Something quite satisfying about running across a cool video on TH-cam and suddenly realizing, "hey, I was there"!! That was '96 and the shot I took of "the flight of the cats" still hangs in my living room. I also have a picture from several years later ('07) when I got to meet Dale and talk for a few minutes. It was 2 days ago now that Dale died in the crash in Idaho. I'm still shocked and I know those that knew him feel a horrible loss. RIP Dale. Gone far too soon but what a fantastic ride you had!
@@pumarolz No it's not a secret, it's not even true.. Other then both folding forward. the Flanker Landing gear has a completely different design compared to the one on the Tomcat. Any fool can see that if you look at them side by side.
Dale "Snort" Snodgrass, a famed airshow performer and former US Navy fighter pilot, died on July 24,2021 in a single-engine airplane crash upon takeoff at Lewiston-Nez Perce County Airport in Lewiston, Idaho. God speed.
Waow this was quite a sight, 3 Grumman piston classics and the mighty F-14 in close formation and that dissimilar formation barrel roll too !!! Cannot get better than that.
My wife's grandfather was a RIO in the F7F-3N during the Korean War. He flew hundreds of missions, mostly at night. In 1952 he was flying with his pilot when they were shot down over enemy territory. They pulled the canopy and climbed over the side of the plane. My grandfather survived the jump, the pilot was never recovered; it's not known whether he died during the jump or was captured by the enemy. The next morning my grandfather was rescued by USAF before the enemy could get to him. He is believed to be the only person to successfully eject from the Tigercat F7F-3N. He's 93 today, and very proud of his USMC service.
OH WOW! I was at this airshow when I was 12. Came down from Canada to watch it and still have the pictures from this day. Crazy to see the footage now.
+LUDE4LIFE1 Glad you were here. We had our intern last summer unlock some of the tons of footage we have in our archives and post to TH-cam. It has been fun to read all the comments.
I saw those two cats flying together in Pensacola. GTE Mobilnet sponsored them for that show. The flying was mind-bending to see a dual prop and dual jet paired in a formation flight together. Many didn't believe it could be done or even was done. The pilots who flew in that demonstration team were just simply awesome! A lot of myths were busted when people saw this.
A gifted, precise, ephemeral Aviator, Captain Snodgrass. It's as if his F-14 flies by his will alone. Watch closely! Low & slow wing his wings swept. AOA under flawless control, 4-0! A superb leader as well. I wonder how steely-eyed & deadly Snort still had his hair after all these years! ONE Baby!
F 7 F. 👍 People have different favorite's but there's something about the F, 7 F make's you check out just how beautiful it is and how it would be to fly in.
R.I.P 'Snort' You died doing what you loved all your life. I will always remember you as the best Tomcat pilot who ever lived. Remember you gunning down 3 F-5E Tigers with your single F-14A Tomcat. I will go cry now. Hope you are flying Tomcats in heaven. 'Anytime baby!'.
I witnessed this is either 96 or 97 at MCAS New River and damn....to hold the F14 in place and maneuver around the F7F was incredible. Not to swell your head guys but I was impressed and I was in the air wing for 20 years and have seen a lot of shows.
To see both air-frames matching speed & maneuvers is very impressive. I think this is a credit to the versatile flight envelope of both aircraft types, for the Tomcat to fly slow & still handle, & the Tigercat's power to keep up while going vertical with an F14.
Never knew Snort, but he loftily bears the same spirit of conquer your limitations; do your best, never give up. tragically The world haslost a hero of the skies. Now I wonder if he and Mike Mangold ever flew with each other in a show, or if they ever knew each other, at all. Both died during the "take-off" faze of their flight. This is a time when you realize how short life is and that it is not always equal or fair. Good bye Snort; Thanks for the memories.
Pretty crazy to see such different aircrafts flying in such close formation, doing the same turns and rolls perfectly synchronised. It's been said so often but I wish there'd be just a few or even just one F14 kept around for airshows like they did with the other old warplanes. It's such a shame they're all gone. (exept for the IRIAF ones)
The fastest of the 2 twin engine cats (The F-14 Tomcat) is also a movie star because I know at least 4 movies that show this amazing aircraft. The 4 movies are: Top Gun, Final Countdown, JAG and Executive Decision.
