General Background

The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is a twin-engine, variable sweep wing capable of supersonic flight. The aircraft is crewed by a Pilot and a Radar Intercept Officer who share the tasks of navigation, target acquisition, ECM, and weapons usage. The Tomcat was operated by the United States Navy and the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force only. The name "Tomcat" is said to come from the call sign used by Vice Admiral Thomas Connolly which conformed to the USN tradition of giving Grumman aircraft feline names.

The Aircraft

In 1988 flying F-14A 162705 c/n 551 Captain Dale “Snort” Snodgrass performed his (in)famous super low banana pass off the port side of the USS America while at sea. Snodgrass was a high-time F-14 pilot with over 4,800 hours flying the F-14. Snodgrass was a member of VF-33 Starfighters, formerly the Tarsiers, a small South Asian mammal. Between December 28, 1990 and April 18, 1991, VF-33 was deployed onboard USS America in the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Desert Storm. Unfortunately, Snodgrass died in 2021 in an air show crash.

Specifications

• Role: Carrier-based multi-role strike fighter
• First Flight: F-14A 1970, F-14B (F-14A+) 1986, F-14D 1990
• Last Production Year: F-14D July 20, 1992
• Number All Variants Produced: 710
• Crew: 2 (pilot and radar intercept officer)
• Dimensions
• Length: 62 ft 8 inches
• Wingspan (Swept) 38 ft 2.5 inches
• Wingspan (Unswept) 64 ft 1.5 inches
• Height: 16 ft
• Performance
• Powerplants: F-14A 2 x P&W TF-30-P414A F-14B 2 x GE F-110-GE-400 F-14D 2 x GE F-110-GE-400
• Maximum Thrust: F-14A 34,154 lbs F-14B 56,400 lbs F-14D 56,400 lbs
• Maximum Speed: F-14A 1,544 mph (Mach 2.38) F-14B 1,544 mph (Mach 2.38) F-14D 1,544 mph (Mach 2.38)
• Ceiling: F-14A 50,000+ ft F-14B 53,000+ ft F-14D 53,000+ ft
• Range: F-14A 1,730 nm F-14B 2,050 nm F-14D 2,050 nm
• Weights
• Empty: F-14A 40,104 pounds F-14B 41,780 pounds F-14D 43,735 pounds
• Maximum: F-14A 72,000 pounds F-14B 74,349 pounds F-14D 74,349 pounds
• Maximum Weight: 13,000 lbs. Of Combined Ordnance
  
• Armament
• 1 x MK-61A1 Vulcan 20mm cannon
• Air-Air Missiles
• 6 AIM-7 Sparrows
• 4 AIM-9 Sidewinder
• 6 AIM-54 Phoenix
• Air-To-Ground
• MK-82 (500 lbs.)
• 4 MK-83 (1,000 lbs.)
• 4 MK-84 (2,000 lbs.)
• MK-20 cluster bombs
• 4 GBU-10 LGB
• GBU-12 MK-82 LGB
• 4 GBU-16 MK-83 LGB
• 4 GBU-24 MK-84 LGB