i dont know if you guys ever did a show on although i see them mentioned from time to time but i was hoping that we could do a show on the history of or maybe someone could tell me how i could get ahold of an episode strictly about the f-14 tomcat they have been retired now and i have yet to even hear anyone give a farewell they were incredible machines they put the f-18's, f-15's, and f-16's to shame but always you hear about the f-18's and 15's your talking about a jet that was capable of locking on to a target and shotting it down from 100 miles away, it could bomb take pictures and go air to air and correct me if im wrong but also has a longer range then the 18's and 16's and faster then all 3 of the above mentioned and just amazing to look at only down fall was the size and the amount of maintenance required to fix them i would absolutely love to see something done on the f-14 about its history and capabilities just a thought
I wholeheartedly agree, lang831! The F-14 Tomcat is and always will be one of my most favorite aircraft and I was sorry to see it retired. Seemed like all you ever heard was how great the [USAF] F-15 Eagles's and F-16 Falcon's were and a lot on the [USN] F-18 Hornet and now Super Hornets are, but little said about the Tomcat.
Now I can't take anything away from those others, as they were and are great aircraft. But the word I get from a friend and Naval Aviator, who flew the F-14 and currently flies the FA-18 is that as great as the Tomcat was, flying & attacking with it was pretty labor intensive. Even knowing where everything was in the cockpit, you had to look down to accomplish a lot of tasks. In the FA-18, you can get all your flight and targeting information on your HUD, and can acquire, select weapons and attack targets without having to look down and everything you need to do can be done without taking either hand off of the controls. I find it amusing that one of his biggest laments is that flying solo after some years of having his RIO sitting behind him was that he missed having someone to BS with during those long flights, but says the 18 is definitely a better aircraft.
But like I said, I agree, and would like to see a segment done specifically on the Tomcat. I think it won a lot of hearts in the movie "Top Gun" despite IMHO Tom Cruise making aviators of any branch look like jerks.