I understand even his TOPGUN instructors were impressed with Snort’s skill. It’s impressive to witness true greatness; it seems he was born to fly the F-14.
I was there in 1996 in Batavia coolest thing ever to see the tigercat and F-14 in formation. Wings Of Eagles airshow was always done right. I also have the whole video from the 1996 show.
Jesus.....just fucking awesome!!!!! Funny that Snort mentioned a "flying museum".....he kinda is himself these days. Also, all hail the P-51 Mustang named "Gunfighter"!!!! my fav Mustang still flying today.
I love the music at the end of this video. And of course I love all the Grumman Cats but my 2 most favourites of these aircraft are the 2 twin engine ones which are the Tigercat and the Tomcat.
this is a complicated manuever...a radial-engined plane and a fighter jet (F14 tomcat)Goodness (thanks to F14 Tomcat's configurations/specs) because it can can fly low/slow/fast by its sweeptback wings...i love F14 tomcats so much..so sad that They scrap it..
Remove the superchargers and install jets in their place and the Tigercat could be a four engine Cat... It was apparently considered back in the day (similar dual propulsion configuration to FR-1 Firebird) but never done.
Snodgrass , "The Best Of The Best" and the coolest flying the best navy fighter of all time thanks for posting this video history that will never again be repeated
+Jonnyc Drums > Tigercat must be smooth to fly. Counter rotational props. The F7F didn't have counter rotating props. Both propellers turned the same CCW direction. P&W never manufactured a Wasp engine that had a clockwise rotation so it wouldn't be possible unless the F7F was re-engined with engines that could run in differing directions like the Allison V1710 or Rolls Royce Merlin.
What's disturbing about this video is, those WW2 fighters are flying 75 years after the war... but they chopped that F-14 (and all the rest of them) into tiny little pieces so that not even one can leave the ground (outside of Iran). Seriously, what the F***.
You just don't get to see AirShows like this anymore . From performers to static; the late 80s and 90s was forever the best time to ever go to a. Airshow and see a diversity of military and civilian aircraft . Recently went to an air show and it sucked . Hardly a static display and no military power shows . I don't know what happened it's just not the same .
It's CGI. Sadly, the only F-14's still flying are Iranian. www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/26523/photos-show-f-14-used-in-top-gun-2-production-snared-in-carriers-crash-barricade
Would love to see more chase scenes during flight shows, A going for B and vice Versa, so everyone can see how manuverable the planes are in comparison to each other. With only one plane in the sky I think almost everyone doesn’t see any difference of Jets of the same category.
The f14 should still be in service. The low speed control it shows in this formation display is awesome for such a high performance jet. New avionics and weapons, combined with the performance and range of the f14 make the comedy f35 loom a bit ridiculous. The US aerospace industry in the 70s really was on top form, where as the f35 shows the US aerospace industry has got too fat and corporate in recent years. Put the engineers in charge and you can’t go wrong!
been going to airshows my entire life and it wasnt till today (2/23/15) that i learned that this display ever existed. i knew about the pratt and whitney show where they had all 5 of the "cats" together (grandafther worked for p&w) but not this one.
+socomTHOR This act started the various Heritage and Legacy flights by the Navy and Air Force, pretty much all of which are pathetic by comparison to this.
Great video new sub,The game War Thunder has sparked the interests of a lot of young people about WWII aviation.You would be surprised by their knowledge,I'm 52 and have always been an aviation enthusiast. Call sign TheFerryMan
a single f-14 with an exocet might disable a very big ship's rudder can a carrier land jets sitting still in the ocean? Grumman makes very dangerous aircraft, Grumman makes the best
The Tomcat was the Best! It's just to bad that it was discarded in favor of a light weight fighter that really can't do the mission of protecting the CBG
Because as lovely as the F-14 is, it was pretty much a hangar queen. Also, F-18's can do most of the missions that the F-14 can without being as much of a maintenance and logistics nightmare.
endwood I am sure you can roll anything...but definitely not recommended. Watching these 2 planes practice their routine the day before the show was the coolest thing we had ever seen, even for this airshow jaded crew.
