Drailton Lima de Andrade that's a hell of a statement dude I completely love the Tomcat but while it will be one of the coolest it is not the coolest but I can understand you saying that and it is a beautiful aircraft
I was in the active Navy from 74-80, 84-86. I was stationed at NORVA and F-14's used to come in and out of the airbase all the time. It was an awesome sight sitting at the end of the runway watching them. And they didn't land gently. No sir. It was just like a carrier landing. Down hard and fast!
My Dad was a Navy F-4 Pilot, later a Aerospace Engineer at Grumman working on ECM for F-14. He got very sick (cancer) and had to leave his job. The base commander (Pt Mugu) Gave him a going away gift, A FLIGHT IN A TOMCAT!!!!
I lived a few miles from a US Navy base in the US in the 80's and used to frequently drive by the airfield. One weekend we stopped to watch a Tomcat take off. It screamed down the runway and more or less stood on its tail and climbed almost vertically at warp speed.
@@2ksnakenoodles It was because of the cold war and threat of world war 3 that really pushed everything to the limit. Grumman had to suffer a lot of losses in the R&D of the Tomcat because of the extra-ordinarily high expectations and tight timelines that were placed by Congress/Navy. What came out in the end, was a phenomenal Mach 2.4+ fighter/interceptor that scared the enemy before even getting engaged with them. Just the sight of a Tomcat coming guns blazing, wings swept back at supersonic speeds with a full weapons load right at the enemy's nose was enough to scare them away.
I'm a former active duty Marine, I spent 2yrs on the Carrier USS JOHN F. KENNEDY CV-67 as part of the Marine Detachment. I would spend most of my off duty time at sea watching flight ops from the O-10 level. Nothin but F-14s, A6s, F-18s,Hawkeyes and Helos all damn day, it never got old. From '82 to 1984 was the most fun I had in the Marine Corps!
Back a few decades ago I was assigned to an F-4 squadron at NAS Miramar. My squadron shared a hangar with Topgun and a number of F-14 squadrons. A number of times when crossing the hangar or walking out on the ramp for some reason an F-14 would go to full AB only a few hundred feet from me. The end of the runway was very close and there was no mistaking what had just happened. The boom it made was loud, really loud and you could feel the explosion of power in your chest. If I wasn't expecting it, it scared the daylights out of me.
I was a Navy Corpsman aboard a Guided Missile Destroyer in Norfolk and on my last few months of service I first saw the Tomcat at NAS Oceana 1974, a TRULY AWESOME experience!!!
Lol Make sure you tell your dad personally that you love him not us strangers. I can tell you're one of those brain dead ppl on facebook. Sometimes I'm just dumbfounded by what ppl say. There are things you do and don't do in life but only the top 10% have a higher cognitive ability to understand what that means.
Some people will disagree with me about this, and that's okay. But I'm gonna say what I say. Across all of the branches that have fighter jets (Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps), and throughout all of the generations of fighter jets to date, the F-14 Tomcat is the GOAT. There are some close runner ups but the top spot goes to the Tomcat.
That F-14A was from VF-154 Black Knights stationed in NAF Atsugi Japan. I was a jet mechanic on that squadron 1996-1999. It was hard work but fun times.
I went to an employees only airshow at Grumman, Calverton with my brother years ago. It was overcast so only an F-14 flew, afterburner takeoff, stayed low, and flew through the scud, it was an amazing sight. An F8F Bearcat that was there didn't fly due to the weather, but just seeing the F-14 fly that close to us was amazing.
Watching this (and hearing a full burner takeoff) still gives me goosebumps. It sounds like a rocket launch at Cape Canaveral as the tomcat goes straight up through the clouds and out of sight. AWESOME!
My stepdad worked at Lockheed Martin right next door to oceana and would say that he would look at his watch and clocks and at exactly 8am on the dot every morning he heard the f-18s firin up for whatever they had planned that morning. The blueangels shows there were always a blast
Every time I see this iconic plane, I get shivers! Took my two boys to Miramar in 1992 & they met a Tomcat pilot who put his helmet on both of them & let them sit in the cockpit, I think I was more thrilled than those two?
I still remember the smell of the boat and these big beautiful birds. Used to stand near the fantail and watch the jet mechs test these engines at full burner, strapped down on the stands. The water would be blowing up behind the boat, not sure how far past us, but it seemed like a 100 yds or so! It was an amazing sight to see. Also loved vultures row at night!
If you only knew the agony bringing that airplane to fruition I was the first program manager from inception until the catastrophic second flight it was a great airplane regardless
I grew up a few miles from an Air Base that housed F-4 Phantoms and they were loud when they flew over our house... I believe they were attached to the 104th Fighter/Interceptor Squadron... you could hear them powering up all over town, loved every minute of it!!!!
I agree! Definitely the coolest and baddest-ass fighter jet of all time! Swept wing design and twin monster engine...absolutely incredible! Then F-22, F/A-18 Hornet, and F-15 Eagle. Never lucky enough to see any in action though. F-14 Tomcat will always rule!
It was perhaps in the mid 70s when I worked at GDS (Grumman Data Systems) in plant 40 (the HQ) in Bethpage, NY. I got a call from a friend of mine in Calverton. He said get out to the airstrip in 10 minutes, there’s a F-14 going to take off. So my boss and I went out there and stood near the edge of the strip. The F-14 taxied by, the pilot waved, we waved back. He turned around at the end of the strip right by South Oyster Bay Rd and did a full performance takeoff. We were perhaps a third of the way down the strip and he was already flying as he went by with flames from the afterburner just like this video. When he got to the control tower he went straight up and we could see the wings going back as he disappeared into the clouds. To say it was incredibly loud was the understatement of the year!
I was 12 when I saw my first F-14, at the 1980 Paine Field Air Show (Washington State). I was at my uncle's house about two miles south of the airfield, standing in his apple orchard. The plane did a wide arc and hit the afterburner for a high speed pass of the viewing area... and exceeded the speed of sound. Damn near knocked me on my ass!
@@Daniel-lx1jd He said in 1980 which was a completely different time. I remember hearing sonic booms from time-to-time not only at airshows but even at home in the early to mid 80's. At home they would raddle the windows of our house. I haven't heard one for many many years but it wasn't uncommon back then at least where we lived in WA state.
