no other jet in the Navy could do what it could do. This jet was designed as the Navy's premier fleet interceptor. It could quickly intercept aircraft far out of visual range and with the aid of the E-2C Hawkeye, could extend the range of the fleet's enemy detection capabilities considerably. The F-14's radar could actually track up to 24 separate targets. It also sported THE longest range air-to-air missile in the U.S. arsenal, the AIM-54 Phoenix missile system. The missile was originally designed for another long range jet. After that program went kaput, the Navy adopted it for the F-14 Tomcat, making the F-14 an extremely "deadly cat" for anyone who wanted to mess with our carrier battle groups. The F-14 could carry up to 6 of these missiles and could fire at 6 different targets that were well beyond visual range due to it's powerful weapons targeting systems. I've read they had a range up to 100 nautical miles! No other aircraft in our arsenal before or since its decommissioning has been equipped with such a lethal weapon system. LONG LIVE THE TOMCAT!!!
Dick Cheney was responsible for it's death.
Supposedly the AM120D can exceed the range of the AIM-54 now not sure if it has the same type of features the AIM-54 had lot of features where it would climb to high altitude 80-100k feet then it could go farther in thin air then come down on top of the target. The F-14 was an amazing airplane if you read into the AIM-54 I find it much more interesting and sophisticated when it was designed.
Beautiful Jet.
Confusing a Cat for a Bug? Seriously..........
Beautiful demo. Beautiful aircraft.
Who employed that controller!! How dare he insult a Tomcat pilot!! Then again at that time. Miramar had been a Marine Corp bade for 6 years after being handed over from the Navy who fly mostly bugs. He’d probably never seen the biggest baddest fighter that has ever been!
Love the radio chatter just before the last pass. Tower says he is clear to land, pilot says to stand-by as he does one last high-speed pass. Love it.
Brute force! 👍
Another great Tomcat video from you! Amazing display with fantastic high speed passes. Excellent camera work! Thanks for sharing! :-)
The sheer grace . . .
Interesting at 5:05 the left burner looks to be working better then the right one. 🤔
A cool plane that will never lose it's cool👍✈️
I want one!
You can get one of your own! :) --> www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/products/planes/
i remember this demo, miss the tomcat
Idk whats better. The demo or the comms at the end. Lol air boss fail.
She's so beautiful
Best plane EVER!
10:30 " the Hornet is returning to base for his full stop" 10:32 "AHEM THAT'S A TOMCAT SIR" Uncomfortable silence ;) :D 10:35 "TOMCAT! Sorry My bad! Old bad habit. Sorry TOMCAT!!! Tomcat is returning to base for his Landing, Full stop!"
This p lane needs to be brought back to defend our aircraft carriers from long range anti-ship missiles now on the scene! The need for the Tomcat has once again arisen!
Great, now After Watching Top Gun Maverick, this makes me wish we want the F=14 Tomcat Back.
Legend
Ridateci il tomcat!!!!!
@5:07 one engine looks better than the other
Sorry to do this to you. VF-101 are the Grim Reapers. Not the Gunfighters.
This “Gunfighter” is VF-101’s call sign.
i love you
Wouldn't everyone want to do that?
This demo is lazy tho