+endwood That was the legendary "Snort" Snodgrass flying that Tomcat. Arguably one of the best stick and rudder men of all time (on the level of Bob Hoover good), and arguably the best pilot ever to fly the Tomcat (ducks and covers, since that's automatically going to be a SPIRITED argument, at least among Tomcat crews and aficionados). He made a lot of stuff look easy in the Tomcat.
Awesome video. the tomcat was is and always will be the best fighter plane of all time. Taking that bird out of service was a huge mistake and the replacement fighter will never be even close to an equal airplane. not ever.
The tommy was good in it's day but it would be eaten alive by the f15 eagle or god forbid the f22 raptor' the f15 holds the most impressive record ever' no EAGLE has ever been lost in combat; end of story.
I would've loved to see this. The only thing better was the one formation with an F4F, F6F, F7F, F9F and the F-14 doing a flypast. Only got to see the Panther in the air once from a distance.
I got to see all those, plus the F8F do a flyover in Kalamazoo about 1995. They called the demonstration: Six Cats Since then, the Airzoo's Panther got damaged in a forced crash landing. I don't know what it's status is today.
I sure DID leave the Bearcat out of the list, didn't I! Don't know how I forgot to include it. Speaking of the Airzoo, I sure do miss Sue Parish and her pink P-40. She always was fun to talk to at EAA. I heard it now hangs in the lobby. I need to stop there one day as I have never seen the museum. Maybe on the way to or from TOM this year!
Dale Snodgrass was my CO when I was in VF33 during Desert Storm. Snort was without a doubt the Top F-14 pilot ever. Very cool.
Scott Dawson Snort had FITWING when I showed up there.
I'm curious as to how many pilots ever qualified on the F-14 ? Must have been quite a big numbers over the time it was in service
R. I. P. Snort
I believe you.
@@12345fowler400 give or take... read it somewhere
Something quite satisfying about running across a cool video on TH-cam and suddenly realizing, "hey, I was there"!! That was '96 and the shot I took of "the flight of the cats" still hangs in my living room. I also have a picture from several years later ('07) when I got to meet Dale and talk for a few minutes.
It was 2 days ago now that Dale died in the crash in Idaho. I'm still shocked and I know those that knew him feel a horrible loss. RIP Dale. Gone far too soon but what a fantastic ride you had!
You know, telling your wife that this was one of your most memorable moments in life seeing those birds flying side by side is not really a good idea
I saw this show. This was the best and most unique show I have ever seen.
My God, what a pilot.
Grumman has produced some of the most awesome aircraft ever
Along with sulkoi and mig
The duck the widgeon the albatross the mallard (used to fly that plane in my opinion the sexiest amphibian in the world)
A little not very known secret, the su 27 family got its landing gear engineering from the tomcat
@@pumarolz No it's not a secret, it's not even true.. Other then both folding forward.
the Flanker Landing gear has a completely different design compared to the one on the Tomcat.
Any fool can see that if you look at them side by side.
Iran got a good one
RIP Captain Snodgrass. :(
Snort has to be one of the best ever, shame we'll never see this again!
Dale "Snort" Snodgrass, a famed airshow performer and former US Navy fighter pilot, died on July 24,2021 in a single-engine airplane crash upon takeoff at Lewiston-Nez Perce County Airport in Lewiston, Idaho. God speed.
Whenever I think Snort, I think this video.
RIP, Snort.
One of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.
Incredible flying, what a formation. Wish I'd been there with my cams, magnificent. 4 Grumman cats.
Waow this was quite a sight, 3 Grumman piston classics and the mighty F-14 in close formation and that dissimilar formation barrel roll too !!! Cannot get better than that.
My wife's grandfather was a RIO in the F7F-3N during the Korean War. He flew hundreds of missions, mostly at night. In 1952 he was flying with his pilot when they were shot down over enemy territory. They pulled the canopy and climbed over the side of the plane. My grandfather survived the jump, the pilot was never recovered; it's not known whether he died during the jump or was captured by the enemy. The next morning my grandfather was rescued by USAF before the enemy could get to him. He is believed to be the only person to successfully eject from the Tigercat F7F-3N. He's 93 today, and very proud of his USMC service.
Low-speed formation flying with the wings swept? Only a true expert Tomcat pilot could pull that off.