@@Daniel-lx1jd It's possible he tickled the numbers more or less on accident, and then throttled back a smidge before crossing back over the airshow center.
@@timvertz3687 I remember, as recently as the late 90s, the occasional very late night/early morning thump coming from north of the Sacramento area. Always suspected that they perhaps didn't fully retire the SR-71s at Beale AFB quite when they said they did..
Even with the stall prone TF 30 engines, a well flown Tomcat was the finest air superiority fighter of its era. The F-14D with the big engines and digital avionics could still hold its own today. It truly pushed the state of the art when it became operational. Not only deadly but iconic.
The F14D was amazing, but it likely would have been replaced by the mid 2010s or at some point in the 20s and replaced with the Super Tomcat 21 which was a F-14 but even larger, with an even better engine, even more fuel range and payload capacity. It would have been amazing and far superior to the Super Hornet. Sadly backroom politics got in the way and the true potential of the F-14D and F-14 21 were never realized. Also the Hornet isn’t as good as they expected and they are looking to replace it and get another fleet defense fighter to contend with China.
@@mar3869The Super Hornet needs more power… Crazy that the single engine on the F-35 makes the same power as 2 on the Super.. The Hornet needs at least 50,000 lbs of thrust..
@@scupking True. It is very dragy since it was designed to be an air-to-ground platform first. It excels at slow speeds and air-to-ground, but speed and energy addition rate is not a strength of the Super Hornet. It was not designed to be an air superiority first fighter. Tomcats could do Mach 1.8 even at gross weight. It has trouble even going supersonic at 50 feet and needs high altitude to go fast. I have heard from a Super Hornet pilot that with tanks and bombs on, even a KC135 out-accelerated a Super Hornet in full aterburner.
I served in cruiser navy in the 70's and did a Med deployment. We operated with a couple of carriers. Remember the song "Take Your Breath Away" from "Top Gun". On a couple of occasions we were close enough to watch these birds doing night takeoffs and landings. Took my breathe away for real.
Those Tomcats was the pride of the Naval Fleet once and performed so well, and he enemies probably was glad when they was grounded. I still remember when I saw them flying out of Miramar NAS and loved them so much. Even though I was in the Air Force, I was working on the C-141 Starlifter at the time and we airlifted Army troops to McChord AFB for Ft. Lewis.
Was at Va Beach by chamce with wife and we got to feel the Carrier Airwing Fly In...what a sensation of seeing the whole wing in formation then hearing and feeling the sound reverberate the sand...as the Thunderous Roars pass over
I agree, the F18 was actually the runner up against the F16 for the air force contract....Just ask yourself, who was buddies with Dick Cheney? He cancelled the F14 Contract, they would have been better off militarily with the F14, but the Super Tomcat was slayed at about 100 million each more than 25 years ago, that's pretty steep when you consider what the alternative was, coupled with the fact that the USSR had collapsed and the threat it was designed to thwart was gone, and it was an expensive plane to maintain. But, it was a badass, It's still the premier plane in the Iranian airforce today.
@@kishascape I don't know if the Iranian F-14s are worth anything other than being flying desks, but sure back in the day they racked up 180:5 kill ratio against Iraqi MIGs, SUs, Mirage etc. The Iranian pilots had total air superiority over the region in the 80s. All of the credit is given to the Tomcats.
DIOSpeedDemon The F-14 has 50,000 American Horsepower. God I wish I had one with a good stereo and a racing stripe.... ' hi DSD... yeaa america can make it more F-14st jetplanes with more faster speeding almost same as F-15se
hi JGBD... what reason no capable and no use... american air force, DOD, grumman company musts time to building many new F-14st planes... no retirement = no stopment
bestamerica The F-14 was a pain in the ass in terms of maintenance. Many hours grounded, few hours in flight. It was a great plane in some regards, but it has big issues. One of them is it's weight. The so-called 50 000 american hp are not enough to give the Tomcat interesting thrust in combat. Underpowered. (The A+, B and D were little better however with F-110 engines, those are F-14A on this video.) The speed means nothing in many cases. Combat payload reduces significantly the max speed and max G's an aircraft can take. Mach 2.3 max speed on paper ? Expect Mach 1.2 very max with combat payload (it's the case of the AJS-37 Viggen, which was a very fast aircraft for it's time). And in an operational theatre, it's just useless to try to reach max speed because of the fuel consumption. Most aircrafts will fly around Mach0.6 to 0.8 to maximise their fuel consumption and range.
I know everybody's drawers get wet over the newer fifth generation fighter action going on today, but I love me these 4th generation fighters. They have all proven themselves for three decades or more. Who can dispute that the Tomcat, Falcon, and Eagle aren't some of the most versatile, amazing, kick-ass jets of the 20th century and beyond. I wish they had continued to upgrade the F-14 and keep it on service instead of retiring it. Don't get me wrong, I love the Hornet, but these Tomcats are so freaking mean.................thanks for the cool video nava80000
The F-22 is neat with its thrust vectoring, computers, and stealth; but give me a big, 'Murican F-14 with a skull & crossbones painted on the tail any day. If the F-22 is a modern supercar, the F-14 is a classic american muscle car. We know which one would win on the track, but we also know which one we'd want the ladies to see us in.
The so called 5th gen fighters are all ugly .the F22 I can just about live with, the F35 may still win one prize yet(it won.t win in too many one on one ACM contests) for the the ugliest and most ungainly jet to wear the the white star.Grace and beauty used to run in parallel with capability going back to the Spitfire and Mustang on through to the F14 15 AND 16 now in the stealth age jets just don't look hot anymore.My interest in aircraft is partly aesthetic and I am now losing some interest in them as a result of the f'ugliness creeping in...A part of me hopes a counter for stealth is found soon and then beauty can return to fighter jets.
Always had little f14 toys as a kid, my dad is an air force pilot for the Brazilian airforce and he flew the mirrage 2000 and F-5 Tiger II and the A-1 AMX, but the f14 is still the coolest aircraft in this world
What an awesome aircraft the "Cat was. I was sent TDY in 2006 to Royal Australian Air Force Base Amberly near Brisbane Australia. While I was there, I was able to watch RAAF F-111s doing touch and go's as at that time they were still in service with the Aussie AF (they were later retired in favor of the F-18). The F-111 was another aircraft with a swept wing design that was so graceful and agile. When I was stationed at NOB Norfolk I remember driving near Oceana NAS and watching Tomcats takeoff and land. Still have a couple of the Navy F-14 bumper stickers which read "I love jet noise - the sound of freedom".
I spent 7 years in the USN as an AQ2 I only saw three full after burner takeoffs a F8, F4, and F14. The F8 was the best to watch the F14 was the best performance. The F4 was neat as well. I worked on A7`s and A6`s. Good old birds.
I still get the tinglies when I hear those GE mills, I still remember being right next to them on the flight deck when they go to mil power on the cats. There is nothing like it, it's like your insides are getting beaten apart and your senses go temporarily numb. Greatest feeling ever knowing those jets were there. I miss them greatly.
I know that F-22 is the BadAss of the skies now, but nothing beats an F-14 is COOLNESS! I mean the F-14 has changed the view of fighters for generation! Still Love Them! PS- They should have just made an F-22 version of the F-14 and screw the F-35.
the F-35 is designated as an attacker not a fighter. it was designed to take out ground targets with AA capabilities with sneak attacks to allow for air superiority and for helicopters and A-10s to move in without getting shot from the ground
Built at Grumman's facility in Calverton Long Island. I was lucky enough to see an F14 go to full afterburner while at SUNY Stony Brook back in 1976. There is a static display of one outside their former headquarters in Bethpage Long Island. Grumman at one time, was the biggest employer here and a lot was lost when they were bought out by Northrop....
I send my TC out, come back radar down, send it out again, computer not right, calfaxes popped. Lots of maintenance needed. Waiting at the fuel pits for what seemed like hours for Kitty to come home was awesome. But it was all enjoyable because you loved the bird. Nothing else like it, class of it's own. Those were the best days, .......gone forever. As long as my memory holds out and can remember those times,....
I chocked and chained a few of these on the hangar deck of an aircraft carrier so I got really close - though never under power unfortunately. They were incredibly large for a carrier based aircraft but with the wings folded they were all engine. We had the "A"s aboard so they had to do full afterburner in order to get airborne but the coolest thing was how they sounded on approach. The pilots would have them near idle and you could hear them working the throttle so the dual whistle would go up an down in volume like they were crying or something.
The big spacing between the engines looks so cool with the afterburner lit. I had a poster of an F-14 fully armed with AIM-54's over my bed when I was a little boy. Unfortunately I never got to see one with my own eyes. I had to make do with the Draken, Viggen and the Gripen. :-)
Geez! Look at that vertical climb of the F-14. It gets up to 10,000 feet in around 15 seconds in full zone 5 afterburner. That is with full fuel, Phoenix rails and external drop tanks weight. The TF-030 might have been cr*ppy engines at very slow speed. high AoA because of their appetite for lots of air, but they made massive dynamic thrust at higher speeds on the F-14 with those big intakes/ramps with "ram air effect".
@C C It is an awesome awesome awesome aircraft ..with its awesome J17 engines ... would kick ass todays BLAH BLAH fighters with addition of minimal avionics and weapons systems. Check out ALL F4 videos on my channel ... BEEEG F4 FAN here
F-14 proved to be the best thing Navy ever got. Still to this day, nothing replaced its robustness, depth of capabilities and versatility it provided to the Navy for 36 years. It was the true symbol of Navy air power.
@@2ZZGE100 Agreed ! Best thing at the time. And and would still be a potent adversary today with upgrades weapons systems & avionics. Question would be its airframe maintanence requirements (Tomcat was 250 hours, current carrier jets are at 600 hours these days). Swept wings require sweepingly higher maintanence unfortunately... Range would also be an issue ...Cheers
@@liftingweights Agreed. Maintenance was high unfortunately. The AST-21 design was supposed to address that (and new upgrades), but it was killed off by congress. Cheers!
The Henry rifle of Aviation 🇺🇸. Congrats and thank you for being the best military power. Greetings from Mexico, brothers. 🇺🇸+🇲🇽=💯 We both together are indomitable.
F14A Tomcat (with the Pratt & Whitney engines) ALWAYS launched from the ship with full afterburner; is why Tomcats ALWAYS had external fuel tanks. It has been said the Tomcat uses up ALL of the external fuel tank fuel to get to altitude from the ship. The F14 super A Tomcat used more powerful GE engines that eliminated need to use full afterburner, launching from the ship, thus saving fuel.
The F-14A Tomcats on cat shots were allowed to only go up to maximum of Zone 2 afterburners. They were not allowed to use full zone 5 because of the risk of overspeeding the shuttle. Also, zone 2 afterburner on the TF-030 engines were equivalent full military power on the GE-F110 engines, which were the max power the F-14 B/D were allowed to use in a cat shot.
The thing I admire the most about the F-14 is the large gap between the engines. Every other U.S. fighter that has two engines have them sandwiched together. The F-14 has a unique airframe design that looks beautiful.
These are the F-14As and regardless of the trouble prone TF-30 engines, it lifted off the ground in full zone 5 afterburn in less than 1400 feet and looking at how fast the vertical climb was to about 10,000 feet, it makes it clear even the A version was a beast as long as the engines were getting gobs of air.
@@benweiser22 Look at the aft end of the aircraft. The "A" mode enginel has a very different look then a "B" or "D" model. The TF30 was an OK engine. Was originally designed to be a bomber engine, left over from the cancelled F-111 B program and was not a fighter engine. Politics and contracts at the time kept it in the first generation of Tomcats. The pilot just had to fly it a little differently then the in the later B and D models. The TF30 did not respond well to aggressive throttle movements. That was what caused many of the engine compressor stalls they had. When the GE F110 engine came out in the B and D's, that was a fighter engine. You could slam that throttle all you wanted and it responded wonderfully. Anyway, the F-14 was awesome aircraft during it's time in service. I was assigned to a Tomcat squadron during my time in the Navy in the early 1990's.