Wish I could have seen this demonstration in person!! Love both these planes.....
what a great display of avation history .
This video deserves an award.
OH WOW! I was at this airshow when I was 12. Came down from Canada to watch it and still have the pictures from this day. Crazy to see the footage now.
+LUDE4LIFE1 Glad you were here. We had our intern last summer unlock some of the tons of footage we have in our archives and post to TH-cam. It has been fun to read all the comments.
EFP Network Thanks again
I was there too from Canada! Wings of eagle airahow were the best shows from Geneseo to Big Flats. Miss these big shows where everyplane was flying
Now that's just ******* magnificent!
Wish I was there...
I saw those two cats flying together in Pensacola. GTE Mobilnet sponsored them for that show. The flying was mind-bending to see a dual prop and dual jet paired in a formation flight together. Many didn't believe it could be done or even was done. The pilots who flew in that demonstration team were just simply awesome! A lot of myths were busted when people saw this.
A gifted, precise, ephemeral Aviator, Captain Snodgrass. It's as if his F-14 flies by his will alone. Watch closely! Low & slow wing his wings swept. AOA under flawless control, 4-0! A superb leader as well. I wonder how steely-eyed & deadly Snort still had his hair after all these years! ONE Baby!
wow just listen to the F-14's throttle work, such a sound
Talk about flying it at the back side of the power curve! :-O
TOMCAT'S FOR EVER !
I was fortunate enough to see this. Still the best demo I've ever seen.
RIP Snort.
F 7 F. 👍 People have different favorite's but there's something about the F, 7 F make's you check out just how beautiful it is and how it would be to fly in.
R.I.P 'Snort' You died doing what you loved all your life. I will always remember you as the best Tomcat pilot who ever lived. Remember you gunning down 3 F-5E Tigers with your single F-14A Tomcat. I will go cry now. Hope you are flying Tomcats in heaven. 'Anytime baby!'.
An awesome vid. , well done . Been to many airshows .I am a pilot and was a colonial in the Confederate Air Force and helped restore a B-25 .
The Grumman Cat Family!! This is so gorgeous!! Long live The Grumman Cat Family!! 😯🤯😭😭💞
Beautiful Performance!
That's some lovely flying right there! Fantastic
It really is!
Most awesome thing I ever witnessed at an air show was that F-14 flying slot on that F7F...anyone with videos of the full show please post!!
AWESOME airshow Fantastic to see the cats together in one show
I witnessed this is either 96 or 97 at MCAS New River and damn....to hold the F14 in place and maneuver around the F7F was incredible. Not to swell your head guys but I was impressed and I was in the air wing for 20 years and have seen a lot of shows.
To see both air-frames matching speed & maneuvers is very impressive.
I think this is a credit to the versatile flight envelope of both aircraft types, for the Tomcat to fly slow & still handle, & the Tigercat's power to keep up while going vertical with an F14.
Those are nice airplanes, and I enjoyed the F-14 as it was a great airplane of my time in the military.
Never knew Snort, but he loftily bears the same spirit of conquer your limitations; do your best, never give up. tragically The world haslost a hero of the skies. Now I wonder if he and Mike Mangold ever flew with each other in a show, or if they ever knew each other, at all. Both died during the "take-off" faze of their flight. This is a time when you realize how short life is and that it is not always equal or fair. Good bye Snort; Thanks for the memories.
I saw that show twice and in the video is awesome...live priceless!
Wow, I wish I could've been at that show!
It’s a crime that there isn’t one airworthy F14 left in this country.
two of the coolest navy cats every built!
RIP Dale Snodgrass
RIP Snodgrass.
Lot of trust between those two pilots and the rio. Very impressive slow flying that Snodgrass performed while the Tigercat was taking off.
Pretty crazy to see such different aircrafts flying in such close formation, doing the same turns and rolls perfectly synchronised. It's been said so often but I wish there'd be just a few or even just one F14 kept around for airshows like they did with the other old warplanes. It's such a shame they're all gone.
(exept for the IRIAF ones)
Crazy about Tomcat!
I worked on 2 of the Grumman Cats...the Grumman TF-9J Cougar and the Grumman F-14A TomCat ! Loved them both !