@@ksamos Also, another fun way to recognise if its an A model fitted with TF30 engines is whether they do dual AB take-offs or bolters or not. The F-14A+ or B that got the upgraded to the F110-GE-400 had a restriction of never to select dual AB at any time for takeoff etc due to lateral control concerns in the event that a single engine burning at any zone AB suddenly flamed out and the pilot would not have enough control authority to keep the aircraft above Vmca speed. It was a manufacturer limit due to controllability concerns. So any Tomcat you see doing full AB take-off or bolter must be an A with TF30 only.
@@benweiser22 The TF-030 engine nozzles were very different from the GE-F110 engines in the B/D. A version had the "turkey feather" style nozzles while the GE-F110 engines had the "petals". They had issues, but when they were running right, they were beasts especially at Mach 0.8+ where they produced 28,000 lbsf of thrust due to "ram air effect" from the huge F-14 intakes.
OMG I did a 3 day job building fence next to the fighter runway on Elmendorf AFB Alaska right around 2000. Had to be escorted to the job every day by the AP. It was a restricted area. What an awesome experience. I imagine watching the fighters take off and land added a couple of man hours to the job.
When I was stationed in the UK, every time we had a transit F-14, F-15, or B-52 take off the Brits would be lined up on the highway photographing the takeoffs. Never figured out how they always knew.
Oh man, this takes me back to the days when we had airshows at Richards-Gebaur A.F.B. just south of K.C., MO. I remember one show in particular where an F-14 did a low pass at high speed - wow was it ever LOUD! Up close, this thing is HUGE! Marvel of American engineering for sure.
Would see these beautiful planes every day when I was on the John F. Kennedy cv-67. When they were on the cat with the deflector up, afterburners on full, it was like a giant had youpressed between his hands and was shaking your whole body. At the least, I wish they could figure a use for the pheonix missile, adapt it to anouther plane or surface to air, something, it was awsome as well. Ya I loved those 'anytime baby' patches to.
The capabilities of that missile are classified, till I saw it in Ace Combat 2 on my PS2. A game made in China, I was kinda shocked, still a favorite platform to fly in the game.
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
No matter the age of this aircraft, will always be the coolest airplane of all!
fuck yea
Drailton Lima de Andrade
that's a hell of a statement dude I completely love the Tomcat but while it will be one of the coolest it is not the coolest but I can understand you saying that and it is a beautiful aircraft
FACT
No doubt, the iconic symbol of freedom and Western military supremacy for an entire generation.
Sorry, I'm still a fan of the Piston fighters of WW2
Watching the Tomcat will never get old!!
I was in the active Navy from 74-80, 84-86. I was stationed at NORVA and F-14's used to come in and out of the airbase all the time. It was an awesome sight sitting at the end of the runway watching them. And they didn't land gently. No sir. It was just like a carrier landing. Down hard and fast!
yeah those carrier landings arent soft in the f18 your suppost to just smack down no like back wheels first then front just slam into the carrier
Pilot and RIO must have known you were watching and agreed to give you a show
year they practice carrier landing even on land. it's one of the hardest things to do so they practice it whenever they can
I'm former NAVY from the 80's, seen them daily. Still my favorite jet to this day. Big, fast, and super loud.
Agile ??
Lucas Talley not as loud as Britain’s. Vulcan
F/a18 was always my favorite
The only jet fighter I've ever been in the vicinity of are F16's a couple of times, and even they are unbelievably loud.
My favorite plane of all time! I am jealous you had the opportunity sir!
My Dad was a Navy F-4 Pilot, later a Aerospace Engineer at Grumman working on ECM for F-14. He got very sick (cancer) and had to leave his job. The base commander (Pt Mugu) Gave him a going away gift, A FLIGHT IN A TOMCAT!!!!
It’s kind of amazing how iconic this airplane was and is worldwide.
I lived a few miles from a US Navy base in the US in the 80's and used to frequently drive by the airfield. One weekend we stopped to watch a Tomcat take off. It screamed down the runway and more or less stood on its tail and climbed almost vertically at warp speed.
The F-14 Tomcat. Now that's a fighter jet
They don't make em like that anymore
@@2ksnakenoodles It was because of the cold war and threat of world war 3 that really pushed everything to the limit. Grumman had to suffer a lot of losses in the R&D of the Tomcat because of the extra-ordinarily high expectations and tight timelines that were placed by Congress/Navy. What came out in the end, was a phenomenal Mach 2.4+ fighter/interceptor that scared the enemy before even getting engaged with them. Just the sight of a Tomcat coming guns blazing, wings swept back at supersonic speeds with a full weapons load right at the enemy's nose was enough to scare them away.
@@2ZZGE100 Yeah that's true, the tomcat would have a lot more kills if shooting down a fleeing opponent was not a war crime
@@2ksnakenoodles Yeah, Iran had 160:5 documented kill ratio with the Tomcat.
@@2ZZGE100 Oh yeah, that's a great ratio
当時の熱い映像、残して頂きありがとうございました。伝説の戦闘機F14の迫力に感動しました。
I'm a former active duty Marine, I spent 2yrs on the Carrier USS JOHN F. KENNEDY CV-67 as part of the Marine Detachment. I would spend most of my off duty time at sea watching flight ops from the O-10 level. Nothin but F-14s, A6s, F-18s,Hawkeyes and Helos all damn day, it never got old. From '82 to 1984 was the most fun I had in the Marine Corps!
When I was young... this was my absolute favorite plane... and when I see videos like this, I remember why it still is!
Back a few decades ago I was assigned to an F-4 squadron at NAS Miramar. My squadron shared a hangar with Topgun and a number of F-14 squadrons. A number of times when crossing the hangar or walking out on the ramp for some reason an F-14 would go to full AB only a few hundred feet from me. The end of the runway was very close and there was no mistaking what had just happened. The boom it made was loud, really loud and you could feel the explosion of power in your chest. If I wasn't expecting it, it scared the daylights out of me.
you may have even wanted some butts!
_Nothing_ looks more purposeful than the F-14 taking-off on afterburner.
I was a Navy Corpsman aboard a Guided Missile Destroyer in Norfolk and on my last few months of service I first saw the Tomcat at NAS Oceana 1974, a TRULY AWESOME experience!!!
Can never get enough of this iconic jet! Just an incredible design!
I absolutely love these F-14 Tomcats! My Dad flew these beasts! I love ya Dad!