The fastest of the 2 twin engine cats (The F-14 Tomcat) is also a movie star because I know at least 4 movies that show this amazing aircraft. The 4 movies are: Top Gun, Final Countdown, JAG and Executive Decision.
F14 the most beautiful plane ever
I understand even his TOPGUN instructors were impressed with Snort’s skill. It’s impressive to witness true greatness; it seems he was born to fly the F-14.
Dale keeping that tomcat aloft which really looks like stall speed as the other cat is taking off incredible
Ohhhh Man!!! What a show!!!
The cats formation... I APPROVE
Missing the wildcat on this one. I think it had mechanical problem on that show
I was there in 1996 in Batavia coolest thing ever to see the tigercat and F-14 in formation. Wings Of Eagles airshow was always done right. I also have the whole video from the 1996 show.
Absolutely amazing. Two of my favorite planes together. Nice!
Jesus.....just fucking awesome!!!!! Funny that Snort mentioned a "flying museum".....he kinda is himself these days.
Also, all hail the P-51 Mustang named "Gunfighter"!!!! my fav Mustang still flying today.
I love the music at the end of this video. And of course I love all the Grumman Cats but my 2 most favourites of these aircraft are the 2 twin engine ones which are the Tigercat and the Tomcat.
I seen this demo and nothing has ever matched it.
RIP Snort.
DAMN!! was '96 really THAT long ago? RIP SNORT
this is a complicated manuever...a radial-engined plane and a fighter jet (F14 tomcat)Goodness (thanks to F14 Tomcat's configurations/specs) because it can can fly low/slow/fast by its sweeptback wings...i love F14 tomcats so much..so sad that They scrap it..
What a Big Cats family!
What's the tiger cat's performance next to a mosquito?
Remove the superchargers and install jets in their place and the Tigercat could be a four engine Cat... It was apparently considered back in the day (similar dual propulsion configuration to FR-1 Firebird) but never done.
Grumman Iron Works Cat's and all the other beautiful war birds! There are all over, hard to track them all.
Snodgrass , "The Best Of The Best" and the coolest flying the best navy fighter of all time thanks for posting this video history that will never again be repeated
Beautiful aircrafts!
Aircraft. The plural of aircraft is the same as it is for moose... because you don't say "mooses", do you? 🤦♂
+Jonnyc Drums
> Tigercat must be smooth to fly. Counter rotational props.
The F7F didn't have counter rotating props. Both propellers turned the same CCW direction.
P&W never manufactured a Wasp engine that had a clockwise rotation so it wouldn't be possible unless the F7F was re-engined with engines that could run in differing directions like the Allison V1710 or Rolls Royce Merlin.
Meow Mix!!
perrrrfect.
It’s grrrrrrrreat!!!
God it's so depressing to realize that we will never see a Tomcat in the skys again.
@@johnp2110 or we could buy all of Iran's Tomcats
@@linusa2996 Or we could build our own or buy some from Grumman.
Amen to that. These old planes should be kept alive forever
The Tomcat looks like it wore a Beard and Proud; with the Camera under the Nose XD
Awesome Legendary Jet
That was some very nice flying
What's disturbing about this video is, those WW2 fighters are flying 75 years after the war... but they chopped that F-14 (and all the rest of them) into tiny little pieces so that not even one can leave the ground (outside of Iran). Seriously, what the F***.
That F-14 is intact, minus engines, at the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan 2:53
The Tomcat was about to stall waiting for the Tigercat to get off the ground.
Exactly!!! That was some badass control of that Tomcat ❤️
You just don't get to see AirShows like this anymore . From performers to static; the late 80s and 90s was forever the best time to ever go to a. Airshow and see a diversity of military and civilian aircraft .
Recently went to an air show and it sucked . Hardly a static display and no military power shows . I don't know what happened it's just not the same .
Awesome video and great camera work. Thanks for posting! :)
Should have never ended the cat series.
I think there is one F-14 still flying for the filming of Top Gun Maverick.
It's CGI. Sadly, the only F-14's still flying are Iranian.
www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/26523/photos-show-f-14-used-in-top-gun-2-production-snared-in-carriers-crash-barricade
Would love to see more chase scenes during flight shows, A going for B and vice Versa, so everyone can see how manuverable the planes are in comparison to each other. With only one plane in the sky I think almost everyone doesn’t see any difference of Jets of the same category.