Richard Bass i bet you had the GI Joe Tomcat?
What squadon?
Lucky bastard
Lol Make sure you tell your dad personally that you love him not us strangers. I can tell you're one of those brain dead ppl on facebook. Sometimes I'm just dumbfounded by what ppl say. There are things you do and don't do in life but only the top 10% have a higher cognitive ability to understand what that means.
Bass, many thanks to your dad for defending our skies. Hooah from this Soldier!
Some people will disagree with me about this, and that's okay. But I'm gonna say what I say. Across all of the branches that have fighter jets (Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps), and throughout all of the generations of fighter jets to date, the F-14 Tomcat is the GOAT. There are some close runner ups but the top spot goes to the Tomcat.
160+ Aerial victories if Iranian Sources are to be believed, and despite not liking their regime I believe it.
Totally Agree, That bad A** monster of a machine, needs to be rekindled asap!.
I was waiting for the unrestricted climb part and wasn't disappointed.
The Tomcat is still the best looking and most sexy plane I've ever seen. Legendary among the history of jet fighters!
That F-14A was from VF-154 Black Knights stationed in NAF Atsugi Japan. I was a jet mechanic on that squadron 1996-1999. It was hard work but fun times.
I went to an employees only airshow at Grumman, Calverton with my brother years ago. It was overcast so only an F-14 flew, afterburner takeoff, stayed low, and flew through the scud, it was an amazing sight. An F8F Bearcat that was there didn't fly due to the weather, but just seeing the F-14 fly that close to us was amazing.
favorite bad ass looking aircraft of all time. TOMCAT any day of the week. twice on Sunday.
Phantoms had some bass ass stuff too.
This is probably one of the best videos out there when it comes to afterburner sound!
Watching this (and hearing a full burner takeoff) still gives me goosebumps. It sounds like a rocket launch at Cape Canaveral as the tomcat goes straight up through the clouds and out of sight. AWESOME!
The f14 tomcat is honesty one of my favourite U.S jet fighters regardless of its age
My grandfather flew an F14 in Korea. He was the one who dropped the a-bomb on Pearl Harbor that won the battle of hastings at Guantanamo Bay.
What an awesome aircraft this was. I used to sit near the end of the runway at Oceana NAS during my time stationed at NOB Norfolk watching F-14s.
Tom P Bet that was awesome and never got old
I was stationed at Oceana and on the CVA 66 74 - 77 great fringe benefits walking among F4 and F-14 and a six intruder great time of my life
My stepdad worked at Lockheed Martin right next door to oceana and would say that he would look at his watch and clocks and at exactly 8am on the dot every morning he heard the f-18s firin up for whatever they had planned that morning. The blueangels shows there were always a blast
This plane still gives me chills!!!
F-14 Tomcat is one of my favourite but no matter what aircraft it is, those afterburners give me goosebumps everytime
Every time I see this iconic plane, I get shivers! Took my two boys to Miramar in 1992 & they met a Tomcat pilot who put his helmet on both of them & let them sit in the cockpit, I think I was more thrilled than those two?
I still remember the smell of the boat and these big beautiful birds. Used to stand near the fantail and watch the jet mechs test these engines at full burner, strapped down on the stands. The water would be blowing up behind the boat, not sure how far past us, but it seemed like a 100 yds or so! It was an amazing sight to see. Also loved vultures row at night!
Kevin Wheatcroft Don't forget the double ear protection
If you only knew the agony bringing that airplane to fruition I was the first program manager from inception until the catastrophic second flight it was a great airplane regardless
@@mikeames2768 I bet that was a very satisfying part of your career!
Most beautiful fighter ever produced by Grumman Ironworks!
the Panther was close, but I agree with you.
Takes my breathe away...
Good one 😂
And "breath" even...
KTM on a highway to the danger zone...
*proceed to have athsma
bom...bom....
I grew up a few miles from an Air Base that housed F-4 Phantoms and they were loud when they flew over our house... I believe they were attached to the 104th Fighter/Interceptor Squadron... you could hear them powering up all over town, loved every minute of it!!!!
That sounds like the old Carswell AFB in Fort Worth Texas...my dad was with the 7th OMS out there on B-52's and sometimes F-4's.
The F-14 is my favorite, beautiful, powerful and just an awesome fighterplane. Glad they used this beauty in Top Gun !
I agree! Definitely the coolest and baddest-ass fighter jet of all time! Swept wing design and twin monster engine...absolutely incredible! Then F-22, F/A-18 Hornet, and F-15 Eagle. Never lucky enough to see any in action though. F-14 Tomcat will always rule!
Every generation should see this in person. The videos take away the excitement of seeing these turkeys fly in person.
It was perhaps in the mid 70s when I worked at GDS (Grumman Data Systems) in plant 40 (the HQ) in Bethpage, NY. I got a call from a friend of mine in Calverton. He said get out to the airstrip in 10 minutes, there’s a F-14 going to take off. So my boss and I went out there and stood near the edge of the strip. The F-14 taxied by, the pilot waved, we waved back. He turned around at the end of the strip right by South Oyster Bay Rd and did a full performance takeoff. We were perhaps a third of the way down the strip and he was already flying as he went by with flames from the afterburner just like this video. When he got to the control tower he went straight up and we could see the wings going back as he disappeared into the clouds. To say it was incredibly loud was the understatement of the year!
From 1996? Thank you for the beautiful quality!
I was 12 when I saw my first F-14, at the 1980 Paine Field Air Show (Washington State). I was at my uncle's house about two miles south of the airfield, standing in his apple orchard. The plane did a wide arc and hit the afterburner for a high speed pass of the viewing area... and exceeded the speed of sound. Damn near knocked me on my ass!
Doubt it exceeded sound barrier
@@Daniel-lx1jd He said in 1980 which was a completely different time. I remember hearing sonic booms from time-to-time not only at airshows but even at home in the early to mid 80's. At home they would raddle the windows of our house. I haven't heard one for many many years but it wasn't uncommon back then at least where we lived in WA state.
@@Daniel-lx1jd It's possible he tickled the numbers more or less on accident, and then throttled back a smidge before crossing back over the airshow center.
@@timvertz3687 I remember, as recently as the late 90s, the occasional very late night/early morning thump coming from north of the Sacramento area. Always suspected that they perhaps didn't fully retire the SR-71s at Beale AFB quite when they said they did..
@@n.w.1803 There were Blackbird flights in the late 90s Oct 9 1999 actually.
A well-built flying battleship with style and performance...beautiful!
Even with the stall prone TF 30 engines, a well flown Tomcat was the finest air superiority fighter of its era. The F-14D with the big engines and digital avionics could still hold its own today. It truly pushed the state of the art when it became operational. Not only deadly but iconic.
The F14D was amazing, but it likely would have been replaced by the mid 2010s or at some point in the 20s and replaced with the Super Tomcat 21 which was a F-14 but even larger, with an even better engine, even more fuel range and payload capacity. It would have been amazing and far superior to the Super Hornet. Sadly backroom politics got in the way and the true potential of the F-14D and F-14 21 were never realized. Also the Hornet isn’t as good as they expected and they are looking to replace it and get another fleet defense fighter to contend with China.
@@mar3869The Super Hornet needs more power… Crazy that the single engine on the F-35 makes the same power as 2 on the Super.. The Hornet needs at least 50,000 lbs of thrust..
@@scupking True. It is very dragy since it was designed to be an air-to-ground platform first. It excels at slow speeds and air-to-ground, but speed and energy addition rate is not a strength of the Super Hornet. It was not designed to be an air superiority first fighter. Tomcats could do Mach 1.8 even at gross weight. It has trouble even going supersonic at 50 feet and needs high altitude to go fast. I have heard from a Super Hornet pilot that with tanks and bombs on, even a KC135 out-accelerated a Super Hornet in full aterburner.
I served in cruiser navy in the 70's and did a Med deployment. We operated with a couple of carriers. Remember the song "Take Your Breath Away" from "Top Gun". On a couple of occasions we were close enough to watch these birds doing night takeoffs and landings. Took my breathe away for real.
Those Tomcats was the pride of the Naval Fleet once and performed so well, and he enemies probably was glad when they was grounded. I still remember when I saw them flying out of Miramar NAS and loved them so much. Even though I was in the Air Force, I was working on the C-141 Starlifter at the time and we airlifted Army troops to McChord AFB for Ft. Lewis.
Thank you for posting this! OMG brings back so many memories! BKR!! The greatest Fighter Squadron ever!!!
Wow! amazing take off and a tribute to the good old days (of thunder)! Tomcats - gone but not forgotten! nice vid!💗💗💗
Was at Va Beach by chamce with wife and we got to feel the Carrier Airwing Fly In...what a sensation of seeing the whole wing in formation then hearing and feeling the sound reverberate the sand...as the Thunderous Roars pass over
The F-14 is still the baddest plane the Navy every flew!!!
I agree, the F18 was actually the runner up against the F16 for the air force contract....Just ask yourself, who was buddies with Dick Cheney? He cancelled the F14 Contract, they would have been better off militarily with the F14, but the Super Tomcat was slayed at about 100 million each more than 25 years ago, that's pretty steep when you consider what the alternative was, coupled with the fact that the USSR had collapsed and the threat it was designed to thwart was gone, and it was an expensive plane to maintain. But, it was a badass, It's still the premier plane in the Iranian airforce today.
@@tcar3654 It was the YF-17 not F-18. The YF-17 did eventually become the F-18 however.
@@my-yt-inputs2580 Yes that's correct.
And the baddest plane Iran still flies. They used them to escort russia's tupolevs as they bombed Syria.
@@kishascape I don't know if the Iranian F-14s are worth anything other than being flying desks, but sure back in the day they racked up 180:5 kill ratio against Iraqi MIGs, SUs, Mirage etc. The Iranian pilots had total air superiority over the region in the 80s. All of the credit is given to the Tomcats.
I know why they stopped making them, but boy I sure wish they made an updated version of this jet. It is one of a kind!
The F-14 has 50,000 American Horsepower. God I wish I had one with a good stereo and a racing stripe....
DIOSpeedDemon despite 50 000 hp it is underpowered as fuck lol.
DIOSpeedDemon
The F-14 has 50,000 American Horsepower. God I wish I had one with a good stereo and a racing stripe....
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hi DSD...
yeaa america can make it more F-14st jetplanes with more faster speeding almost same as F-15se
bestamerica Lol yeaaaaah make it more FAAAASTEEEEER... To be more USELEEEEEEEESS.. And more INCAAAAPABLEEEE !! America yeaaaaaaah
hi JGBD...
what reason no capable and no use...
american air force, DOD, grumman company musts time to building many new F-14st planes...
no retirement = no stopment
bestamerica The F-14 was a pain in the ass in terms of maintenance. Many hours grounded, few hours in flight. It was a great plane in some regards, but it has big issues. One of them is it's weight. The so-called 50 000 american hp are not enough to give the Tomcat interesting thrust in combat. Underpowered. (The A+, B and D were little better however with F-110 engines, those are F-14A on this video.)
The speed means nothing in many cases. Combat payload reduces significantly the max speed and max G's an aircraft can take. Mach 2.3 max speed on paper ? Expect Mach 1.2 very max with combat payload (it's the case of the AJS-37 Viggen, which was a very fast aircraft for it's time). And in an operational theatre, it's just useless to try to reach max speed because of the fuel consumption. Most aircrafts will fly around Mach0.6 to 0.8 to maximise their fuel consumption and range.
I know everybody's drawers get wet over the newer fifth generation fighter action going on today, but I love me these 4th generation fighters. They have all proven themselves for three decades or more. Who can dispute that the Tomcat, Falcon, and Eagle aren't some of the most versatile, amazing, kick-ass jets of the 20th century and beyond. I wish they had continued to upgrade the F-14 and keep it on service instead of retiring it. Don't get me wrong, I love the Hornet, but these Tomcats are so freaking mean.................thanks for the cool video nava80000
The F-22 is neat with its thrust vectoring, computers, and stealth; but give me a big, 'Murican F-14 with a skull & crossbones painted on the tail any day. If the F-22 is a modern supercar, the F-14 is a classic american muscle car. We know which one would win on the track, but we also know which one we'd want the ladies to see us in.