The f14 should still be in service. The low speed control it shows in this formation display is awesome for such a high performance jet. New avionics and weapons, combined with the performance and range of the f14 make the comedy f35 loom a bit ridiculous. The US aerospace industry in the 70s really was on top form, where as the f35 shows the US aerospace industry has got too fat and corporate in recent years. Put the engineers in charge and you can’t go wrong!
been going to airshows my entire life and it wasnt till today (2/23/15) that i learned that this display ever existed. i knew about the pratt and whitney show where they had all 5 of the "cats" together (grandafther worked for p&w) but not this one.
+socomTHOR This act started the various Heritage and Legacy flights by the Navy and Air Force, pretty much all of which are pathetic by comparison to this.
Saw this cat configuration back in the 90s it was popular then. Just awesome to see
Wooooow
just like father and son going for a walk :)
Two beautiful planes!
Great video new sub,The game War Thunder has sparked the interests of a lot of young people about WWII aviation.You would be surprised by their knowledge,I'm 52 and have always been an aviation enthusiast. Call sign TheFerryMan
THIS is American pride all in one video.
a single f-14 with an exocet might disable a very big ship's rudder
can a carrier land jets sitting still in the ocean?
Grumman makes very dangerous aircraft,
Grumman makes the best
We miss you Snort.
what was the plane at 2:50
The Tomcat was the Best! It's just to bad that it was discarded in favor of a light weight fighter that really can't do the mission of protecting the CBG
Because as lovely as the F-14 is, it was pretty much a hangar queen. Also, F-18's can do most of the missions that the F-14 can without being as much of a maintenance and logistics nightmare.
The Tomcat is OK, but WOW ! a Tiger Cat ! say no more.
That doesn't happen anymore the military and civilian heritage flights don't do any aerobatics.
Talk about cool. Wow
That is one of the most stunning things I've ever seen!!!! Makes me wanna get in y Cherokee & do barrel rolls!...lolol
endwood I am sure you can roll anything...but definitely not recommended. Watching these 2 planes practice their routine the day before the show was the coolest thing we had ever seen, even for this airshow jaded crew.
+endwood That was the legendary "Snort" Snodgrass flying that Tomcat. Arguably one of the best stick and rudder men of all time (on the level of Bob Hoover good), and arguably the best pilot ever to fly the Tomcat (ducks and covers, since that's automatically going to be a SPIRITED argument, at least among Tomcat crews and aficionados). He made a lot of stuff look easy in the Tomcat.
+FS2K4Pilot Black Diamonds
@FS2K4Pilot what a true and still relevant comment to this and forever 👍🏼
Keep the F-14 alive!
What was the aircraft at 3:56?
C-141 Starlifter
thank you
that is shit hot.
Awesome video. the tomcat was is and always will be the best fighter plane of all time. Taking that bird out of service was a huge mistake and the replacement fighter will never be even close to an equal airplane. not ever.
The tommy was good in it's day but it would be eaten alive by the f15 eagle or god forbid the f22 raptor' the f15 holds the most impressive record ever' no EAGLE has ever been lost in combat; end of story.
I would've loved to see this. The only thing better was the one formation with an F4F, F6F, F7F, F9F and the F-14 doing a flypast. Only got to see the Panther in the air once from a distance.
I got to see all those, plus the F8F do a flyover in Kalamazoo about 1995.
They called the demonstration: Six Cats
Since then, the Airzoo's Panther got damaged in a forced crash landing. I don't know what it's status is today.
I sure DID leave the Bearcat out of the list, didn't I! Don't know how I forgot to include it. Speaking of the Airzoo, I sure do miss Sue Parish and her pink P-40. She always was fun to talk to at EAA. I heard it now hangs in the lobby. I need to stop there one day as I have never seen the museum. Maybe on the way to or from TOM this year!
@@tommylordArthur Wolk crashed it at north end of Rwy 35 at KAZO. Sold and is being restored.
@@jpatt1000we’ve now got 108 aircraft on display, including an SR-71B and an F117 Nighthawk.
RIP Snort :(
now that they're retired, do they still use f14 in air shows ?
No unfortunately. No flying F-14 examples in the free world.