The so called 5th gen fighters are all ugly .the F22 I can just about live with, the F35 may still win one prize yet(it won.t win in too many one on one ACM contests) for the the ugliest and most ungainly jet to wear the the white star.Grace and beauty used to run in parallel with capability going back to the Spitfire and Mustang on through to the F14 15 AND 16 now in the stealth age jets just don't look hot anymore.My interest in aircraft is partly aesthetic and I am now losing some interest in them as a result of the f'ugliness creeping in...A part of me hopes a counter for stealth is found soon and then beauty can return to fighter jets.
I agree, the Raptor is really an incredible warplane on another level, the F35.....not so much
The Tomcat will forever be the greatest fighter plane in history to me!
Always had little f14 toys as a kid, my dad is an air force pilot for the Brazilian airforce and he flew the mirrage 2000 and F-5 Tiger II and the A-1 AMX, but the f14 is still the coolest aircraft in this world
I found out if you start playing this exactly at 0:35 and start playing the very beginning of danger zone the song lines up perfectly with the video
What an awesome aircraft the "Cat was. I was sent TDY in 2006 to Royal Australian Air Force Base Amberly near Brisbane Australia. While I was there, I was able to watch RAAF F-111s doing touch and go's as at that time they were still in service with the Aussie AF (they were later retired in favor of the F-18). The F-111 was another aircraft with a swept wing design that was so graceful and agile. When I was stationed at NOB Norfolk I remember driving near Oceana NAS and watching Tomcats takeoff and land. Still have a couple of the Navy F-14 bumper stickers which read "I love jet noise - the sound of freedom".
Anytime, Baby!
I was stationed at NAS Miramar 77-81 when the Navy was transitioning from the F-4 Phantom to the brand new F-14 Tomcats.
The Phantoms were pretty bad ass too.
I spent 7 years in the USN as an AQ2 I only saw three full after burner takeoffs a F8, F4, and F14. The F8 was the best to watch the F14 was the best performance. The F4 was neat as well. I worked on A7`s and A6`s. Good old birds.
F-14 tomcat badass and number #1....forever.
hi M V...
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yeaa that right keep up american airplane company can makeing many more new better F-14st airplanes
I still get the tinglies when I hear those GE mills, I still remember being right next to them on the flight deck when they go to mil power on the cats. There is nothing like it, it's like your insides are getting beaten apart and your senses go temporarily numb. Greatest feeling ever knowing those jets were there. I miss them greatly.
I know that F-22 is the BadAss of the skies now, but nothing beats an F-14 is COOLNESS! I mean the F-14 has changed the view of fighters for generation!
Still Love Them!
PS- They should have just made an F-22 version of the F-14 and screw the F-35.
the F-35 is designated as an attacker not a fighter. it was designed to take out ground targets with AA capabilities with sneak attacks to allow for air superiority and for helicopters and A-10s to move in without getting shot from the ground
i agree nothing beats the look of F-14, but it's just not as useful today and it was getting old sadly...
True, but they were going to make a newer version, but never followed threw.
Ahman Millener
F-22 and F-35 are a waste of money. Paper airplanes that can't take a hit. Can't be popped out quickly
Yep, don't care about those, just about the F14. Besides I was more of a fan of the YF-23 myself.
Built at Grumman's facility in Calverton Long Island. I was lucky enough to see an F14 go to full afterburner while at SUNY Stony Brook back in 1976. There is a static display of one outside their former headquarters in Bethpage Long Island. Grumman at one time, was the biggest employer here and a lot was lost when they were bought out by Northrop....
The all of a sudden climb is still amazing to see
I send my TC out, come back radar down, send it out again, computer not right, calfaxes popped. Lots of maintenance needed. Waiting at the fuel pits for what seemed like hours for Kitty to come home was awesome. But it was all enjoyable because you loved the bird. Nothing else like it, class of it's own. Those were the best days, .......gone forever. As long as my memory holds out and can remember those times,....
F-14 lives forever!
Those afterburners are unmistakable in the sky. God I love the f-14.
out of so many American built jets this one is still my favorite , She's so beautiful ,...!!
Not gonna lie…that was the most badass 2 min of my entire week. Love the Tomcat…..
The most beautiful fighter jet in the world.
Hands down
I can’t disagree as a fighter jet but most beautiful fighter “plane” of all time in my opinion, F4 U Corsair
@@rickhunter6513 naaa, mustang has my heart ;)
It doesn’t matter how much high tech jet fighters being made now and in the future, this will always be my favourite jet fighter forever
My favorite! I love that plane ... The most beautiful and skilled jet hunter ever built !!!!
Beautiful plane. One of my favourites for sure. I haven't even seen Topgun yet. Maybe I should.
I chocked and chained a few of these on the hangar deck of an aircraft carrier so I got really close - though never under power unfortunately. They were incredibly large for a carrier based aircraft but with the wings folded they were all engine. We had the "A"s aboard so they had to do full afterburner in order to get airborne but the coolest thing was how they sounded on approach. The pilots would have them near idle and you could hear them working the throttle so the dual whistle would go up an down in volume like they were crying or something.
That!!!! Was the America I served under!!! Don’t mess with us.
Same here! LOVED those tomcats!
The big spacing between the engines looks so cool with the afterburner lit. I had a poster of an F-14 fully armed with AIM-54's over my bed when I was a little boy. Unfortunately I never got to see one with my own eyes. I had to make do with the Draken, Viggen and the Gripen. :-)
I miss this plane so much!!!
Geez! Look at that vertical climb of the F-14. It gets up to 10,000 feet in around 15 seconds in full zone 5 afterburner. That is with full fuel, Phoenix rails and external drop tanks weight. The TF-030 might have been cr*ppy engines at very slow speed. high AoA because of their appetite for lots of air, but they made massive dynamic thrust at higher speeds on the F-14 with those big intakes/ramps with "ram air effect".
The F4 Phantom defined "Sexy" for fighters. The F14A Tomcat defined "Sexier" !!
@C C It is an awesome awesome awesome aircraft ..with its awesome J17 engines ... would kick ass todays BLAH BLAH fighters with addition of minimal avionics and weapons systems. Check out ALL F4 videos on my channel ... BEEEG F4 FAN here
F-14 proved to be the best thing Navy ever got. Still to this day, nothing replaced its robustness, depth of capabilities and versatility it provided to the Navy for 36 years. It was the true symbol of Navy air power.
@@2ZZGE100 Agreed ! Best thing at the time. And and would still be a potent adversary today with upgrades weapons systems & avionics. Question would be its airframe maintanence requirements (Tomcat was 250 hours, current carrier jets are at 600 hours these days). Swept wings require sweepingly higher maintanence unfortunately... Range would also be an issue ...Cheers
@@2ZZGE100 I am referring to the likes of the Super Hornet Block III ruclips.net/video/1hsOv8tBzSw/видео.html
@@liftingweights Agreed. Maintenance was high unfortunately. The AST-21 design was supposed to address that (and new upgrades), but it was killed off by congress. Cheers!
The f14 tomcat was the badass of all jets had them aboard the Kennedy when I served in 80s
Seeing Tomcats operating from U.S.S. Enterprise was always quite the spectacle!
The Henry rifle of Aviation 🇺🇸. Congrats and thank you for being the best military power. Greetings from Mexico, brothers. 🇺🇸+🇲🇽=💯 We both together are indomitable.
I will always love this plane more than any other.
I watched a tomcat do a left hand roll right off the ground on takeoff once in okc during a air show, what power.
F14A Tomcat (with the Pratt & Whitney engines) ALWAYS launched from the ship with full afterburner; is why Tomcats ALWAYS had external fuel tanks. It has been said the Tomcat uses up ALL of the external fuel tank fuel to get to altitude from the ship. The F14 super A Tomcat used more powerful GE engines that eliminated need to use full afterburner, launching from the ship, thus saving fuel.
The F-14A Tomcats on cat shots were allowed to only go up to maximum of Zone 2 afterburners. They were not allowed to use full zone 5 because of the risk of overspeeding the shuttle. Also, zone 2 afterburner on the TF-030 engines were equivalent full military power on the GE-F110 engines, which were the max power the F-14 B/D were allowed to use in a cat shot.
Long island guy here. Watched these beauties fly over my house when top gun was popular.
F-14's are always a legendary beautiful site!
The thing I admire the most about the F-14 is the large gap between the engines. Every other U.S. fighter that has two engines have them sandwiched together. The F-14 has a unique airframe design that looks beautiful.
These are the F-14As and regardless of the trouble prone TF-30 engines, it lifted off the ground in full zone 5 afterburn in less than 1400 feet and looking at how fast the vertical climb was to about 10,000 feet, it makes it clear even the A version was a beast as long as the engines were getting gobs of air.
How can you tell these are the A's?
@@benweiser22 Look at the aft end of the aircraft. The "A" mode enginel has a very different look then a "B" or "D" model. The TF30 was an OK engine. Was originally designed to be a bomber engine, left over from the cancelled F-111 B program and was not a fighter engine. Politics and contracts at the time kept it in the first generation of Tomcats. The pilot just had to fly it a little differently then the in the later B and D models. The TF30 did not respond well to aggressive throttle movements. That was what caused many of the engine compressor stalls they had. When the GE F110 engine came out in the B and D's, that was a fighter engine. You could slam that throttle all you wanted and it responded wonderfully. Anyway, the F-14 was awesome aircraft during it's time in service. I was assigned to a Tomcat squadron during my time in the Navy in the early 1990's.
@@ksamos Also, another fun way to recognise if its an A model fitted with TF30 engines is whether they do dual AB take-offs or bolters or not. The F-14A+ or B that got the upgraded to the F110-GE-400 had a restriction of never to select dual AB at any time for takeoff etc due to lateral control concerns in the event that a single engine burning at any zone AB suddenly flamed out and the pilot would not have enough control authority to keep the aircraft above Vmca speed. It was a manufacturer limit due to controllability concerns.
So any Tomcat you see doing full AB take-off or bolter must be an A with TF30 only.
@@benweiser22 The TF-030 engine nozzles were very different from the GE-F110 engines in the B/D. A version had the "turkey feather" style nozzles while the GE-F110 engines had the "petals". They had issues, but when they were running right, they were beasts especially at Mach 0.8+ where they produced 28,000 lbsf of thrust due to "ram air effect" from the huge F-14 intakes.
@@ksamos You know your stuff buddy, couldn't have said it better
Legend says every time a Tomcat takes off, Berlins' Take My Breath Away plays.
I literally said "Holy shit... fuckin nice!"
The roar of those engines is something else man
That’s a massive plane yet, the speed it carried on the vertical was insane for its weight. Just so cool!
OMG I did a 3 day job building fence next to the fighter runway on Elmendorf AFB Alaska right around 2000. Had to be escorted to the job every day by the AP. It was a restricted area. What an awesome experience. I imagine watching the fighters take off and land added a couple of man hours to the job.
Possibly the Greatest plane ever built Outstanding.
When I was stationed in the UK, every time we had a transit F-14, F-15, or B-52 take off the Brits would be lined up on the highway photographing the takeoffs. Never figured out how they always knew.
And the "Top Gun" theme immediately plays in my head!
F4 Phantoms and the F14 Tomcats after that, wow, now those were awesome fighters.
One of the coolest birds ever made
Spent many a day and night watching these bad boys doing flight ops during my '84 WesPac on the Kitty Hawk. Still my favorite plane.
Maverick: Goose, what do you see?
Goose: a rocket!
Oh man, this takes me back to the days when we had airshows at Richards-Gebaur A.F.B. just south of K.C., MO. I remember one show in particular where an F-14 did a low pass at high speed - wow was it ever LOUD! Up close, this thing is HUGE! Marvel of American engineering for sure.
Would see these beautiful planes every day when I was on the John F. Kennedy cv-67. When they were on the cat with the deflector up, afterburners on full, it was like a giant had youpressed between his hands and was shaking your whole body. At the least, I wish they could figure a use for the pheonix missile, adapt it to anouther plane or surface to air, something, it was awsome as well. Ya I loved those 'anytime baby' patches to.
The capabilities of that missile are classified, till I saw it in Ace Combat 2 on my PS2. A game made in China, I was kinda shocked, still a favorite platform to fly in the game.